Impossible-travel login detection flags when one account signs in from two locations too far apart for the same person to have travelled between them in the time available, for example a login in the UK and then minutes later from another country. That’s a strong sign the password has been stolen and is being used by an attacker. For a contractor, it’s an early warning that catches an account takeover before it turns into fraud.
It’s one of the most useful signals in modern account security. Here’s how it helps protect your firm.
1. What it actually spots
If your account logs in from your office and, shortly after, from a city hundreds of miles away, it’s almost certainly not you. Detection software notices that impossible journey and raises an alert, pointing to a likely compromised account.
2. Why it matters for contractors
Contractors handle payments and are targeted by fraud, so a hijacked account can be very costly. Impossible-travel detection gives you a chance to act before an attacker reads your mail, changes payment details or sends a fake invoice.
3. It works alongside MFA
MFA stops most account takeovers, and detection catches the cases that slip through, such as an attacker who has found a way around it. Together they give you both prevention and early warning.
4. Someone has to act on it
An alert is only useful if someone investigates it quickly. As your IT partner, we watch these alerts and respond, locking down a suspect account and resetting access before damage is done.
A real example: a foreign login caught
We support a security and M&E contractor where managed detection repeatedly flagged a UK user’s account signing in from abroad, along with a suspicious change to their sign-in security. We investigated and locked the account down before the attacker could act, exactly the kind of save this detection makes possible.
For a security, fire or M&E contractor, this is part of managed IT and security that usually costs about £45 to £100 per user per month, scaling with your headcount, how many staff work from site, and the finance and security software you rely on.
Why security and M&E contractors choose First Stop IT
First Stop IT has supported businesses since 2002, including security, fire and M&E contractors and building-services firms with office and site-based teams. We know how these businesses run: hosted desktops for staff on site and in the office, QuickBooks and payroll, secure remote access for field engineers, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, and the layered security that protects a firm handling client sites and payments, from MFA and application allowlisting to managed threat detection. We support contractors in Harlow, Bishop’s Stortford and across Essex, Hertfordshire and London. Our credentials include:
- Cyber Essentials Certified
- IASME Cyber Assurance (Gold)
- NCSC Assured Service Provider (Cyber Advisor for Cyber Essentials)
- Microsoft Partner
- Crown Commercial Service Supplier (G-Cloud)
- Quality Principles Certified
We look after more than 2,000 endpoints across 50 companies, we’ve been named a Top 50 UK MSP for three years running, and we support organisations with 10 to 100 employees across Essex, Hertfordshire and London, including Harlow and Bishop’s Stortford.
Book a free IT and cyber security review
Want early warning of a stolen password? Book a free IT and cyber security review with First Stop IT and we’ll set up the monitoring.