Attacks using stolen credentials are on the rise

Organizations are seeing a sharp increase in attacks using stolen account credentials, with crooks using new techniques to beat fraud detection systems, according to Gartner.

Gartner clients have reported a "significant rise" over the last two months in the use of stolen credentials to access accounts, wrote fraud expert Avivah Litan in a blog post Thursday.

The hackers are trying to access systems related to credit cards and financial data, digital currency, travel rewards and high-end fashion -- "anything and everything that has monetary or resale value," Litan wrote. The type of attack is not new, but the methods are making it more difficult to detect.