Home » Credential Stuffing Attacks: What They Are and How to Stop them

Credential Stuffing Attacks: What They Are and How to Stop them

What is a credential stuffing attack?

A credential stuffing attack refers to automated matching of stolen usernames and passwords to find valid combinations of login credentials. It is the fuel that powers account takeover attacks and often precedes them, costing businesses millions.

The rapid rise in credential stuffing attacks has made it increasingly important to ensure robust authentication processes. Investing in such measures is crucial to safeguard sensitive data and protect against cybercrime. Additionally, the return on investment (ROI) from these efforts is clear, as businesses can experience a dramatic reduction in the cost of fraud, improved customer experience, and a stronger reputation from the improved security. This is especially true for businesses in the e-commerce and financial services industries, which are the most vulnerable to credential stuffing attacks.

Credential stuffing attacks are becoming commonplace… and expensive!

Credential stuffing attacks can have a major impact on businesses. Not only can they cause significant financial loss, but can also lead to a damaged reputation and lost customers. Investing in advanced credential stuffing defense technologies can help reduce financial losses as well as protect your brand reputation, resulting in a positive return on investment (ROI).

Commonly used techniques to prevent credential stuffing attacks

It goes without saying that credential stuffing attacks pose a big challenge to users’ account security. Businesses would do well to take preventive measures to counter this growing threat, as the return on investment (ROI) is significant. Some of the common techniques that businesses are using to counter credential stuffing attacks include: implementing multi-factor authentication, using security question challenges, and regularly monitoring for suspicious activity. By implementing these measures, businesses can benefit from the improved security, cost savings, and peace of mind.

To prevent attackers from abusing users’ digital accounts, it is essential to protect the sanctity of these accounts. Account security is about keeping these digital accounts safe from attacks and from being compromised.

Account Security is Critical to Business Growth

With the threat of cyberattacks on the rise, it is no longer a question of 'if' but 'when' a business will become a target. Attackers use advanced bots and automated scripts to scale up their attacks quickly and cost-effectively. These bots can mimic human behavior with a high degree of accuracy, while more complex tasks are outsourced to low-cost human click farms. If successful, these attacks can disrupt business operations and user experience, resulting in a significant financial loss. Investing in robust security measures can help protect your business and ensure a positive return on investment.

FAQ

Although credential stuffing attacks resemble brute force attacks, the former uses real user credentials that are stolen or scraped. In brute force attacks, however, attackers try to guess passwords using random characters and password suggestions.

Credential stuffing attacks primarily have three steps namely: data harvesting, credential matching, and monetizing the attack. Attackers use bots to automate the validation process of stolen username and password combinations. These bots can match thousands of usernames and passwords to arrive at valid combinations in no time. This enables attackers to scale up the attacks and increase ROI.

The commonly used techniques to fight credential stuffing attacks include IP blocking, CAPTCHAs, multi-factor authentication (MFA), behavioral biometrics, and device profiling. However, these techniques have their own shortcomings and do not provide the level of protection from credential stuffing attacks that today’s digital businesses need.

Arkose Labs is the preferred partner for global businesses fighting the onslaught of credential stuffing attacks. This is due to the long-term protection from these attacks without disrupting user experience.

Arkose Labs uses targeted friction to authenticate all incoming users, without the need to block anyone. Combining real-time, risk-based decisioning with adaptive step-up enforcement challenges, the Arkose Labs platform ascertains whether or not fraudsters have been able to corrupt a good user’s digital footprint. 

Based on real-time analysis, the platform classifies and triages incoming traffic and accordingly presents an enforcement challenge. These challenges interact with and engage suspicious users in a long-drawn battle to drain their resources, efforts, and time; in the process eroding the returns from the attack and forcing attackers to move on. To ensure future-proof protection from credential stuffing attacks, feedback from each user session informs the risk engine to help continuous improvement for future predictions.

And that’s not all. Arkose Labs provides 24/7 SOC support in addition to the industry-first $1M credential stuffing warranty that guarantees peace of mind from credential stuffing attacks.