Love ❤️ DevSecOps?
Get tips, guides, tutorials, & more in your inbox.
What is Pass-the-Hash (PtH) Attack?
Pass-the-hash (PtH) attacks are a type of network attack that involves stealing hashed credentials from one computer and using them to gain unauthorized access to other computers on the network. The attacker does not need to crack the actual password, but rather uses the stored hash value of the password to impersonate the legitimate user.
This type of attack is particularly dangerous because it allows the attacker to bypass security measures like two-factor authentication, password resets, and account lockouts. Once an attacker gains access to a privileged account on a network, they can move laterally and access other critical systems and data with ease.
Pass-the-hash attacks have become increasingly common in recent years, as more organizations have adopted stronger password policies and implemented additional security measures like multi-factor authentication. Attackers have adapted by shifting their focus from cracking passwords to stealing hashed credentials, which can be just as effective in gaining unauthorized access to sensitive systems and data.
How Pass-the-Hash Attacks Work
Pass-the-hash attacks typically involve several steps, starting with the attacker gaining access to a user's hashed credentials on a compromised computer system. The attacker then extracts the hashed credentials from memory and uses specialized tools to transfer them to other systems on the network.
Next, the attacker impersonates the legitimate user by using the stolen hash values to authenticate to other systems and gain access to sensitive information. This process can happen without the user's knowledge, making it difficult to detect and trace.
Once the attacker gains access to a privileged account on a network, they can use that account to move laterally and access other critical systems and data. This can include stealing sensitive information, modifying data, or even shutting down entire systems.
Common Tools Used in Pass-the-Hash Attacks
Several tools are commonly used by attackers to pull off pass-the-hash attacks. These include Mimikatz, a password dumping tool, and PsExec, a remote process execution tool. These tools are readily available on the internet and can be used by anyone with basic technical knowledge.
Other tools used in pass-the-hash attacks include Metasploit, a popular penetration testing framework, and Cain and Abel, a password recovery tool. These tools can be used to exploit vulnerabilities in systems and gain access to hashed credentials.
It is important for organizations to be aware of these tools and take steps to protect their networks from pass-the-hash attacks. This can include implementing strong password policies, monitoring for suspicious activity, and using specialized security tools to detect and prevent these types of attacks.
The Impact of Pass-the-Hash Attacks
Consequences for Businesses and Individuals
The consequences of a pass-the-hash attack can be severe for both individuals and organizations. For individuals, compromised credentials can lead to identity theft, financial loss, and reputational damage. For businesses, the consequences can be even more severe, ranging from stolen intellectual property to compliance violations and legal liabilities.
Pass-the-hash attacks are a type of cyber attack that exploit a vulnerability in the way that Windows stores user credentials. By stealing a user's hashed password, an attacker can gain access to sensitive systems and data without needing the user's actual password. This technique can be especially dangerous because it can allow an attacker to move laterally through a network, gaining access to more and more systems as they go.
Additionally, pass-the-hash attacks can completely undermine an organization's defense-in-depth strategy, allowing attackers to bypass multiple layers of security controls. This is because the attack takes advantage of a weakness in the authentication process itself, rather than a specific vulnerability in a particular system or application.
Notable Pass-the-Hash Attack Incidents
Pass-the-hash attacks have been used in several high-profile security incidents over the years. One such incident involved the breach of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), where attackers used pass-the-hash techniques to steal personal information from over 22 million current and former federal employees.
Another notable incident involved the retailer Target, where attackers were able to use pass-the-hash attacks to gain access to sensitive systems, leading to the theft of millions of customers' credit and debit card information. The attack on Target was particularly concerning because it highlighted the potential for pass-the-hash attacks to be used in large-scale, financially motivated cybercrime.
Overall, the threat of pass-the-hash attacks is a serious concern for businesses and individuals alike. It is important for organizations to implement strong security controls and regularly assess and update their security measures to protect against this and other types of cyber attacks.
Identifying and Preventing Pass-the-Hash Attacks
Recognizing the Signs of a Pass-the-Hash Attack
One of the biggest challenges with pass-the-hash attacks is that they can be difficult to detect. However, there are some tell-tale signs that can indicate that an attack is in progress. For example, unusual account activity, multiple failed logins, and system crash reports can all be indicators of a pass-the-hash attack.
