In the year July 2020, the digital landscape very well witnessed a remarkable incident of cyber thrift which created issues across the globe. Famous Twitter accounts in this case were utilized to propagate the alluring proposition in the form of individuals who will be sending the bitcoin to a designated address and will be receiving the generous double of their contribution. The international community was completely astonishment in this case because the promise of multiplying the bitcoin holding was nothing but a scheme designed to get digital currency from the unsuspected followers. According to the recent data, this is the situation of the account takeover attack which remarkably has increased with a percentage of 350% by the year 2023. To further have a clear perspective the malicious assaults are already impacting a substantial portion of the US population. So, companies like AppSealing have been consistently at the forefront and creating awareness about such issues so that people can become more and more aware of them
What do you mean by the account takeover attack?
An account takeover attack is a situation that happens when the malicious actor gains unauthorized access to the user account without their actual permission. The unauthorized access accessibility to the login credentials will be commonly achieved by maliciously acquiring the user’s login information through deceptive methods including key logging, taking advantage of data breaches, or any other kind of related issues. The motive in the particular case will range from seeking profit through theft or indulging in any fraud and activity to simply creating chaos by damaging the online reputation of the user.
What types of businesses are commonly affected by account takeover attacks?
- Media and entertainment industry: Particularly the music and video streaming services are currently experiencing problems due to this particular attack because cyber criminals are taking advantage of the widespread popularity of such platforms to carry out their malicious activities. The primary objective in this particular case is to obtain the login credentials with a particular focus on the ones who belong to the premium.
- Financial industry: Financial institutions like insurance companies and banks are also susceptible to this particular problem because these criminals are employing a good number of techniques ranging from credential theft to the schemes associated with illicit accessibility of the accounts.
- Hospitality industry: Organisations including resorts, hotels, and other establishments are also facing the challenges associated with account takeover attacks so they can frequently focus on loyalty and reward programs with the motive of fulfilling the points and balances subsequently to exploit them
- Sports industry: This industry also possesses a considerable amount of sensitive data that is further based on medical records, at least contracts, and other associated things which can be easily compromised due to the account takeover attacks. Cybercriminals in this particular case will be consistently coming with the motive of exploiting any challenge to get accessibility to valuable pieces of Information and with this intention, they will be either selling it or using it for malicious purpose
- Retail industry: The retail industry is also facing significant issues due to the account takeover attacks because the unauthorized access in this case granted to the cybercriminals will enable them to participate in fraudulent actions for example placing orders for merchandise, purchasing gift cards, or any other kind of related things which can be traded on the dark web later on.
- Gaming industry: Gaming platforms due to their extensive user base and in-game transactions are also very much susceptible to account takeover attacks. Cyber criminals in this case will be frequently exploiting the platforms to into assets associated with the game and compromise the payment details for the unauthorised acquisition.
How can you easily focus on protecting the applications from account takeover attacks?
- Focusing on the proactive inspection of the logins: To ensure that everything has been carried out as per the utmost level of security people need to focus on cross-referring of the login credentials so that the new user base database will be very well sorted. This particular diligence will be enabling the identification of the issues where the registration will be done by credentials and will make sure that there will be no compromise
- Employment of the device recognition techniques: Device recognition usually is referred to as the concept of device fingerprinting and is a very effective tool in combating account takeover. This technique will monitor and examine the multiple device attributes to identify the abnormal activities of login for example repeated unsuccessful login attempts, identical fingerprints, or any other kind of related things. This will also include the request for the additional authentication steps which will be based upon temporary spending of the account to prevent an authorized access.
- Implementing the restrictions on logging attempts: To further improve the security against unauthorized accessibility it is advisable for the companies to focus on setting limits on the number of logging-in attempts because the restrictions in this case can be carefully determined and analysis of the patterns will be perfectly done by exhibition to the users. Taking into account the account variable and username will be very important in this case so that diminishing will be sorted out very easily.
- Focusing on real-time threat monitoring: Gone are the days of waiting for periodic reports instead everybody nowadays is interested to go for accessibility to the dynamic field that is constantly updated. This means that you can instantly observe the number of hacking attempts made on the application, tools being used, and devices being utilized throughout the process. With this real-time data harnessing will be very well done and you can effectively monitor reactive devices by pinpointing the specific threats.
Hence, to promote the concept of app security very easily, introducing the system suggested by experts is important so that digital literacy will be improved and in today’s ever-revolving cyber landscape proactive defense against account takeover attacks is not only advisable but is extremely essential for companies.