Preventing credential stuffing attacks with IPinfo

Using IPinfo’s data identify suspicious login attempts and prevent credential-stuffing attacks

A credential stuffing attack occurs when an account’s username and password are leaked through a previous breach or data leak. Malicious actors then utilize these compromised credentials to attempt logging into the system. It’s important to note that this type of attack differs from a brute force attack, as the malicious actor is unlikely to make repeated login attempts.

The nuance of this attack lies in the absence of an off-the-shelf solution for prevention. In such situations, organizations are required to construct an internal security model using their own data. IP privacy detection serves as one dimension of the data that can be utilized. Additionally, ASN and geolocation data are essential elements to consider.

By examining the IP logs of an organization’s user accounts, they can uncover geolocation and ASN details of users who access their system legitimately. By comparing these details with known access locations and internet service providers, they can identify regular users.

Although malicious actors can attempt to falsify their geolocation by using IP privacy solutions, their success in doing so is unreliable. For instance, if a regular user typically accesses the website through a Verizon internet connection in Milwaukee, it becomes crucial for malicious actors to be physically present in the same location and utilize the same internet provider during credential-stuffing attacks. Even with the use of intermediate IP addresses for relaying (not even residential proxies), replicating these conditions becomes exceedingly challenging.

With IP privacy detection, you can prevent the vast majority of access attempts by detecting anonymous IPs. However, when you add the context of geolocation and ASN data, you radically reduce the minority cases as well. If there are any anomalies or deviations observed within a pattern concerning location and ASN, the system can proactively initiate a multifactor authentication (MFA) request or they can block the request outright.

Facebook restricting access based on atypical user location

It really depends on how far they want to invest in creating pattern-based malicious recognition models. There is no off-the-shelf solution for preventing credential stuffing attack. But with IPinfo’s data and a little bit of coding, they have the potential to construct the strongest possible firewall for thwarting credential-stuffing attacks.

That is what makes us special. It is not just IP privacy detection. We provide every type of IP data to create robust cybersecurity solutions possible.

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