Unusual account activity can include login attempts from unfamiliar locations or at unusual times. If an attacker is attempting to use stolen credentials to access an account, they may do so from a different location or at a different time than the legitimate user. Multiple failed logins can also be a sign of a pass-the-hash attack, as the attacker may be attempting to guess the correct password for the account. Finally, system crash reports can indicate that an attacker is attempting to exploit a vulnerability in the system, potentially using stolen credentials to gain access.
Best Practices for Password Security
One of the most effective ways to prevent pass-the-hash attacks is to implement strong password policies and best practices. Organizations should require users to use complex, unique passwords for each account and implement password expiration policies and two-factor authentication wherever possible. Additionally, password management tools like password managers can aid in creating strong, unique passwords.
Strong passwords should be at least 12 characters long and include a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Passwords should also not be reused across multiple accounts, as this increases the risk of a pass-the-hash attack. Password expiration policies should be implemented to ensure that passwords are changed regularly, and two-factor authentication should be used whenever possible to add an additional layer of security.
Password management tools like password managers can also aid in creating strong, unique passwords. These tools can generate random passwords and store them securely, reducing the risk of a pass-the-hash attack.
Implementing Multi-Factor Authentication
Implementing multi-factor authentication can also be an effective defense against pass-the-hash attacks. This adds an additional layer of authentication beyond just username and password and greatly reduces the risk of an attacker being able to use stolen credentials to gain access to sensitive data and systems.
Multi-factor authentication typically involves something the user knows (such as a password) and something the user has (such as a security token or biometric identifier). This makes it much more difficult for an attacker to gain access to an account, even if they have stolen the user's password.
Organizations should consider implementing multi-factor authentication for any accounts that contain sensitive data or provide access to critical systems. This can greatly reduce the risk of a pass-the-hash attack and protect the organization's valuable assets.
Mitigating the Risks of Pass-the-Hash Attacks
Incident Response Planning
In the event of a pass-the-hash attack, it's important to have an incident response plan in place. This plan should include procedures for identifying and containing the attack, preserving evidence, notifying stakeholders, and restoring systems and data. It's important to have a designated incident response team that is trained and ready to respond quickly and effectively to any security incidents.
One important aspect of incident response planning is having a backup and recovery plan in place. This includes regularly backing up critical data and systems, and testing the backup and recovery process to ensure that it works effectively. In the event of a pass-the-hash attack, having a reliable backup and recovery plan can help organizations quickly restore systems and data and minimize the impact of the attack.
Regular Security Audits and Assessments
Regular security audits and assessments can help organizations identify vulnerabilities that may allow pass-the-hash attacks to occur. This can include testing for weak passwords, unsecured systems, and outdated software and firmware. Organizations should also conduct regular vulnerability scans to identify potential security risks and address them before they can be exploited by attackers.
Another important aspect of security audits and assessments is network segmentation. By segmenting the network and limiting access to sensitive systems and data, organizations can reduce the risk of pass-the-hash attacks and other types of cyber attacks.
Employee Training and Awareness Programs
One of the most effective ways to prevent pass-the-hash attacks is to implement employee training and awareness programs. This includes educating staff on best practices for password security, recognizing suspicious activity, and reporting potential security incidents.
Employees should be trained to use strong passwords that are difficult to guess or crack. They should also be encouraged to use multi-factor authentication whenever possible, as this can significantly reduce the risk of pass-the-hash attacks.
Another important aspect of employee training and awareness programs is phishing awareness. Phishing attacks are a common method used by attackers to steal credentials and gain access to sensitive systems and data. By training employees to recognize and report phishing emails, organizations can reduce the risk of pass-the-hash attacks and other types of cyber attacks.
Conclusion
Pass-the-hash attacks are a significant security threat that should not be taken lightly. By understanding how these attacks work and implementing best practices like strong password policies, multi-factor authentication, and regular security audits, individuals and organizations can greatly reduce the risk of a successful attack.
