Increased Credential Stuffing and Account Takeover Risks During Holiday Shopping Season

First reported

08.12.2025 13:58

Last updated

1 unique sources, 1 articles

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The holiday shopping season, particularly around Black Friday and Christmas, sees a surge in bot-driven fraud, credential stuffing, and account takeover attempts. Attackers exploit weak or reused passwords to gain access to customer accounts, which often contain stored payment tokens, loyalty balances, and shipping addresses. Third-party vendor credentials also pose significant risks, as demonstrated by past breaches. Retailers are advised to implement adaptive multi-factor authentication (MFA), block known compromised credentials, and enforce strict access controls for both customer and staff accounts. Technical controls such as bot management, rate limiting, and credential-stuffing detection are recommended to mitigate these risks. Operational continuity plans, including failover procedures, are also crucial to maintain security and revenue during peak shopping periods.

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08.12.2025 13:58 1 articles · 23h ago

Increased Credential Stuffing and Account Takeover Risks During Holiday Shopping Season
The holiday shopping season, particularly around Black Friday and Christmas, sees a surge in bot-driven fraud, credential stuffing, and account takeover attempts. Attackers exploit weak or reused passwords to gain access to customer accounts, which often contain stored payment tokens, loyalty balances, and shipping addresses. Third-party vendor credentials also pose significant risks, as demonstrated by past breaches. Retailers are advised to implement adaptive multi-factor authentication (MFA), block known compromised credentials, and enforce strict access controls for both customer and staff accounts. Technical controls such as bot management, rate limiting, and credential-stuffing detection are recommended to mitigate these risks. Operational continuity plans, including failover procedures, are also crucial to maintain security and revenue during peak shopping periods.
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How Can Retailers Cyber-Prepare for the Most Vulnerable Time of the Year? — thehackernews.com — 08.12.2025 13:58
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Information Snippets

Credential stuffing and password reuse are common attack vectors during the holiday season, targeting customer accounts with stored payment tokens and loyalty balances.
First reported: 08.12.2025 13:58

1 source, 1 article
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- How Can Retailers Cyber-Prepare for the Most Vulnerable Time of the Year? — thehackernews.com — 08.12.2025 13:58
Attackers pre-stage attack scripts and configurations before major sale events to maximize their impact during peak traffic.
First reported: 08.12.2025 13:58

1 source, 1 article
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- How Can Retailers Cyber-Prepare for the Most Vulnerable Time of the Year? — thehackernews.com — 08.12.2025 13:58
Third-party vendor credentials can expand the blast radius of attacks, as seen in the 2013 Target breach.
First reported: 08.12.2025 13:58

1 source, 1 article
Show sources
- How Can Retailers Cyber-Prepare for the Most Vulnerable Time of the Year? — thehackernews.com — 08.12.2025 13:58
Adaptive MFA is recommended to balance security and user experience, prompting for a second factor only during risky logins or transactions.
First reported: 08.12.2025 13:58

1 source, 1 article
Show sources
- How Can Retailers Cyber-Prepare for the Most Vulnerable Time of the Year? — thehackernews.com — 08.12.2025 13:58
Blocking known compromised credentials, focusing on password length and entropy, and moving towards phishing-resistant passwordless options are key security measures.
First reported: 08.12.2025 13:58

1 source, 1 article
Show sources
- How Can Retailers Cyber-Prepare for the Most Vulnerable Time of the Year? — thehackernews.com — 08.12.2025 13:58
Mandatory MFA and strict access controls for staff and third-party accounts can reduce the operational blast radius.
First reported: 08.12.2025 13:58

1 source, 1 article
Show sources
- How Can Retailers Cyber-Prepare for the Most Vulnerable Time of the Year? — thehackernews.com — 08.12.2025 13:58
Technical controls such as bot management, rate limiting, and credential-stuffing detection are essential to prevent automated abuse during peak shopping periods.
First reported: 08.12.2025 13:58

1 source, 1 article
Show sources
- How Can Retailers Cyber-Prepare for the Most Vulnerable Time of the Year? — thehackernews.com — 08.12.2025 13:58
Operational continuity plans, including failover procedures for authentication providers and SMS routes, are crucial to maintain security and revenue.
First reported: 08.12.2025 13:58

1 source, 1 article
Show sources
- How Can Retailers Cyber-Prepare for the Most Vulnerable Time of the Year? — thehackernews.com — 08.12.2025 13:58