Account compromise is a critical cybersecurity incident where an unauthorized party gains control over a legitimate user's digital account and its associated resources. This threat typically occurs through sophisticated attack methods including phishing campaigns, brute-force attacks, credential stuffing using stolen login data, malware designed to harvest credentials, or exploitation of authentication vulnerabilities. Once an account is compromised, attackers can impersonate the legitimate user to access sensitive information, financial systems, or privileged network resources.

The consequences of account compromise can be severe, ranging from data exfiltration and financial fraud to reputational damage and serving as an entry point for deeper attacks within an organization's infrastructure. Effective defense requires robust identity and access management practices, multi-factor authentication implementation, continuous monitoring, and well-defined incident response protocols to ensure rapid detection, containment, and recovery from such security events.