About the Author
StrongDM Team, Zero Trust Privileged Access Management (PAM), the StrongDM team is building and delivering a Zero Trust Privileged Access Management (PAM), which delivers unparalleled precision in dynamic privileged action control for any type of infrastructure. The frustration-free access stops unsanctioned actions while ensuring continuous compliance.
More Glossary Terms
Access control lists (ACL) control or restrict the flow of traffic through a digital environment. ACL rules grant or deny access in two general...
In October 2023, Ace Hardware, one of the largest hardware retailers in the United States, experienced a cybersecurity incident that overwhelmed several...
Active Directory (AD) is the proprietary directory service for Windows domain networks. It consists of a database and numerous services that connect users...
What is Active Directory (AD) Bridging? Active Directory Bridging is a technology in the field of networking that aims to enhance the communication...
Active Directory (AD) is a critical component for Windows based networks. It is a centralized authentication and authorization service that helps...
Active Directory (AD) is Microsoft’s proprietary directory service for Windows domain networks. Active Directory authentication is AD’s system for...
Advanced threat protection is a type of cybersecurity dedicated to preventing pre-planned cyberattacks, such as malware or phishing. ATP combines cloud,...
Agentless monitoring is a form of IT monitoring that does not require the installation of a software agent. Agentless monitoring protocols or APIs collect...
In January and February 2024, American Express notified customers of several third-party data breaches impacting client account numbers. The data breaches...
What Is Anomaly Detection? Anomaly detection is the process of analyzing company data to find data points that don’t align with a company's standard data...
What is an Application Gateway (App Gateway)?An application gateway is a security measure that protects web applications. They replace traditional web...
Your organization's attack surface is a collection of all the external points where someone could infiltrate your corporate network. Think of your attack...
As more and more data and critical systems go online, the risks associated with cyber threats magnify. One of the most important aspects of cybersecurity...
A runtime decision-making strategy for what features and/or data a user can access based on policies and user attributes.
Authentication is the process of verifying a user or device before allowing access to a system or resources.
An authentication bypass vulnerability is a weak point in the user authentication process. A cybercriminal exploiting such a weakness circumvents...
When it comes to protecting sensitive data and ensuring systems security, two key concepts come into play - authentication and authorization. Although...
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has emerged as one of the leading providers of cloud computing services, providing a wide range of management tools for...
The difference between an IAM role and a user is that a role can be temporarily or permanently applied to a user to give the user bulk permissions for a...
Understanding NoSQL Databases Before we take a closer look at the various NoSQL databases provided by AWS, let's first understand what NoSQL databases...
On Nov. 3, 2023, a ransomware gang hacked into a Bank of America service provider's systems. The data breach exposed the personal information of more than...
A bastion host is a server used to manage access to an internal or private network from an external network - sometimes called a jump box or jump server.
Behavior-Based Access Control (BBAC) is a security model that grants or denies access to resources based on the observed behavior of users or entities. It...
A brute force attack is a cyber attack where a hacker guesses information, such as usernames and passwords, to access a private system. The hacker uses...
Software or hardware that is either hosted in the cloud or on-premises. It adds a layer of security between users and cloud service providers and often...
Employer-employee relationships don’t always end well. Terminations, even rightful ones, leave a bad taste in the recipient's mouth — in some cases, so...
CI/CD (continuous integration/continuous deployment) is a collection of practices for engineering, testing, and delivering software. A CI/CD pipeline is...
What is Cloud Application Security? Cloud application security is a crucial aspect of modern business operations, especially as more organizations turn...
Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM, pronounced “kim”) is a category of specialized software-as-a-service solutions that automate the...
What is Cloud Workload Security?Cloud workload security is the practice of securing applications and their composite workloads running in the cloud....
Input/Output (IO) is a fundamental aspect of modern computing systems. In order to effectively send and receive data between a computer and its...
Container orchestration platforms are becoming increasingly popular with developers and businesses alike. They provide a way to manage and automate the...
In today's ever-evolving threat landscape, businesses must remain vigilant in defending their networks against potential attacks. As a result, Managed...
Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) are two terms that frequently come up in discussions of modern networking....
In the ever-changing technology landscape, software-defined networking (SDN) and software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) are two buzzwords that have...
Businesses operate in a data-driven world, handling data for different purposes. As more data is generated, companies seek ways to organize and manage...
In the realm of software development, there are two popular approaches to managing complex systems: Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) and DevOps. While...
As we continue to combat the increase in cybersecurity threats, it’s essential that businesses have a comprehensive plan in place to protect their assets....
Continuous Adaptive Risk and Trust Assessment (CARTA) is an IT security framework that goes beyond traditional role-based access control (RBAC). By adding...
Credential stuffing is a type of cyber attack that occurs when a person or bot steals account credentials, such as usernames and passwords, and tries to...
Online security risks are a constantly evolving concern. As we increasingly rely on digital platforms for everything from communication to banking and...
Cyber insurance, also called cybersecurity insurance or cyber liability insurance, is an insurance policy that covers the losses a business might suffer...
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is a series of tools and practices that help companies recognize and prevent data exposure by controlling the flow of...
Data observability is the ability to understand, diagnose, and manage data health across multiple IT tools throughout the data lifecycle. A data...
Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) refers to the proactive and continuous assessment, monitoring, and enhancement of an organization's data security...
What is Defense-in-depth?Defense-in-depth began as a military term for a layered approach to protection. The NSA has taken that military strategy and...
In today's fast-paced business world, technology and software development have become crucial for organizations to stay ahead of the competition. With...
Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) is a cybersecurity practice for identifying, investigating, and remediating cyberattacks. Computer security...
What Are Directory Services? A directory service is a database containing information about users, devices, and resources. This information, such as...
What is Dynamic Access Control (DAC)? Dynamic Access Control (DAC) is a Windows Server feature that debuted in Windows Server 2012. It leverages...
In today's world, cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated, and even the most robust security measures cannot guarantee total protection. As a...
What is Endpoint Privilege Management (EPM)? Endpoint Privilege Management (EPM) is a critical process that ensures that users and applications have...
An enterprise Kubernetes (K8s) platform packages Kubernetes—an open source container orchestrator—into a simple-to-use product for companies. Container...
What is Enterprise Password Management? Enterprise Password Management is a system or software designed to securely store, manage, and control access to...
An ephemeral environment is a short-lived clone of the UAT (user acceptance testing) or production environment. Software teams create ephemeral...
In March 2017, unfortunate events allowed hackers to access the personal information of millions of Equifax customers. The intruders stayed active in...
Eye4Fraud provides fraud protection services for online sellers. It examines their transactions to ensure every order is legitimate. Unfortunately, even a...
Single sign-on (SSO) and federated identity management (FIM) are two popular methods of identity management that are commonly used to simplify...
FIDO2 is the newest set of specifications from the FIDO Alliance. It enables the use of common devices to authenticate to online services on both mobile...
Compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) means adhering to the rules and regulations that impact what, how, and...
HITRUST is a non-profit company that delivers data protection standards and certification programs to help organizations safeguard sensitive information,...
A honeypot is a phony digital asset designed to look like a poorly-guarded, valuable asset. The goal is to trick cyber attackers into targeting the...
Identity and access management (IAM or IdAM) is a framework containing the tools and policies a company uses to verify a user’s identity, authorize...
Identity as a Service (IDaaS) is an identity and access management (IAM) solution delivered in a cloud-based service that is hosted by a trusted third...
Identity governance and administration (IGA), also called identity security, is a set of policies that allow firms to mitigate cyber risk and comply with...
What is Identity Lifecycle Management?Identity lifecycle management is the process of managing user identities and access privileges for all members of an...
Identity security refers to the tools and processes intended to secure identities within an organization. Based upon the Zero Trust model, identity...
What is Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR)? Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) refers to a range of tools and processes designed to...
While there's an overlap between IGA and IAM, key differences distinguish the two. IAM focuses on authenticating and authorizing user access, primarily...
An indicator of attack (IOA) is digital or physical evidence of a cyberattacker’s intent to attack. IOA detection focuses specifically on an adversary’s...
