Accounts, profiles, and portals are critical to the digital economy and can be compromised to launch attacks that harm customers and businesses. From account takeover to phishing and malware, bad actors can use a single stolen or hacked login as a stepping stone to a wide range of fraud.

Subscription abuse, in particular, is a significant concern for many digital platforms, with the loss of subscription revenue estimated at $10 billion in 2023 alone. With this type of abuse occurring across all industry verticals, it is increasingly important for business leaders to prevent account abuse.

How to Prevent Account Abuse at Signup

A major driver of this is the emergence of new attack methods, such as automated free account creation, that can be leveraged to bypass traditional account protection solutions. This is enabled by the availability of generative AI tools, which allow attackers to build scripts that can automatically create fake accounts on your platform. This can be a challenge for developers, who must implement effective strategies to detect and mitigate this kind of attack.

To combat this threat, Akamai has expanded its market-leading Account Protector solution to include detection of account opening abuse (ATO), also known as new account fraud. The ability to detect fraudulent new account creation can help organizations stop a common attack vector, improve trust, and provide better user experiences.