Why use passwordless authentication? Well, account takeovers are no joke. Whether it's your social media being hacked or accounts filled with sensitive information, the damage can be long-lasting. Moreover, by the time you regain control irreversible damage can be done.
The fact remains, however, that security measures that prevent this from being a problem in the first place, are the best defense for this. On a company-wide or organizational basis, implementing an IAM software that takes care of authentication and puts an MFA (multi-factor authentication) framework in place can help tremendously.
This is why in this article, we’ll cover how passwordless authentication can reduce the chances of your company accounts being taken over.
What are Account Takeovers?
An account takeover (ATO) is any process where an individual or organization's accounts are taken over through methods like phishing, credential stuffing, or through the use of malware.
Account takeovers are classified as a cyberattack even for the more unconventional types such as sim swapping. Typically all ATOs lead to fraudulent activity such as extracting personal information, making unauthorized transactions, or changing your account details like linked email IDs or passwords to prevent any recovery attempts.
How Can Passwordless Authentication Reduce Account Takeovers (ATO)
1. Fewer ATOs With Better Bot Prevention Technology
Credential-based attacks like credential stuffing, often carried out by bots, are a major factor in ATO incidents. Hackers often use bots to guess or steal passwords, leading to account takeovers. However remove passwords, and these attacks lose their effectiveness.
No passwords mean nothing to guess or steal!
With advanced bot prevention technologies, integrated with passwordless solutions, strengthen security even further. What these systems do is identify suspicious traffic patterns and block automated attacks before they can cause any harm.
So by implementing this through IAM software across your organization, you’re not only minimizing ATO risks but also enhancing the system’s resilience against evolving threats.
2. Difficult and More Expensive for Hackers to Takeover
Passwordless authentication significantly raises the stakes for hackers. Without passwords to steal, brute-force and credential-stuffing attacks lose their effectiveness, making account takeovers a lot more difficult and resource-intensive.
This would mean hackers would now have to crack complex identity checks like fingerprints or security tokens. With just the sheer effort involved many hackers would be put off. For businesses, this means fewer security headaches and safer user accounts.
This active defense makes it very hard to use stolen account info, reducing the risk of breaches across an organization. This can be enabled through an IAM software framework across the board.
3. Can be Integrated with MFA for Better Security
Passwordless authentication works seamlessly when combined with multi-factor authentication (MFA), strengthening security against account takeovers. By eliminating passwords, which are often the weakest link, and layering MFA on top, the risk of unauthorized access drops significantly.
MFA adds another level of verification, whether through biometrics, hardware tokens, or mobile-based authentication. This multi-layered approach ensures that even if one factor is compromised, attackers still face additional difficult hurdles.
When deployed company-wide, integrating passwordless authentication with MFA creates a robust defense system that is hard to bypass, effectively reducing the threat of account takeovers.
4. Prevents Compromised Accounts From Logging In
Passwordless authentication is quite effective in preventing compromised accounts from being exploited.
Why? Well, without passwords to steal, attackers can't use traditional methods like credential stuffing to gain access. Instead, identity-based factors such as biometrics or hardware tokens verify the user, ensuring only legitimate access.
This means that even if a device is hacked, real-time identity checks can block access. This active defense makes it hard to use stolen account info, reducing the risk of breaches that can happen to both individuals and organizations.
5. Prevent ATO through Incident Response Plans
Why is passwordless authentication effective? Account takeovers (ATO) pose serious risks, and a strong incident response plan is key to mitigating them.
With passwordless systems, compromised credentials no longer pose the same threat, as attackers can’t rely on stolen passwords to gain access.
By integrating passwordless authentication into your incident response plan, you reduce the likelihood of ATOs and streamline detection. Even if suspicious activity occurs, fast response protocols can minimize damage. For enterprises, combining passwordless solutions with incident response frameworks strengthens defenses, ensuring quick containment and recovery in the event of an attempted takeover.
6. Safeguards User Identity Through MFA and Security Keys
Why use passwordless authentication? Account takeovers are serious threats, particularly when sensitive user data is involved. Once an attacker gains control, reversing the damage can be difficult.
However, passwordless systems safeguard user identity by leveraging multi-factor authentication (MFA) and security keys. MFA adds layers of verification, requiring multiple authentication methods such as biometrics or tokens.
Security keys, in particular, offer a hardware-based layer of protection that is nearly impossible to breach. By integrating these methods, organizations can significantly reduce the risk of account takeovers while strengthening identity protection across the board.
How Do Account Takeovers Happen?
Account takeovers typically happen through credential theft, phishing attacks, or brute force methods where hackers exploit weak or reused passwords. Once inside, they can lock users out, steal data, or launch further attacks.
Preventing this requires robust security measures that stop unauthorized access before it happens. Passwordless authentication eliminates passwords, reducing the risk of these common attack methods and safeguarding accounts from compromise in the first place.
Overall, however, the best way to prevent account takeovers is to implement a robust IAM software like Infisign that is capable of monitoring security breaches and enabling MFA company-wide. Want to know more? Why not try our free trial?
FAQs for How Passwordless Authentication Prevents Account Takeovers
What are the different types of passwordless authentication methods?
Common methods include biometric authentication (fingerprint, facial recognition), hardware tokens, mobile-based authentication (push notifications), and security keys like FIDO2.
How does passwordless authentication integrate with MFA?
Passwordless systems can combine with multi-factor authentication (MFA), requiring additional layers of verification, like biometrics or a security key, for a more secure login process.
What happens if my device is lost or stolen?
With passwordless authentication, losing a device doesn’t automatically grant access to your accounts. Devices are often tied to biometric authentication or hardware-based security tokens, adding another layer of protection.
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