How to Protect Your Online Accounts From Being Breached in 2026
Online accounts have become some of the most valuable assets a business owns.
Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, accounting platforms, CRM systems, banking portals and cloud applications may contain years of email, customer information, financial records and confidential documents.
That makes login credentials extremely attractive to criminals.
Phishing remains the most commonly identified cyber attack affecting UK businesses. The Government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025/26 found that 38% of businesses experienced phishing during the previous 12 months.
The good news is that account security has improved enormously.
In 2026, protecting an account should no longer mean simply choosing a complicated password and hoping nobody guesses it.
Businesses can combine passkeys, phishing-resistant MFA, password managers, Conditional Access, managed devices and security monitoring to make account compromise considerably harder.
Here are the controls that matter most.
1. Use Passkeys Wherever They Are Available
One of the biggest changes in account security is the growing adoption of passkeys.
Traditional passwords are vulnerable because they are secrets you can accidentally give to somebody else.
A convincing phishing page asks for your password.
You type it in.
The criminal now has it.
Passkeys work differently.
The NCSC strengthened its recommendation around passkeys in April 2026, explaining that they are cryptographically tied to the genuine service and therefore provide strong resistance to phishing.
Microsoft similarly describes FIDO2 passkeys as phishing-resistant because the credentials cannot simply be replayed or handed over to a malicious website.
That makes passkeys particularly attractive for:
Microsoft 365.
Google accounts.
Password managers.
Administrator accounts.
Financial applications.
Other high-value cloud services.
Where your important accounts support them, passkeys should increasingly become the preferred way of signing in.
2. Still Use MFA — but Understand That Not All MFA Is Equal
If passkeys are not available, multi-factor authentication remains essential.
MFA means an attacker needs something beyond the password.
But the old idea that every form of MFA provides exactly the same protection is outdated.
The NCSC now specifically recommends organisations use stronger forms of MFA that provide better resistance to phishing. FIDO2 authentication provides phishing resistance, while traditional methods such as SMS codes can still potentially be captured or socially engineered.
A simplified hierarchy might look like:
Strongest: passkeys/FIDO2 security keys and other phishing-resistant methods.
Strong: passwordless authentication such as Windows Hello for Business where appropriately deployed.
Useful: authenticator-app approval with appropriate protections.
Better than password-only: one-time codes and SMS.
The important point is:
Do not abandon MFA because some forms are stronger than others.
Even basic MFA is generally much better than relying on a password alone.
But for administrator and other high-value accounts, move towards phishing-resistant authentication where practical.
Microsoft explicitly recommends phishing-resistant methods such as Windows Hello for Business, passkeys/FIDO2 and certificate-based authentication for the strongest sign-in experience.
3. Stop Reusing Passwords
Password reuse turns one breached service into multiple compromised accounts.
Imagine you use the same password for:
Your business email.
LinkedIn.
An online shop.
A personal streaming service.
The online shop suffers a breach.
Attackers now have an email address and password combination they can try elsewhere automatically.
This is known as credential stuffing.
The solution is simple in principle:
Every important account should have a unique password.
Of course, remembering 70 unique passwords is not particularly realistic.
That is where a password manager helps.
4. Use a Reputable Password Manager
A password manager can generate and store long, unique passwords so employees don't have to invent memorable variations of:
Summer2026!
Summer2026!!
and
Summer2026!!!
The NCSC continues to recommend password managers and advises protecting the password-manager account itself with 2-step verification and a strong unique primary password.
For businesses, centrally managed password-management platforms can also provide useful controls around:
Secure credential sharing.
Employee onboarding.
Offboarding.
Auditability.
Access control.
Emergency access.
The important part is avoiding insecure alternatives such as storing passwords in:
Excel spreadsheets.
Word documents.
Sticky notes.
Shared Teams messages.
Email drafts.
Browser notes.
If an account supports passkeys, you may gradually need fewer traditional passwords anyway.
5. Protect Your Email Account First
Your email account is often the master key to everything else.
Think about how many websites offer:
Forgot your password?
Where does the reset link go?
Your email.
If an attacker compromises your mailbox, they may be able to reset access to numerous other services.
For business users, a compromised Microsoft 365 mailbox may also expose:
Customer conversations.
Invoices.
Supplier information.
Internal documents.
Reset links.
Shared files.
Calendar information.
That can create opportunities for business email compromise, payment fraud and further phishing.
So prioritise email security.
Use strong authentication.
Monitor suspicious sign-ins.
Restrict administrator access.
Review forwarding rules.
Protect mailbox permissions.
And make email one of the first systems you secure with phishing-resistant authentication.
6. Use Conditional Access for Business Accounts
For businesses using Microsoft 365, account security can go much further than:
Correct password = access granted.
Microsoft Entra Conditional Access can consider signals such as:
User identity.
Device.
Network location.
Application.
Sign-in risk.
Device compliance.
Microsoft describes Conditional Access as its Zero Trust policy engine, allowing organisations to enforce access controls based on the circumstances of the sign-in.
For example, an organisation could require stronger authentication when someone accesses sensitive systems.
It could restrict certain applications to managed devices.
It could challenge risky sign-ins.
It could impose stronger requirements around administrator accounts.
Microsoft also supports authentication strengths, allowing organisations to specifically require phishing-resistant authentication for sensitive resources or privileged users.
This is one of the biggest differences between modern business identity security and old-fashioned password policies.
