Credential Theft
The act of stealing login information, such as usernames and passwords, through phishing, malware, or data breaches.
Credential theft↗ is the act of stealing login information, usernames, passwords, security tokens, or session cookies, so an attacker can access accounts or systems without authorization↗. It's typically carried out through phishing↗ pages that mimic real login screens, keyloggers that record keystrokes, or by exploiting data breaches at other services.
Once stolen, credentials are often sold in bulk on criminal marketplaces or used directly in follow-up attacks like credential stuffing↗ or account takeover↗. Multi-factor authentication↗ significantly limits the damage of credential theft, since a stolen password alone is no longer enough to log in.