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How Cybercriminals Take Over Your Online Accounts & What You Can Do

Account takeover (ATO) fraud is becoming a serious issue in this digital era. All personal information is abundant in the world today, but fraudsters use various methods for nefarious purposes. It is therefore critical to know the threats and how to use preventative measures. In this article, useful knowledge will be acquired on ATO fraud, its development and how to help avoid being victimized.


What is Account Takeover Fraud ?

In the otaku style, we refer to this type of fraud as ‘account takeover’ or ATO, and it occurs when the user’s login information such as user IDs and passwords fall into the hands of bad actors. From that point on, the user account in question can be used to illegally transfer funds, make purchases or steal any other private information contained within the account. 


Criminals use phishing attempts, hacking or hacking groups for hire to get others private information. Many take caution, but this type accounts for losses worth millions and accounts for identity thefts, information leakage attacks and disturbances in everyday life.


How Does Account Takeover Fraud Happen?

Fraudsters use a variety of tactics to commit ATO fraud, targeting business practices or weaknesses in account security. Below are some of the most common methods:


1. Data Breaches: It is more common for fraudsters to perform large scale hacks involving other people’s data which contains login credentials. Cybercriminals have access to critical databases and private information such as usernames and passwords which are later sold to aspiring wannabes on the dark web. After getting these accounts, they can move that data into many places due to the fact that many people have weak account security where they have the same password on a number of accounts.
 
2. Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) Attacks: MitM provides a hacker with access to the communication of a server and user. When a user types any login to a certain website, this login is sent to many servers. In a hack, a criminal infiltrates the inter-server communication with a plan to obtain passwords as long as the password is not well protected.


3. Malware and Keyloggers: Cybercriminals use malware to take over computer systems of their victims. Key-logging or spyware malware are specialized equipment that records every action made by the user, most often associated with various types of logging in. There is more advanced malware that even captures images of what a user does plus their movements allowing a hacker to take control of that account easily.


4. Credential Cracking: As the name suggests, credential cracking is when cyber offenders get the right password out of countless attempts. For an automated attack, a tool tries a set of commonly used passwords or generic words on multiple accounts in short succession. This hit-and-miss approach works best in cases where users’ passwords are predictable or common.


5. Phishing: Phishing is one of the simplest yet still the most powerful method, if it can be called a method at all. Email and social engineering are the most used ways to conduct phishing attacks where cyber criminals pretend to be legitimate companies, banks etc., and use these channels to mislead users into revealing their credentials through frames that look like login pages.


How to Protect Yourself from Account Takeover Fraud

Although ATO fraud is a significant risk, there are measures one can take in order to prevent scammers and protect one’s accounts. A few of the strategies are outlined below:

1.  Turn on Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): One factor is sometimes not sufficient which is a major reason why companies have incorporated multi-factor authentication for their clients. Even if one online fraudster obtains your password, they are unable to access your account without providing another form of verification like SMS OTP or Google Authenticator etc. The risk of ATO fraud is much less with MFA since a hacker would require more than just a password to log in.

2.  Password policy restriction: Place restrictions on how many times a user can spam an account for the correct password. This stops hackers from using automated tools that allow them to attempt multiple passwords in a matter of moments. Furthermore, certain services allow for locking of an account for a period of time after a number of failed attempts at entering a password which decreases the odds of brute forcing the login credentials.

3.  Reporting unusual actions and switching on alerts: It is important to always report and monitor every activity linked to a user including failed logons, alterations to account settings, and unrecognised transactions. Many alerts are uni-directional and cater to specific movements hence it may be unrealistic to always assume security alteration will be followed or disconnected from the monitored activity, however, this helps increase autonomy.

4. Leverage AI-Based Detection Systems: AI-down systems are proficient in account takeover detection as they track unusual attempt behaviours like login tries from different devices or strange areas. It is possible for the system to avert loss by sabotaging accounts in advance. Most financial companies and big e-commerce players today have adopted AI as the protector of their clients’ information for instance eBay and Paypal.

5. Implement WAFs: For users and businesses dealing with Web accounts, firing up a WAF is one of the most important forms of protection that anyone can employ. WAFs analyze HTTP communications by monitoring and blocking requests that could result in ATO. Such gaps would compromise the security of users’ data by allowing cyber thieves access to it, WAFs ensures that this does not happen

What Needs To Be Done In Order To Protect Your Accounts?

Account takeover fraud is fast emerging to be a huge headache in the digital world today, but with the right tools in your toolbox you can mitigate most of that risk. Setting up multiple level authentication, keeping an eye for unusual activities on the accounts, making use of AI driven tools for detection, restricting how many attempts can be made for login are all recommended practices to protect your presence online. On top of that, updating the devices and software all the time and being careful with phishing attacks is essential in fulfilling the objectives of account security.

By acting now, you will help in preventing your personal and financial information from being exploited by unscrupulous individuals.

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