Case Study: How Acme Corp Reduced Account Takeovers by 99%

Acme Corporation, a leading B2B SaaS platform serving over 50,000 businesses, faced a growing crisis: account takeover attacks were increasing 300% year-over-year. Here's how they turned things around with AffirmID.

The Challenge

As Acme's platform grew, so did the attention from attackers. Their customer accounts contained sensitive business data—financial records, customer lists, and proprietary information. A successful account takeover could expose not just one business, but their customers too.

Before AffirmID: The Problems

150+ account takeovers per month costing $500K+ annually in support, remediation, and lost customers
Credential stuffing attacks hitting their login page 2M+ times per month
SMS-based 2FA adoption at only 12%—most users found it too inconvenient
Customer trust eroding with two high-profile breaches in the past year

"We knew our SMS-based 2FA wasn't working. Only a fraction of users enabled it, and those who did complained constantly. But we couldn't just remove it—we needed something better."
— David Park, CISO at Acme Corporation

The Solution

Acme evaluated several authentication providers and chose AffirmID for three reasons:

1
Push-based authentication
One-tap approval is faster and easier than typing SMS codes—crucial for user adoption.
2
Device attestation
Requests are verified to come from genuine, uncompromised devices—blocking emulator-based attacks.
3
Easy API integration
Their development team could integrate in days, not months.

The Implementation

Acme rolled out AffirmID in three phases over 90 days:

Phase 1: Internal Rollout (Days 1-30)

Started with their 2,500 employees. Required MFA for all internal systems with AffirmID as the primary method. Kept SMS as backup during transition.

Result: 98% employee adoption in 2 weeks

Phase 2: Enterprise Customers (Days 31-60)

Rolled out to enterprise tier customers (5,000 accounts). Offered MFA as opt-in with in-app prompts explaining the benefits. Provided dedicated onboarding support.

Result: 78% enterprise adoption within 30 days

Phase 3: All Customers (Days 61-90)

Extended to all 50,000+ customers. Made MFA required for admin accounts. Strong encouragement (not requirement) for all users. Progressive prompts based on risk signals.

Result: 67% overall adoption, 95% admin adoption

The Results

The impact was dramatic and immediate:

99%

Reduction in account takeovers

From 150/month to less than 2

67%

MFA adoption rate

Up from 12% with SMS-based 2FA

$450K

Annual cost savings

Support, remediation, and fraud

Security incidents post-rollout

12 months and counting

Key Success Factors

Several factors contributed to Acme's successful implementation:

Executive sponsorship

The CEO personally communicated the importance of security, setting the tone from the top.

User-friendly experience

Push notifications were so much easier than SMS codes that users actually wanted to enable MFA.

Progressive rollout

Starting with employees let them learn and refine before customer deployment.

Clear communication

Users understood why MFA mattered and how it protected them.

Dedicated support

AffirmID's team provided hands-on assistance during each rollout phase.

Lessons Learned

Acme's security team shared several lessons from their implementation:

"Don't underestimate the power of a good user experience. Our SMS 2FA adoption was stuck at 12% for years. Within weeks of launching AffirmID, we hit 67%—and that number keeps climbing. Users aren't resistant to security; they're resistant to friction."
— David Park, CISO at Acme Corporation

1.Start with your own team. Internal rollout surfaces issues before customers see them.
2.Make it easy, not mandatory (at first). Encouragement with great UX beats requirements with poor UX.
3.Measure everything. Track adoption, support tickets, and security incidents to show ROI.
4.Communicate the "why." Users are more likely to adopt when they understand the risks.
5.Have a fallback plan. TOTP backup codes ensured no one was locked out during the transition.

What's Next for Acme

Building on their success, Acme is now planning:

Requiring MFA for all users (not just admins) in 2026
Implementing biometric confirmation for high-value transactions
Adding identity verification for account recovery
Exploring passwordless authentication with passkeys

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