An insider threat is a threat to an organization that occurs when a person with authorized access—such as an employee, contractor, or business...
ISO/IEC 27001, or ISO 27001, is the international standard that defines best practices for implementing and managing information security controls within...
ISO 27002, or ISO/IEC 27002:2022, provides guidance on the selection, implementation, and management of security controls based on an organization's...
ISO 27003, also called ISO/IEC 27003:2017, provides guidance for implementing an ISMS based on ISO 27001.
Just-in-time (JIT) access is a feature of privileged access management (PAM) solutions to grant users access to accounts and resources for a limited time...
Kubernetes governance refers to the policies and procedures for managing Kubernetes in an organization. Governance applies to technical units (such as...
Lateral movement is when an attacker gains initial access to one part of a network and then attempts to move deeper into the rest of the network —...
Lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) is an open-standard and vendor-agnostic application protocol for both verifying users' identities and giving...
Log analysis is the practice of examining event logs in order to investigate bugs, security risks, or other issues. Analyzing automatically generated log...
Log data—from system, application, and security log files, for example—help IT staff identify technical issues, troubleshoot, improve performance, and...
A man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack is a cyber attack in which a threat actor puts themselves in the middle of two parties, typically a user and an...
Microsegmentation is a network security practice that creates secure zones within data center environments by segmenting application workloads into...
Monitoring is the collection and analysis of data pulled from IT systems. DevOps monitoring uses dashboards— often developed by your internal team—to...
On Oct. 31, 2023, Mr. Cooper Group, a leading non-bank mortgage loan servicer, experienced a large-scale data breach. An unauthorized third party gained...
Network segmentation (also known as network partitioning or network isolation) is the practice of dividing a computer network into multiple subnetworks in...
NIST compliance broadly means adhering to the NIST security standards and best practices set forth by the government agency for the protection of data...
Observability is defined as a measure of how well the internal states of a system can be inferred from knowledge of its external outputs.
OAuth (OAuth 2.0 since 2013) is an authentication standard that allows a resource owner logged-in to one system to delegate limited access to protected...
OpenID Connect (OIDC) is an authentication layer built on top of the OAuth 2.0 authorization framework. OIDC allows third-party applications to obtain...
The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) is a non-profit consortium that develops and promotes open standards for...
What is Pass-the-Hash (PtH) Attack? Pass-the-hash (PtH) attacks are a type of network attack that involves stealing hashed credentials from one computer...
What is Password Rotation? Password rotation is a security practice that involves changing passwords regularly to prevent unauthorized access to personal...
What is Password Vaulting? Password vaulting is a technique used to store passwords in a central location and protect them with encryption. The primary...
Passwordless authentication is a verification method in which a user gains access to a network, application, or other system without a knowledge-based...
Hackers accessed thousands of PayPal user accounts between Dec. 6 and Dec. 8, 2022. The attack exposed customers' personal information, opening them up to...
PCI compliance—or payment card industry compliance—is the process businesses follow to meet the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).
A Policy Decision Point (PDP) is a component in a system that makes decisions based on policies that have been defined within that system. It is a crucial...
Policy-Based Access Control (PBAC) is another access management strategy that focuses on authorization. Whereas RBAC restricts user access based on static...
In network security, least privilege is the practice of restricting account creation and permission levels to only the resources a user requires to...
Privileged access management (PAM) encompasses the policies, strategies, and technologies used to control, monitor, and secure elevated access to critical...
Cloud privileged access management is cloud-based PAM consumed as a service, or PAMaaS. Companies can replace their on-premises PAM technology with a...
A privileged account is a user account with greater privileges than those of ordinary user accounts. Privileged accounts may access important data or...
What is Privileged Session Management? Privileged session management (PSM) is an IT security process that monitors and records the sessions of privileged...
Cloud computing has revolutionized the way businesses and organizations operate, allowing them to store, access, and manage data and applications in...
A Rainbow Table Attack is a cryptographic attack method that uses precomputed tables of hash values to quickly reverse-engineer plaintext passwords from...
“Red team vs. blue team” is a cybersecurity drill during which one group, dubbed the “red team,” simulates the activities of cyberattackers. A separate...
