“Borrowing” someone else's login credentials for a website might not seem like a big deal if you have the password holder's permission.

But for a Boca Raton-based company that used a client's login to access a valuable database of investment fund information, password-sharing led to a $3.73 million verdict in federal court this month.

A jury found Compass iTech LLC had misappropriated trade secrets, interfered with a contract and breached the terms of service for Atlanta-based eVestment Alliance LLC, which provides analytics for institutional investors.