Experts share tips to prevent credential stuffing and account takeover attacks

Account takeover and credential stuffing attacks are two often coexisting security threats. That is, the hacker collects user and password information that has been leaked from the Internet, generates a corresponding dictionary table, and attempts to log in to other websites in batches to obtain a series of users who can log in.

The so-called account takeover (ATO) is an attacker using a tool to test thousands of stolen credentials. Once they successfully hacked their accounts, they took over for illegal activities such as theft, fraud, and data breaches. These types of attacks often have a significant impact on the company. Trust and security are the basic components of retaining customers, so ATO and credential stuffing attacks can lead to customer churn, which can lead to significant financial losses.

So how to avoid being the target of the next credential filling and ATO attack? Recently, experts shared some tips for preventing credential stuffing and account takeover attacks:

1. Use multi-factor authentication to establish a multi-layered defense that makes it more difficult for unauthorized people to access a computer system or network.
2. Speed-limit authentication requests. When hackers try to destroy accounts by credential filling, they often use robots or other similar automated methods to quickly enter thousands of credentials in a row. To limit the ability of an attacker to do this, the IT team can set an upper limit on the number of login attempts that a single IP address can make within a given time.
3. Tag unrecognized devices. ATO attacks usually come from unrecognized new devices, so you can help prevent attacks by paying close attention to the devices trying to access your account.
4. Remind customers about their new device’s login information, and customers can be the first line of defense to flag unauthorized login attempts. Alert users when someone tries to log in to their account via email or text message. This strategy will enable users to detect illegal activities in a timely manner and take corrective action when necessary.

ATO attacks and credential stuffing can cause damage to businesses. Every company should try to prevent credential filling and ATO attacks by creating strong authentication policies. The above steps will effectively help the team to ensure the legitimacy of each login attempt.