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Account Takeover Prevention and Detection

We Know Account Takeover When We See It—And We Stop It

An account takeover (ATO) can happen in an instant, without the legitimate account owner even knowing. All it takes is a fraudster taking advantage of poor password practices or some other weak link in authentication—and the next thing you know, they’re stealing personal information, making unauthorized purchases, spreading malware, and more.

But Verosint can see it coming and stop it before the damage is done.
account takeover alert
81%

Increase in account takeover fraud 2019-2022


Source: TransUnion
49%

Breaches by external actors that involved use of stolen credentials


Source: Verizon
61%

Identity misuse incidents related to account takeover

How Account Takeovers Happen

The Element of Surprise: A Fraudster’s Secret Weapon

The biggest challenge with stopping an account takeover is that it usually doesn’t happen in any immediately obvious way. A fraudster finds a path to a user’s credentials, and they’re off and running.

Maybe they’re able to guess an obvious and/or re-used password (“password123” anyone?). Or they use a phishing email to trick someone into divulging credentials. Or they simply buy stolen credentials on the dark web. Typically, the user isn’t aware of the problem until, for example, they try to use a credit card that’s suddenly maxed out or they receive an unexpected alert from a vendor or a friend (“Was this you…?”).
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The Impact of Account Takeovers

Meanwhile, the Fallout Can Be Disastrous

An account takeover can be disruptive and costly, not only for the targeted individual or organization, but also for the many other entities to whom they’re connected. No industry is immune, and the consequences can be severe.

Here are just a few examples of the impact of account takeovers (ATOs):

Financial services: Fraudulent transactions and access to private financial information
e-Commerce/retail: Unauthorized purchases, access to stored payments, misuse of loyalty rewards
Social media: Account-owner impersonation to commit scams and spread malware
Email: access to private communications, which can then be used in phishing attacks or other scams
Healthcare: Exposure of private medical records and other personally identifiable information
Gaming and entertainment: Theft of payment information and in-game assets
Travel and hospitality: Unauthorized booking changes and fraudulent use of rewards programs
Education: Compromise of students’ data, including academic records and personal information
Business or corporate accounts: Access to company systems and communications
Government and public services: Access to citizens’ personal data and official communications

Verosint: A One-Two Punch Against Account Takeover Attempts

Verosint goes far beyond assessing the validity of credentials in its search for signs of fraudulent access attempts, with a two-part approach to detecting and preventing account takeover fraud.
Verosint evaluates a variety of constantly changing data using related to the device, browser and location associated with an access request, detecting risk signals that point to an account takeover attempt.
Integration with identity security platforms, Verosint is able to orchestrate additional authentication or identity proofing challenges for suspicious access attempts by requiring additional verification—or, when necessary, to block a login completely.
IMost importantly, while Verosint makes it easy to block or challenge access by suspicious actors, we make it just as easy to provide frictionless and convenient access to legitimate users.