What is token theft?¶
Token theft is the unauthorised acquisition of a digital token used to access an account, application or service.
Avoid the dangerous assumption¶
The dangerous assumption is that tokens are merely technical versions of passwords and behave in the same way.
They may not.
A token may represent:
- an authenticated user session
- permission granted to an application
- access to an API
- a device or service identity
- a temporary authorisation
- a refresh mechanism used to obtain new access.
Tokens may be stolen from browsers, devices, applications, memory, configuration files, logs or compromised cloud environments.
The evidential value depends on the token type and provider behaviour.
Investigators should identify:
- what issued the token
- which account, device or application it represented
- what permissions it carried
- when it was created
- where it was stored
- where and when it was used
- when it expired or was revoked
- what actions were performed through it.
A stolen token may allow access without another password or multi-factor challenge.
But the presence of a token does not prove it was used. A successful action associated with a token does not automatically identify the person who controlled it.
Provider records may use identifiers that link token issuance, refresh and later activity. Those fields can be valuable but may require specialist interpretation.
Do not assume that changing the password invalidated every token. Current provider documentation should be checked before making that claim.
Also consider legitimate automation. Applications and service accounts routinely use tokens without interactive users.
Operational takeaway¶
Identify the token’s type, permissions, lifecycle and use, and do not treat password reset or token possession alone as proof that access ended or occurred.