Eliminate Account Takeovers with AI-Powered Email and Access Security

Account takeover attacks are among the most damaging threats facing today’s organizations. By gaining unauthorized access to legitimate user accounts, attackers can steal or change sensitive data and launch additional attacks from within the compromised system.  

Recent Barracuda research found ATO attacks to be among the most prevalent email attacks against companies that suffered an email security breach within the 12 months prior. The same research shows that the average recovery costs of these incidents are over $215,000 each, with smaller businesses hit disproportionately harder.

.Barracuda Email Protection combined with Barracuda SecureEdge Access offers a powerful, integrated defense against account takeovers. These solutions combine a proactive AI-powered defense against phishing-led ATO attacks and robust layers of secure connectivity, traffic inspection and continuous policy enforcement. This multilayer strategy protects companies from account takeovers and other complex threats.

Understanding account takeover attacks

Account takeover occurs when an attacker gains unauthorized control of a legitimate user account. The account can be anything from an email to a remote access point to a SaaS admin console. Attackers typically begin these attacks by harvesting credentials through phishing emails, infostealer malware or dark web marketplaces. Once threat actors have valid logins, they can create combolists or URL-login-password (ULP) files that can be used by automated attack tools.

These automated tools and credential lists make it easy to launch credential stuffing and brute force attacks. Corporate email accounts that are not protected by additional defenses may be compromised by these attacks. 

MFA isn’t enough

While multifactor authentication (MFA) is an important layer of defense, it isn’t foolproof against credential compromise and other attacks like session hijacking or MFA fatigue attacks. Sophisticated phishing kits can now replicate legitimate login pages in real time, capturing both credentials and MFA codes to gain immediate access. Even more advanced attacks use adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) proxies to intercept authentication exchanges and reuse them to impersonate victims.

Moreover, MFA does not address the broader ecosystem of stolen credentials, reused passwords, and compromised third-party integrations that feed into ATO campaigns. Attackers that get beyond MFA can access accounts and blend in with network activity as legitimate users. This allows them to access cloud applications, exfiltrate data and launch ransomware campaigns. A stealthy attacker can establish persistence and remain inside a network for months.

Companies must combine email impersonation protection and measures like MFA with additional defenses like adaptive access controls, continuous identity threat detection, certificate-based authentication to prevent MFA bypass, and least-privilege enforcement that blocks lateral movement. Barracuda SecureEdge Access in conjunction with Barracuda Email Protection is the most advanced solution to eliminate account takeover attacks.

Complete protection against ATO attacks

Barracuda SecureEdge Access adds continuous device posture checks, integrated web filtering and real-time threat intelligence to stop zero-day attacks. It also delivers secure SaaS access, comprehensive oversight of privileged accounts and rapid isolation of compromised endpoints to contain ransomware. Here’s how this works to protect a Microsoft 365 account:

1. An authorized user attempts to log in to Microsoft 365 from an authorized device configured with Barracuda SecureEdge Access. 
2. The SecureEdge Access Agent on the device detects the login request to Microsoft 365. The agent redirects this request to the SecureEdge Access service. 
3. The SecureEdge Access service checks several contextual factors, including device health, network location, time of day, and user behavior. 
4. If the request passes these checks, the login request is forwarded to Microsoft 365. 
5. The Microsoft 365 tenant for the user’s domain is already configured to permit only those login attempts that come from Barracuda SecureEdge Access service.
6. Once Microsoft 365 approves the login, the user is authenticated and can proceed. 

Any attempt to bypass these security checks, even with working credentials, results in something like this: 

Barracuda SecureEdge Access prevents an attacker from accessing the account, even if the credentials are correct and multifactor authentication has been circumvented.

The benefits are clear

Adding Barracuda SecureEdge Access to email delivers powerful security enhancements by eliminating the risk of unauthorized access and data breaches. It supports a wide range of endpoints and integrates smoothly into existing environments, making deployment straightforward and scalable. When paired with Barracuda Email Protection, Barracuda SecureEdge Access provides comprehensive coverage that extends beyond traditional email security—protecting users, data and infrastructure across hybrid work environments. This layered approach ensures that threats are intercepted before they reach inboxes or endpoints, significantly reducing exposure and improving overall resilience.

Working with a single vendor like Barracuda offers strategic advantages that go beyond technology. It streamlines management across email, network and cloud security, reducing complexity and operational overhead. Billing and support are simplified, allowing IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than juggling multiple contracts and service providers. Barracuda’s trusted partnership model ensures ongoing protection and proactive threat intelligence, helping organizations stay ahead of evolving risks with minimal disruption. This unified approach not only enhances security posture but also delivers long-term value through efficiency and peace of mind.