FREE TRIAL
REQUEST A DEMO

How MSPs Can Protect Customers From Session Hijacking

Move over, brute-force attacks. There’s a new kid in town: token hijacking, aka session hijacking.

While brute-force attacks require a lot of manual work — guessing password after password for an account — token hijacking makes hackers’ lives easier. 

And the easier life is for hackers, the harder it is for you and your customers.

How Does Session Hijacking Work?

Here’s how token hijacking usually goes:

  • The prep work: Cybercriminal sets up a server between the end user’s login screen and the specific SaaS application (for example, Google Workspace). 
  • The ask: Cybercriminal sends an email to the end user. This email is masked to look like a normal request to log into Google. 
  • The moment of truth: End user clicks on the link in the email, which takes them to a login screen that looks like what they’re used to seeing. They shrug and type in their credentials. 
  • The token: An access token is created and sent to the browser. 
  • The theft: Cybercriminal intercepts the token and is now able to access that end user’s Google account. 
  • The breach: Now, the cybercriminal can go hang out in that Google account, steal sensitive info, set up email forwarding to their own email, run phishing scams or generally wreak whatever havoc they want. 

Why Session Hijacking Is Such a Pain in the SaaS for MSPs — and Their Customers

As more workers shift to remote work, hackers see more openings than ever for session hijacking. 

That’s because in home offices, there are: 

  • Less secure Wi-Fi networks
  • Fewer firewalls
  • More communication happening via email 

And with 91% of all cyberattacks starting with email — including token hijacking — that’s bad news for MSPs trying to stop these attacks.

Once a hacker steals a login token, they can choose to either: 

  1. Live off the land by just hanging out undetected in the account, observing typical behavior and using that information to plan a larger-scale attack. 
  2. Immediately launch an attack in which they steal important information or ask for money.

Whichever path they choose, the consequences of session hijacking can be dire. 

When an end user receives a token hijacking email and (unintentionally) hands over their login credentials, they open the organization to:

  • Financial losses: With access to an end user’s account (and all the data that end user might have access to), a hacker can demand ransom. And there’s no such thing as a cheap ransom.
  • Higher insurance premiums: There’s also no such thing as a cheap insurance premium. Insurance companies won’t hesitate to raise the monthly bill after a cyberattack. 
  • Potential fines: Cyber breaches also usually mean compliance problems. Once that hacker gets into the head of HR’s files and steals the whole team’s Social Security numbers, compliance programs won’t be happy.
  • Reputational harm: No organization wants to be on the news for a multimillion dollar cyberattack. 
  • Operational pauses: Even if just one end user within an organization is hacked, that single breach can shut down daily operations — that is, until you swoop in, assess the damage and clean up the mess.

How to Prevent Session Hijacking

Security Awareness Training

The only way to prevent session hijacking is to train end users how to identify — and not fall for — potential attacks. 

The goal is to get them to the point where they see that fake login screen and think, “Hmm. This seems suspicious. Let me check with someone before I type in my password.” 

Helping end users spot those initial red flags — that’s your job! 

As an MSP, customer education is extremely important (and makes your job a heck of a lot easier). Make sure to prioritize security awareness training and teach users how to spot a potential token hijacking attempt. 

User Behavior Analytics

The next most powerful tool in your arsenal is monitoring and understanding end-user behavior. Because once you define what’s “normal,” it’s easier to spot anomalies. 

For example, if a hacker gets into an account via token hijacking and sets up a strange email forwarding rule, this can trigger an alert. And you can save the day from there by shutting down the account.

How SaaS Alerts Helps Identify and Stop Session Hijacking Attacks

When it comes to protecting your clients from token hijacking, you don’t have to go it alone. SaaS Alerts provides: 

  • Continuous monitoring: Keep a close eye on user behavior so you can identify abnormalities. 
  • Automatic detection and shutdown capabilities: But don’t rely just on your eyes. SaaS Alerts can launch automatic remediation steps (like locking down an account) based on specific flagged behaviors. 
  • Powerful reporting: Sure, a stack of reports won’t prevent cyberattacks on their own. But savvy MSPs (that’s you) can use SaaS Alerts’ reporting features to identify problem areas and scare your customers a little — at least enough for them to consider more security awareness training for their employees.

Ready to Get Started?

Differentiate your MSP while super charging your cybersecurity revenue and better protecting your customers from the ever-growing SaaS threat landscape.

Free Trial

6081 Hamilton Blvd Ste 600-750 Allentown PA, 18106-9801

info@saasalerts.com

(910) 887-3352

SaaS Alerts is an automated SaaS security threat detection and response platform that exposes advanced threats and immediately takes action to keep your managed SaaS environments safe.

QUICK LINKS

Facebook-f Twitter Linkedin-in

© 2024 SaaS Alerts | All rights reserved.

Get Started

Request a Demo