Account takeover prevention is a critical concern for organizations today as ATO attacks continue to escalate. Account takeover allows cybercriminals to gain unauthorized access to user accounts, resulting in financial loss and compromised personal data.
Alarmingly, account takeover attacks are expected to increase by a shocking 354% year-over-year in 2023. As the threat of account takeover attacks intensifies, implementing effective account takeover prevention and ATO protection measures is essential. These should be part of a broader set of cybersecurity measures to ensure comprehensive bot protection.
This article explores the basics of account takeover attempts and account takeover ATO attacks. It also deals with account takeover protection and account takeover prevention, highlighting the role of CAPTCHAs and the benefits of modern CAPTCHA providers such as Friendly Captcha. Learn how a CAPTCHA can protect your business and your customers from the ever-present threat of account takeover fraud.
What Is Account Takeover (ATO)?
Account takeover fraud, or ATO attack, is a cybercrime designed to gain access and control of a legitimate user’s online account. Criminals purchase a list of login credentials and account information on the dark web and use them to deploy bots that automatically visit various websites. They test password and username combinations from the leaked credentials and steal access to online accounts.
The goal of the account takeover is to perform fraudulent transactions, steal personal information, or launch additional bot attacks and further damage. Once cybercriminals have a list of verified user credentials, they sell them. These bot attacks result in a form of identity theft.
Because users typically use the same login or username, don’t change passwords, and often reuse login credentials across sites and accounts, cybercriminals exploit this by performing credential stuffing, phishing attempts, and brute force attacks. Cybercriminals can also break into login pages, user accounts, websites, and native mobile application APIs to commit account takeover fraud and abuse, such as targeting financial institutions to transfer money from one account to other accounts.
To combat this, organizations need robust fraud detection systems and account takeover prevention strategies, including the implementation of CAPTCHAs to verify user authenticity and prevent automated bot attacks. CAPTCHAs provide proactive account takeover prevention by blocking automated login attempts, securing registration and password reset forms. Friendly Captcha, a modern CAPTCHA provider, offers an advanced solution to protect your systems from the threat of account takeover attacks.
Typical Targets of Account Takeovers
Historically, financial institutions were the primary concern regarding account takeovers. However, account takeover attacks today influence all businesses with user-facing logins. Cybercriminals are motivated by financial gain, further damage or the acquisition of personally identifiable information through the victim’s account.
Personally identifiable information obtained through account takeovers is often used in spam and phishing attacks, making the communication appear more realistic to the victims. This is a significant issue for public sector entities, healthcare organizations, and academic institutions, where the sensitive nature of the data makes these sectors particularly attractive targets for attackers.
eCommerce sites are also significantly affected by an ATO attack. After changing passwords in the compromised accounts, cybercriminals purchase goods on the user’s behalf. The cybercriminals log in, quickly add high-value items to the shopping cart, and pay using the user’s stored payment information. The shipping address is then changed to the cybercriminals’ location, completing the account takeover fraud.
To prevent account takeover ATO fraud, it is crucial to avoid using the same credentials across multiple accounts. When a user reuses passwords and the same username, compromised credentials in one account can lead to compromised credentials in other accounts, making it easier for cybercriminals to launch extensive account takeover.
Implementing strong security practices and tools, such as CAPTCHAs, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and regular monitoring of account activities, can help mitigate the risk of account takeover and protect both the business and its users from the devastating effects of these ATO attacks.
Impact of Account Takeover Fraud
Account takeover attacks have a significant and far-reaching impact on organizations and their customers. Understanding this impact is essential for recognizing the importance of web security and implementing effective strategies to prevent account takeovers. The consequences of account takeover fraud range from financial loss, increased operational costs, reputational damage, and loss of customer trust to legal and regulatory repercussions.
Once accounts are compromised, they become tools for cybercriminals to carry out a range of malicious activities and gain access to databases of stolen accounts. This typically includes changing account settings such as passwords and shipping addresses to facilitate fraudulent transactions.
The impact of ATO attacks incidents extends far beyond immediate financial loss. Repeated ATO attacks can lead to an increase in transaction disputes and chargebacks, reducing profit margins. Additionally, the loss of customer trust due to compromised accounts can result in higher customer churn rates, impacting long-term revenue. Most seriously, a company’s reputation can be severely damaged. Negative publicity surrounding a data breach and fraudulent transactions can tarnish a brand’s image and make it difficult to regain customer trust.
