{"id":5605,"date":"2026-07-31T09:27:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T07:27:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enthec.com\/?p=5605"},"modified":"2026-07-31T09:27:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T07:27:59","slug":"account-hijacking-what-it-is-how-it-happens-and-what-to-do-if-your-accounts-have-been-compromised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enthec.com\/en\/account-hijacking-what-it-is-how-it-happens-and-what-to-do-if-your-accounts-have-been-compromised\/","title":{"rendered":"Account Hijacking: What It Is, How It Happens, and What to Do If Your Accounts Have Been Compromised"},"content":{"rendered":"

If one day you try to log in to your email and your password no longer works, or you receive a login notification from a country you’ve never been to, you may have been the victim of an <\/span>account takeover\u2014in other words, someone has taken control of something that belongs to you without your permission.<\/b><\/p>\n

This is no minor issue. Fraud related to account theft and takeover results in combined losses of more than billions of euros each year for individuals and businesses. And the trend, far from improving, continues to worsen. <\/span><\/p>\n

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What exactly is account hijacking?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Account hijacking, also known as<\/span> account takeover<\/i><\/b>, is the process by which an unauthorized third party gains access to and control over someone else’s digital account. This could be an email account, a social media account, a banking platform, a subscription service, or any other platform where you have saved login credentials. <\/span><\/p>\n

Once inside, the attacker can do virtually anything, such as read your private messages, carry out financial transactions, impersonate you to your contacts, sell access to the account on the black market, or use it as a point of entry to compromise other related systems.<\/span><\/p>\n

What makes this type of attack particularly dangerous is that, in many cases, <\/span>the victim doesn’t realize it right away<\/b>. The intrusion may go unnoticed for days or weeks before the damage becomes apparent.<\/span><\/p>\n

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How Account Hijacking Occurs<\/b><\/h2>\n

There are several ways attackers can gain control of someone else’s account. Knowing what they are is the first step to avoiding them. <\/span><\/p>\n

Data Breaches and Exposed Credentials<\/b><\/h3>\n

One of the most common causes. When a company experiences a <\/span>security breach<\/span><\/a>, your users’ credentials (email addresses and passwords) may end up being posted on forums or sold on the dark web. If you reuse the same password across multiple services, a single data breach can compromise several of your accounts at once. <\/span><\/p>\n

Credential stuffing attacks<\/b><\/h3>\n

This method takes advantage of precisely that. Attackers use lists of leaked credentials and automatically test them on hundreds of different platforms. If the username and password match on any of them, they gain access without having to hack anything. <\/span><\/p>\n

Phishing and Direct Deception<\/b><\/h3>\n

Fake emails, messages, or websites that impersonate legitimate services remain a highly effective entry point. The goal is simple: to get you to enter your information into a form that is actually sending that information directly to the attacker. <\/span><\/p>\n

To learn more, check out our post:> <\/span>Phishing: What It Is and How Many Types There Are<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Malware and Spyware<\/b><\/h3>\n

Some malicious programs install themselves on the victim’s device and capture keystrokes, passwords saved in the browser, or session cookies\u2014all without the user noticing anything unusual. <\/span><\/p>\n

Social engineering.<\/b><\/h3>\n

Sometimes no technical sophistication is needed to carry out a <\/span>social engineering attack<\/span><\/a>. A call from someone posing as technical support, an urgent \u201caccount verification\u201d message, or a seemingly harmless conversation can be enough to trick someone into voluntarily handing over their credentials.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Signs That Your Account May Have Been Compromised<\/b><\/h2>\n

There isn’t always a clear warning. However, there are <\/span>Signs You Shouldn’t Ignore<\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n