Credential theft is the process of obtaining authentication secrets without authorization. Attackers use infostealer malware, phishing pages, keyloggers, and social engineering to harvest credentials from individuals and employees. Stolen credentials are then used directly, sold on criminal markets, or combined into automated stuffing attacks.
Credential theft is often the first stage in a longer attack chain that ends in fraud, data exfiltration, or ransomware deployment. Detecting theft early, especially through infostealer log monitoring, gives defenders time to force password resets and revoke active sessions.
Learn how attackers operationalize stolen data in our top four infostealer use cases.