Without solid protection against account takeovers and bot attacks, companies often do not detect ATO attacks until customers report suspicious activity. This delayed detection gives fraudsters enough time to inflict maximum damage, compounding the negative impact. The cumulative effect of account takeover fraud presents a dual challenge: immediate financial losses from fraudulent transactions and long-term damage to a company’s reputation.
Account Takeover Fraud – Techniques and Common ATO Methods
Cybercriminals use various tactics to gain access to user accounts and the account details. Understanding these methods is crucial for implementing solid account takeover protection measures. Here are some common techniques and methods:
Credential Stuffing
Credential stuffing involves the use of stolen credentials, such as usernames and passwords, obtained from data breaches. Attackers use automated tools and bots to quickly test these credentials across multiple sites. Because many users reuse passwords across multiple accounts, credential stuffing can be highly effective, allowing cybercriminals to quickly gain unauthorized access to more than one account of one account holder.
Phishing Attacks
Phishing attacks trick users into revealing their credentials by posing as a legitimate entity. Cybercriminals send emails or messages that appear to come from trusted sources and ask users to click on malicious links or enter their credentials on fake login pages. These scams often use urgent or alarming language to get users to respond without thinking.
Brute Force Attacks
Brute force attacks involve systematically guessing passwords for diverse online accounts until the correct one is found. Attackers use automated software to try numerous password combinations in rapid succession. Weak or frequently used passwords make accounts particularly vulnerable to brute force attacks. Implementing account lockout policies after a certain number of failed login attempts can help mitigate this risk.
Social Engineering
Social engineering tricks people into revealing confidential information. Attackers may pose as company employees, technical support, or other trusted individuals to trick users into sharing their login credentials. Social engineering can occur through phone calls, emails, or even in-person interactions. Educating users about these tactics and encouraging skepticism about unsolicited requests for sensitive information is critical to prevent account takeover fraud via social engineering.
Viruses and Malware
Viruses and malware can infect user devices to steal login credentials. Keyloggers, for example, record every keystroke a user makes, including login credentials. Other types of malware can capture screenshots, hijack browser sessions, or exploit software vulnerabilities to access account information. Keeping antivirus software up to date and regularly scanning systems can help detect ATO attacks and remove malware.
Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) Attacks
Man-in-the-middle attacks occur when cybercriminals intercept communication between a user and a website or application. Attackers can capture login credentials, session tokens, and other sensitive information transmitted over the network. MitM attacks are particularly effective on unsecured public Wi-Fi networks. Using encrypted communication protocols such as HTTPS and avoiding unsecured networks can help protect against these attacks.
Account Takeover Prevention Strategies
Account takeover prevention is paramount for businesses. A comprehensive approach involves both internal measures, such as fraud detection systems, and external solutions.
Internally, organizations should establish robust security protocols, including strong password requirements, multi-factor authentication MFA, monitor accounts, and regular security awareness training for employees. Additionally, implementing strict access controls and monitoring user behavior can help identify suspicious activity early on.
On the external front, leveraging advanced technologies is crucial. Bot protection solutions are essential to deter automated attacks like credential stuffing and brute-force attacks. CAPTCHAs can add an extra layer of protection by distinguishing between humans and bots. These tools, combined with other security measures, form a robust defense against account takeover attacks.
Best Practices for Account Takeover Prevention
A robust account takeover detection and account takeover prevention strategy necessitates a multi-layered approach that includes both technological advancements and human factors.
Advanced bot protection and account takeover protection software is essential to modern cybersecurity. These tools should possess the capability to examine every digital interaction and detect every little signal in each request, from website visits to API calls and suspicious IP addresses, for subtle indicators of suspicious activity.
By identifying anomalies or patterns and suspicious behavior, organizations can proactively thwart account takeovers before they escalate. Professional bot protection solutions are designed to detect and block suspicious activity, ensuring that legitimate users can access their accounts without interference.
