Case Study: How a Fortune 500 Reduced Account Takeovers by 85%

Executive Summary

A Fortune 500 financial services company was experiencing a surge in account takeover (ATO) attacks against their customer-facing applications. After implementing SocialEye's credential monitoring solution, they achieved an 85% reduction in successful ATO attacks within six months.

The Challenge

Background

The company operates multiple digital banking platforms serving over 10 million customers. In early 2024, they observed:

• 340% increase in credential stuffing attacks
• $2.3M in fraud losses attributed to ATO
• 45,000 customer accounts compromised in Q1 alone
• Increasing customer complaints and churn

Root Causes

Investigation revealed several contributing factors:

1. Password reuse: Customers using the same credentials across multiple services
2. Stealer malware: Customer devices infected with infostealers harvesting credentials
3. Phishing: Sophisticated phishing campaigns targeting customers
4. Dark web sales: Active trading of their customer credentials on underground forums

Previous Defenses

The company had implemented standard defenses:

• Rate limiting on login endpoints
• Device fingerprinting
• Risk-based authentication
• MFA (optional for customers)

While these measures blocked some attacks, sophisticated attackers were bypassing them using valid credentials and stolen session data.

The Solution

Implementation Approach

The security team implemented a multi-layered approach using SocialEye:

Phase 1: Exposure Assessment (Week 1-2)

Initial analysis revealed:

• 127,000 customer email addresses present in breach databases
• 34,000 credentials with associated passwords
• 8,500 records in recent stealer logs

Phase 2: Proactive Reset Campaign (Week 3-4)

For high-confidence exposures:

• Forced password resets for 15,000 highest-risk accounts
• Personalized security notifications explaining the risk
• Streamlined re-enrollment with MFA incentives

Phase 3: Real-Time Monitoring (Ongoing)

Integrated SocialEye API into authentication flow:

Login Attempt
     │
     ▼
┌──────────────────┐
│ Standard Auth    │
│ (username/pass)  │
└────────┬─────────┘
         │
         ▼
┌──────────────────┐
│ SocialEye Check  │◀──── Real-time credential
│ (async lookup)   │      exposure check
└────────┬─────────┘
         │
    ┌────┴────┐
    │ Exposed?│
    └────┬────┘
         │
    Yes  │  No
    ▼    ▼
Step-Up  Normal
Auth     Access

When credentials matched known exposures:

• Require additional authentication factor
• Flag session for enhanced monitoring
• Queue for proactive password reset notification

Results

Six-Month Outcomes

ROI Analysis

Annual savings:

• Fraud reduction: $3.9M
• Customer service costs: $240K
• Investigation hours: $180K
• Total: $4.32M

Investment:

• SocialEye subscription: $120K/year
• Integration development: $85K (one-time)
• ROI: 35x in first year

Key Success Factors

1. Proactive vs. Reactive

Rather than waiting for attacks, the team identified exposed credentials before attackers could exploit them.

2. Customer-Friendly Approach

Password reset communications explained the "why" without causing alarm:

"We detected that your email address appeared in a third-party data breach. While our systems were not compromised, we're requiring a password update as a precaution..."

3. Continuous Monitoring

Daily ingestion of new breach data meant emerging exposures were caught quickly.

4. Layered Implementation

Combining exposure monitoring with existing controls created defense in depth.

Lessons Learned

1. Start with assessment: Understanding current exposure is essential for prioritization
2. Communicate carefully: Customer messaging requires sensitivity
3. Integrate, don't replace: Credential monitoring complements existing security
4. Measure everything: Clear metrics demonstrated value to leadership

Conclusion

Proactive credential monitoring fundamentally shifted this organization from reactive incident response to proactive threat prevention. The 85% reduction in ATO attacks not only saved millions in fraud losses but also protected customer trust and the company's reputation.

Ready to reduce your organization's account takeover risk? Contact our team for a personalized assessment.