ReBAC is a model that extends the traditional Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) models by considering the...
What is Remote Access Security? Remote access is the ability to access resources, data, and applications on a network from a location other than the...
Remote code execution (RCE) is a cyberattack in which an attacker remotely executes commands to place malicious code on a computing device. Input or...
With the increase in online traffic and the need for secure and fast network connections, reverse proxies and load balancers have become integral...
What is Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Security? Robotic process automation (RPA) is software that mimics human actions to automate digital tasks....
Role-based access control (RBAC) is a security approach that authorizes and restricts system access to users based on their role(s) within an organization.
Imagine this: Your organization experiences a data breach, yet things continue to run as usual. You don’t experience interruptions, and your partners and...
SAML is a popular online security protocol that verifies a user’s identity and privileges. It enables single sign-on (SSO), allowing users to access...
SAML enables SSO by defining how organizations can offer both authentication and authorization services as part of their infrastructure access strategy....
Many businesses have traditionally relied on Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) networks to connect their remote sites and branch offices. However,...
Secrets management is a cybersecurity best practice for securing digital authentication credentials. It relies on various tools and methods to store,...
Secure Access Service Edge (more commonly known by the SASE acronym) is a cloud architecture model that combines network and security-as-a-service...
A Security Incident Response Policy (SIRP) establishes that your organization has the necessary controls to detect security vulnerabilities and incidents,...
Security Operations (SecOps) is a methodology that fuses IT operations and information security. Its goal is to reduce security risks and vulnerabilities...
Separation of duties (SoD) is the division of tasks among organization members to prevent abuse, fraud, or security breaches. SoD encompasses a set of...
What is Shadow IT? Shadow IT is software or hardware in use in an organization without the knowledge of the IT department. Business units or individuals...
Shoulder surfing is a form of social engineering where an attacker obtains sensitive information by observing the victim's screen or keyboard inputs,...
Single-factor authentication (SFA) or one-factor authentication involves matching one credential to gain access to a system (i.e., a username and a...
Snowflake hacked! Yes, those were the headlines going around for the better part of April to July 2024. What started as a “small breach” eventually...
When it comes to modern software development, two terms that are often used interchangeably are Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Microservices....
SOC 2 stands for “Systems and Organizations Controls 2” and is sometimes referred to as SOC II. It is a framework designed to help software vendors and...
With a software-defined network, networking devices directly connect to applications through application programming interfaces (APIs), making SDN...
In April 2011, Sony experienced one of the most notorious data breaches in history when hackers infiltrated the PlayStation Network (PSN). This...
SOX compliance is an annual obligation derived from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) that requires publicly traded companies doing business in the U.S. to...
In today's digital age, many individuals and organizations rely on technology for communication, transactions, and data storage. However, with this...
In today's digital age, there are many cybercrimes that individuals and organizations need to be aware of. Two of the most common cybercrimes are spoofing...
Understanding SQL and NoSQL Databases When it comes to managing data, there are two main types of databases: SQL and NoSQL. While both types of databases...
Technical debt is any software code which achieves a short-term goal at the cost of some future drawback. It commonly takes the form of code that...
Derived from the Greek roots tele ("remote") and metron ("measure”), telemetry is the process by which data is gathered from across disparate systems to...
What Is a Threat Actor? A threat actor is any individual or group that has the intent and capability to exploit vulnerabilities in computer systems,...
Threat hunting is the cyber defense practice of proactively searching for threats within a network. Threat hunters look for threats that may have evaded...
The ultimate findings from cyberthreat analyses are referred to as threat intelligence. Producing threat intelligence involves a cycle of collecting data...
Two-factor authentication (2FA) adds a second layer of protection to your access points. Instead of just one authentication factor, 2FA requires two...
In the world of web development, CRUD and REST are two terms that are frequently used, but often misunderstood. While both are important and have their...
On February 21, 2024, United Healthcare was hacked in a ransomware data breach that impacted its Change Healthcare (CHC) unit. The data breach affected...
In January 2024, a massive cybersecurity event that left 26 million records exposed affected the mobile payment service Venmo. Dubbed the "mother of all...