CAPTCHAs are an essential part of advanced bot protection software to defend against automated attacks on web forms, payment gateways, bank accounts, or login pages, which are often the basis of sophisticated ATO attempts. By differentiating between human users and bots, CAPTCHAs can prevent account takeover and bots from executing automated credential stuffing or brute force attacks. Modern CAPTCHA solutions, such as Friendly Captcha, provide a user-friendly process that does not disrupt the user experience, but is effective at keeping malicious bots and spam at bay.
There are several additional best practices for account takeover prevention. Check for compromised credentials by matching new user credentials against data breaches to prevent account sign-ups with known compromised information. Implement rate limits on login attempts to thwart brute force attacks, and send notifications of account changes to keep users informed of any suspicious activity.
In addition, enforce Multi-Factor Authentication for added security and encourage the use of strong, unique passwords. Regularly monitor user behavior for anomalies such as login attempts from unknown devices or the same IP address. Educate users about cybersecurity practices to improve overall security awareness. Implementing these best practices can significantly prevent account takeover attempts and enhance security.
The Role of CAPTCHAs in Preventing Account Takeover Attacks
Modern CAPTCHAs are a cornerstone of bot protection and can effectively prevent account takeover and automated attacks by distinguishing between human users and bots. CAPTCHAs prevent automated attacks such as credential stuffing, phishing attacks, or brute force attacks that can lead to account takeover. In this way, CAPTCHAs help secure online accounts:
Block automated login attempts: CAPTCHAs prevent bots from making repeated automated login attempts, which is common in credential stuffing and brute-force attacks. By making it harder for bots to get through, CAPTCHAs thwart automated login attempts to guess login credentials, significantly reducing the risk of gaining access to online accounts.
Secure registration and password reset forms: By identifying and challenging bots, CAPTCHAs prevent them from creating fake accounts or initiating unauthorized password resets. This protects the integrity of user accounts and prevents the mass creation of fraudulent accounts that can be used for various suspicious activity.
Protect web forms: CAPTCHAs can be integrated into login pages, registration forms, and password recovery forms to ensure that only real users can complete these forms. This integration protects these critical points of account takeover and automated abuse, ensuring that the interactions are legitimate and secure.
Traditional CAPTCHAs, such as text-based CAPTCHAs, audio-based or image-based CAPTCHAs, often have drawbacks such as user frustration, accessibility issues, and privacy concerns. While effective against basic bots, they are susceptible to advanced bot techniques and can be cumbersome for visually impaired users to solve. Therefore, they do not provide the best user experience. Examples for such traditional CAPTCHAs include reCAPTCHA, which is criticized for poor accessibility as well as GDPR compliance issues.
Modern CAPTCHAs, such as Friendly Captcha, use a new proof-of-work approach. This method not only enhances security by requiring computational effort from the user’s device, making it difficult for bots to bypass, but also improves the user experience by eliminating interruptions. This innovative approach addresses the limitations of traditional CAPTCHAs, providing a more effective and fully accessible solution to prevent account takeover fraud.
By leveraging advanced CAPTCHA solutions, businesses can significantly strengthen their account takeover protection, ensuring a secure and seamless experience for their users. Learn more about Friendly Captcha in the following section or try it out yourself with a free 30-day trial.
Friendly Captcha Helps Prevent Account Takeover
Friendly Captcha is a next-generation CAPTCHA solution that provides the best protection against account takeover. Friendly Captcha overcomes the limitations of traditional CAPTCHAs such as reCAPTCHA or hCaptcha while providing robust protection against account takeover:
User-friendly: With its modern proof-of-work approach, Friendly Captcha works invisibly in the background, so users don’t have to solve puzzles or identify images. Friendly Captcha provides a user-friendly and frictionless experience for all users.
Privacy friendly: Friendly Captcha is designed with the highest privacy standards in mind. Unlike traditional CAPTCHAs that can record user behavior, Friendly Captcha does not use HTTP cookies and does not store personal information in persistent memory. This means that the privacy of all users is protected and personal data is always secure. Friendly Captcha is 100% compliant with the GDPR as well as the CCPA.
Truly invisible: Friendly Captcha is a truly invisible CAPTCHA that performs background checks and cryptographic challenges on the user’s device. The invisible background challenge is typically completed within a few seconds. The user doesn’t have to perform any manual tasks such as clicking on cars. This results in a seamless user experience that does not interrupt the user journey.
