An Introduction to Account-Take-Over Attacks

With the increasing utilization of social media networks and DeFi trading networks almost everyone can access and create their cyberspace. Such a wide range of users have also equipped the cybercriminals who litter cyberspace with their malicious activities. One of the cybercrimes is Account-Take-Over Attacks (or ATO attacks) which we are discussing in detail.

What is an Account-Take-Over Attack (or ATO attack)?

Account-Take-Over Attacks (or ATO attacks) are one of the common cybercrimes associated with online identity theft. It occurs when the malicious third-party gains unauthorized access to the targeted account. It enables the hacker to get direct control over the victim’s products, services, and other valuable assets. The attacker can also take illegal actions under the identity of the victim by invading the victim’s private space.

What types of organizations are targets of ATO attacks?

Generally, such fraudulent actions occur due to the attacker’s greed to make more money through simpler ways, even if it is unethical. So, most finance-related online activities are likely to fall prey to ATO attacks.

In other cases, victims can also perpetrate malicious activities using somebody else’s identity like circulating fake news, cheating somebody, taking credentials advantages, etc. which can occur across various sectors like healthcare, academic institutions, public sector businesses, etc.

Some Common Ways of Stealing the identity

• Using Data Breach — Attackers can steal identity and credentials using a data breach operation. Only a leaked login ID and password are required to take over an account. Most people are likely to have the same user ID and password for many applications. This makes the victim susceptible to password leakage.
• Brute Force — The attackers try to access your passwords by trying various combinations. To accelerate the process the use bots crawl across a large number of password combinations.
• Phishing — Phishing scams are carried out by tricking the victim to get personal login-ID and passwords. It is often done by providing various offers through SMS, fake mail or fake website, etc.
• Viruses and Malwares — It is done by injecting the viruses and malware into the victim’s device through which an attacker can spy on your activities and obtain valuable information by hijacking various applications.

How to prevent Account-Take-Over attack

• Using Hardware Security Keys — It is a form of 2FA-system (Two-Factor-Authentication), which provides hardware-backed cryptographic identity. This ensures that only the owner of the hardware (and its key) can access the associated account.
• Regular Password Management — By changing the Login ID and passwords (especially for finance-related applications) we can reduce identity theft to some extent.
• Double Checking Digital Communication — Double Checking the authentication of digital activities helps the user to survive phishing and other scams.
• Securing Digital Assets — Digital assets can be secured by distributing them into various wallets or in the cold wallets which do not provide easy access to your digital assets.
• Active e-mail management — By creating separate email-ID for cryptocurrency accounts can minimize the chances of getting hacked.

Final Thoughts

With the availability of various methods to deploy the Account-Take-Over Attacks (or ATO attacks) makes it a common scam. It is a vast subject to discuss, however, we have managed to provide a hint of it most objectively. Some precautionary measures are suggested to deal with this scam. To learn more about it, the option of detailed browsing is always available to you.