account takeover attack

Account Takeover Prevention: How to Protect Your Brand... What Is an Account Takeover Attack? Account Takeover, which is also referred to as 'Credential Stuffing,' 'account hijacking,' or 'ATO,' refers to a hacking technique whereby a hacker or fraudster uses illegal methods to get hold of confidential details of a victim and leverages on this information to take control over the victim's bank, e-commerce, or other online accounts. A successful ATO attack results in serious damage, both financial and emotional, with the victim losing money and/or confidential personal information. How Do Hackers and Fraudsters Achieve ATO? Despite the existence of high-security standards for all major payment gateways, hackers and fraudsters are still successful in getting their hands-on user credentials and financial information. In addition, financial institutions are struggling to identify hacking attempts at an early stage, so, in many cases, they do not realize an account takeover.