Vulnerability management (VM) is the proactive, cyclical practice of identifying and fixing security gaps. It typically leverages scanning software to...
What is a Vulnerability Management Lifecycle? The vulnerability management lifecycle involves continuous monitoring and assessment of systems, regular...
WebAuthn is the API standard that allows servers, applications, websites, and other systems to manage and verify registered users with passwordless...
In June 2023, Wells Fargo reported a security incident caused by an employee mishandling customer information in violation of company policy. In response,...
A human firewall refers to employees trained to recognize and prevent cyber threats, such as phishing attacks and malware. By fostering cybersecurity...
A Policy Administration Point (PAP) is a crucial component in access control systems, responsible for defining and managing policies that regulate user...
A Policy Enforcement Point (PEP) is a component in a security framework that enforces access control policies. It regulates and monitors access to...
A policy engine is a software component that allows an organization to manage, enforce, and audit rules across their system. It is designed to provide a...
A Policy Enforcement Point (PEP) is a component in a security framework that enforces access control policies. It regulates and monitors access to...
Access Discovery is the process of identifying and verifying available pathways to digital resources or information within a system or network. It...
Active Directory (AD) bridging lets users log into non-Windows systems with their Microsoft Active Directory account credentials. This extends AD benefits...
Open Policy Agent (OPA) is an open-source, general-purpose policy engine that enables policy-as-code across diverse software stacks. It provides a unified...
Continuous Authorization is a security concept ensuring ongoing validation of users' access rights within a system. Employing real-time session monitoring...
What is Continuous Monitoring? Continuous monitoring is a systematic and ongoing process that uses automated tools and technologies to monitor the...
Customer Identity Access Management (CIAM) is a specialized branch of identity and access management designed to facilitate secure and seamless customer...
Threat hunting is the cyber defense practice of proactively searching for threats within a network. Threat hunters look for threats that may have evaded...
Deprovisioning removes the access rights and deletes the accounts associated with a user on a network. When an organization offboards an individual, it’s...
Disaster Recovery Policy is a strategic framework outlining procedures and resources to swiftly restore essential business functions after a disruptive...
eXtensible Access Control Markup Language (XACML) is a standard for specifying and exchanging access control policies in computer systems. It provides a...
Fine-grain access controls are a type of access control that enables granular access to systems, applications, and data. Access is based on specific...
Group-Based Access Control (GBAC) is a security model that regulates access to resources by assigning permissions based on user group membership. It...
Identity Fabric refers to an integrated set of identity and access management services that provide seamless and secure user access across a diverse range...
Kerberoasting is a post-compromise attack technique for cracking passwords associated with service accounts in Microsoft Active Directory. The attacker...
What is NoSQL Injection? NoSQL Injection is a type of injection attack that exploits vulnerabilities in NoSQL databases by injecting malicious code into...
A One-Time Password (OTP) is a security feature that generates a unique, temporary password for a single transaction or login session. Unlike static...
Policy-as-Code refers to the practice of managing and implementing policy decisions through code, making them enforceable and verifiable within IT...
Privileged identity management is the process companies use to manage which privileged users—including human users and machine users—have access to which...
What is Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)? Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is a proprietary protocol developed by Microsoft that allows users to remotely...
Segregation of Duties (SoD) is a risk management principle that ensures critical tasks are divided among different individuals to prevent conflicts of...
Vendor Privileged Access Management (VPAM) is a cybersecurity strategy that focuses on controlling and securing third-party access to an organization's...
Zero Trust Data Protection is a security framework that assumes no inherent trust, requiring verification from anyone trying to access data, regardless of...
X11 Forwarding is a feature of the X Window System that allows a user to run graphical applications on a remote server while displaying them locally. This...
Zero Trust is a modern security model founded on the design principle “Never trust, always verify.” It requires all devices and users, regardless of...
As cyber attacks become more advanced and frequent, organizations are realizing the importance of enhancing their cybersecurity strategies. Two approaches...
Zombie accounts: forgotten accounts that open the door to bad actors looking to insert malware, steal data, and damage your internal systems.
