There are two types of account takeover attack. Password attacks are personalized attacks on a certain device.
Lost password attacks and Guessed password attacks. These are also what we know as account takeovers; because they involve the attacker taking over one or more user accounts on a computer or in a network.
Types of Account Takeover Attack
Lost Password Attacks
These attacks are rarer than guessed password attacks, but they still occur frequently. These attacks occur when a user loses their password and then attempts to regain access by guessing their old password. The attacker can also use a tool to guess the password the user may have set the password to. The most effective way to prevent this attack is to make sure that users are aware of how important it is to not forget their passwords.
Guessed Password Attacks
Guessed password attacks are one of the easiest attacks to pull off as they require little effort on behalf of the attacker. In this type of attack, the attacker simply needs to guess one or more passwords until they finally gain access. This may be done manually by simply trying every possible combination or through a program that will try every possible combination.
An effective way of preventing this attack is by making sure that users do not choose weak passwords that are easily guessed, such as names, dates, and other obvious things. Another way is by making sure that users do not leave their computers unattended and logged in for long periods.
What is a Keylogger?
A keylogger is a device or software program that captures every keystroke made on a computer. These devices can be physical or virtual and are generally used for nefarious purposes such as stealing passwords, credit card numbers, and other sensitive information.
These devices can be destroyed by changing all of your passwords regularly, turning off your computer when you are not using it, and using software firewalls to block any suspicious files or programs from accessing your device.
When you turn your computer on, it starts up in an unsafe state where anyone who has physical access to your device can take over it with little difficulty. Fortunately, there is software available (such as BitLocker Drive Encryption) that allows you to encrypt your hard drive so that only someone who knows the correct password can get access to it. This makes your computer safe from attackers because they cannot easily gain access without knowing the correct password.
How to Protect Against Account Takeover Attack
There are two main ways to prevent account takeover attacks.
Implement Strong Authentication
First, you can implement strong authentication so that each user can only be authenticated by a unique identifier. This prevents attackers from easily spoofing another person’s identity. You can also use multi-factor authentication so that a user must have more than one piece of information to authenticate themselves, such as a password and a fingerprint or an ID and a PIN.
Multi-factor Authentication
The second way to prevent account takeover attacks is by using multi-factor authentication for all critical accounts in your organization. Such as those that store sensitive information or grant access to sensitive data. By implementing this solution, the attacker will not be able to log in because they will not have the second form of authentication required to log in. This mitigates the threat of account takeover attacks because an attacker will not be able to log in even if they can guess the password.