7. Secure the Device as Well as the Account
Sometimes attackers do not need to steal your password at all.
If malware compromises a device where you are already authenticated, the attacker may attempt to steal session information or otherwise abuse the signed-in environment.
That is why account security and device security need to work together.
Business devices should be:
Supported and fully patched.
Protected with modern endpoint security and EDR.
Encrypted.
Managed.
Protected by screen locking and strong authentication.
Restricted so ordinary employees do not have unnecessary administrator privileges.
Businesses should increasingly be asking:
“Is this a trusted user on a trusted device?”
rather than merely:
“Did they type the correct password?”
That is also where device-management platforms such as Microsoft Intune can work alongside Conditional Access.
8. Be Suspicious of Unexpected Login Requests
A common phishing message says something like:
“Your Microsoft 365 password expires today.”
or:
“Suspicious login detected. Verify immediately.”
The email provides a convenient button.
You click.
A Microsoft-looking login page appears.
The safest habit is often:
Don't use the link.
Open the service independently.
If Microsoft genuinely needs your attention, go directly to Microsoft 365.
If your bank reports a problem, open the banking app.
If Amazon says there is an order problem, open Amazon yourself.
The NCSC continues to recommend layered protection against phishing rather than relying entirely on employees successfully recognising every fake message.
A beautifully designed login page can still be malicious.
9. Don't Automatically Approve MFA Requests
If your phone suddenly asks you to approve a login you did not initiate:
Do not approve it.
Some attacks rely on repeatedly triggering authentication prompts and hoping the victim eventually presses Approve simply to make them stop.
Employees should understand:
An unexpected authentication request may indicate somebody already has their password.
Report it.
Investigate it.
Do not approve it.
Moving towards phishing-resistant methods reduces this problem further.
10. Public Wi-Fi Is Not Quite the Threat It Used to Be
Older security advice often says:
“Never enter a password on public Wi-Fi because anybody can read it.”
That is too simplistic in 2026.
Modern websites and cloud applications normally use encrypted HTTPS connections, meaning somebody on the same Wi-Fi network cannot ordinarily just read your password travelling across the connection.
But public networks can still introduce risks.
You could connect to a fake hotspot.
Devices may expose unnecessary services.
Network behaviour may be less trustworthy.
For business users, a better approach is:
Use managed devices.
Keep software updated.
Verify the network.
Follow your organisation's remote-working policies.
Use corporate VPN or Zero Trust connectivity where the business requires it.
Avoid treating an open coffee-shop network exactly like your trusted office network.
The NCSC's current network-security guidance emphasises secure architecture and protection of data in transit rather than the outdated idea that public Wi-Fi automatically reveals every password.
11. Monitor for Signs of Account Compromise
Protection is only half the job.
You also want to spot compromise quickly.
For business Microsoft environments, identity-security tools can help identify risky sign-ins and suspicious accounts.
Microsoft Entra ID Protection supports investigation and remediation of identity risk, including actions such as requiring password changes, re-registering MFA, blocking users and revoking sessions.
Look for things such as:
Unexpected sign-ins.
Impossible or unusual locations.
New authentication methods.
Unfamiliar devices.
Mailbox forwarding rules.
Unexpected password resets.
Security alerts.
Authentication prompts nobody initiated.
The sooner a compromised account is discovered, the less time an attacker has to exploit it.
What Should You Do If an Account Has Already Been Breached?
Changing the password is a good start.
But for business accounts, it may not be enough.
If an attacker is already signed in, an active session may continue to exist after the initial compromise.
In Microsoft Entra ID, administrators can revoke sessions as part of an emergency response, while Identity Protection provides additional risk-remediation options.
A proper response may include:
Change the password if one is still used.
Revoke active sessions.
Review sign-in logs.
Check MFA/passkey registration.
Remove unknown authentication methods.
Check mailbox forwarding and inbox rules.
Review administrator-role changes.
Check connected applications.
Investigate the device.
Look for other affected users.
If financial or sensitive information was exposed, wider incident-response steps may also be required.
Do not simply change the password and assume everything is fixed.
The Biggest Improvement You Can Make in 2026
If your current account-security strategy is:
Password + SMS code
it is already considerably better than password-only authentication.
But the direction of travel is clear.
Businesses should increasingly move towards:
Passkeys and phishing-resistant authentication.
Unique passwords managed securely where passwords remain necessary.
Conditional Access.
Managed devices.
Risk monitoring.
Rapid incident response.
The NCSC now describes passkeys as a more secure and user-friendly replacement for traditional passwords and recommends using them where supported.
Passwords are not going to disappear overnight.
But they should gradually become less important.
Protect Your Business Accounts With Hamilton Group
Hamilton Group can help businesses secure the cloud accounts their employees rely on every day.
We can help with Microsoft 365 security, Microsoft Entra ID, Conditional Access, passkeys and phishing-resistant MFA, endpoint protection and EDR, device management, security monitoring, password management and cyber-security awareness.
We can also review existing Microsoft 365 environments to identify weaknesses such as poor authentication methods, excessive administrator access, insecure devices or missing Conditional Access policies.
And when your employees think an account may have been compromised, speed matters. Our aim is to make first contact on IT support requests within 15 minutes.
Call Hamilton Group on 0330 043 0069 or visit hgmssp.com to speak with one of our IT and cyber-security experts.