Fully accessible: Friendly Captcha places great importance on the accessibility of CAPTCHA. Since the CAPTCHA does not require any user interaction, it is accessible and usable by everyone, including people with disabilities. It is fully WCAG compliant and a pioneer in the field of invisible CAPTCHAs.
We have seen that Friendly Captcha can be convincing in account takeover prevention. It is the only truly invisible CAPTCHA that offers maximum security and protection of the user’s personal data while being completely accessible. So if you are looking for an effective method to account takeover detection and account takeover prevention, Friendly Captcha is a reliable partner for secure bot protection.
Rundown: Why Friendly Captcha is Essential for Account Takeover Prevention
Account takeover prevention is critical to protecting user accounts from unauthorized access and the potentially severe consequences of a successful ATO attack. As the frequency and sophistication of ATO attacks increase, it becomes more important to implement best practices to prevent account takeovers. This includes the use of advanced technologies such as secure CAPTCHA solutions.
Friendly Captcha stands out as a powerful solution in account takeover prevention and the fight against account takeover attacks. It effectively blocks automated login attempts and account takeover attempts, secures registration and password reset forms, and protects web forms from bot attacks, all while maintaining a seamless user experience. Unlike traditional CAPTCHAs, Friendly Captcha uses a modern proof-of-work approach that provides enhanced security without compromising user privacy or accessibility.
By deploying Friendly Captcha, businesses can significantly boost their defenses against account takeovers, protecting their customers’ data and maintaining their trust. The implementation of advanced CAPTCHA solutions as part of a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy reduces the risk of ATO attacks and provides a safe and user-friendly environment for all users.
In summary, Friendly Captcha not only enhances security, but also prioritizes user experience, accessibility and privacy, making it an invaluable bot protection solution in the ongoing effort to prevent account takeovers. Try Friendly Captcha with a free 30 day trial and experience the best account takeover prevention for yourself. Get started today and discover how it works.
FAQ
Account takeover occurs when cybercriminals gain unauthorized access to a user’s online account by using leaked credentials from a breached credentials database, phishing, or other means. They often use bots to automate login attempts, testing various username and password combinations. Once the bots gain access, attackers can change account details, make unauthorized transactions, or steal sensitive data. The compromised accounts can then be used for further attacks or sold on the dark web.
A good way to protect against account takeovers is to implement a modern CAPTCHA such as Friendly Captcha, which effectively prevents automated login and registration attempts.
The risks of account takeover fraud include financial losses due to unauthorized transactions, increase transaction disputes, and chargebacks. Businesses may suffer from damaged reputation and loss of customer trust, leading to high customer churn. Additionally, personal information stolen from compromised accounts can be used for identity theft or sold for further attacks. Organizations may face legal and regulatory repercussions if they fail to protect customer data.
Preventing account takeover involves implementing sophisticated CAPTCHAs, multi-factor authentication, using strong passwords, and educating users about cybersecurity best practices. Employing CAPTCHAs to block automated login attempts for account takeover prevention helps to detect and protect against suspicious activities. Regularly checking for compromised credentials and setting rate limits on login attempts can further enhance security.
Indictors of account takeover attacks include unusual login attempts, such as multiple failed logins or logins from unfamiliar locations and unknown devices. A robust CAPTCHA solution such as Friendly Captcha instantly protects against increased levels of spam and bot attacks. It blocks bots from accessing important web forms.
Other signs of account takeovers include changes to account details like passwords or shipping addresses, unauthorized transactions, and new, unfamiliar devices accessing the user accounts. Receiving notifications of account changes that the user did not authorize can also signal a potential account takeover.
The difference between identity theft and account takeover is the extent to which personal data is misused. Identity theft involves stealing someone’s personal information, such as their Social Security number or credit card information, to commit fraud or further attacks. Account takeovers, on the other hand, specifically refer to gaining access to a person’s online account using data breaches. While both can cause financial and personal harm, account takeover attacks focus on taking over existing accounts, while identity theft involves a broader misuse of personal information.
Regardless of whether it is identity theft or account takeover, a modern CAPTCHA protects important web forms and pages before a bot can misuse personal data.
