Account takeover is the compromise and unauthorised use of legitimate user credentials to access systems, impersonate users, or conduct fraudulent activities, including business email compromise and credential stuffing attacks. Coverage under a cyber insurance policy typically includes fraud recovery, incident response costs, and financial losses from unauthorised transactions, though often with specific sub-limits. Most insurers now require multi-factor authentication (MFA) as a condition of coverage, potentially excluding claims where MFA wasn't implemented. Claim validity depends heavily on detection and response speed—delays in identifying or reporting compromised accounts may reduce or void coverage. Policies may treat takeovers differently based on the compromise method (phishing versus technical exploitation), and organisations must maintain adequate access logs to prove unauthorised use.

Account takeover is the compromise and unauthorised use of legitimate user credentials to access systems, impersonate users, or conduct fraudulent activities, including business email compromise and credential stuffing attacks. Coverage under a cyber insurance policy typically includes fraud recovery, incident response costs, and financial losses from unauthorised transactions, though often with specific sub-limits. Most insurers now require multi-factor authentication (MFA) as a condition of coverage, potentially excluding claims where MFA wasn't implemented. Claim validity depends heavily on detection and response speed—delays in identifying or reporting compromised accounts may reduce or void coverage. Policies may treat takeovers differently based on the compromise method (phishing versus technical exploitation), and organisations must maintain adequate access logs to prove unauthorised use.