One of the most significant threats governments, businesses, and ordinary citizens face is account takeover. Exposure to online account stealing threats is exponentially increasing as more people go online to work, conduct business, attend classes, and do various other things. One study by an anti-fraud company showed that the volume of account takeover attacks drastically rose during the pandemic.
The study highlights a 282% increase in account takeovers between 2019-2020. The rise in account takeover scams is worrisome for e-commerce websites, as 61% target e-commerce marketplaces. What makes the situation worse is that 28% of consumers refuse to continue conducting business with an organization after a data breach incident.
Why account takeover is a primary concern
The ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict has highlighted the prevalence of DDoS and ransomware, especially with the recent reports suggesting Russia has upped its cyber warfare activities. However, account takeover risks should not be downplayed as they continue to be serious threats with the pandemic and Eurasian armed conflict still going on.