Inside Out Defense Takes Aim

Inside Out Defense Takes Aim

Unauthorized access to credentials is number one threat vector

  • By Venkat Thummisi
  • Aug 11, 2023

Although the focus of the new SEC cyber rulings are publicly traded companies, most organizations are not prepared to comply with the new reporting guidelines. In the final rule, organizations will be required to disclose processes for assessing, identifying and managing material risks from cybersecurity threats. This puts additional pressure on IT teams and CISOs to update their security posture immediately.  

The number one cybersecurity threat vector is unauthorized access via unused, expired or otherwise compromised access credentials. Most organizations have a challenge regulating this because of the complexities of their infrastructure, apps, business workflows and the third-party eco-system. The downstream impact of improper credential decommissioning, which accounts for 54% of all attacks is testimony to the amount of residual footprint of excess privileged users lurking within organizations in the form of hidden accounts and activities.  

Effectively managing an organization’s access entitlements without an automated solution is time-consuming and error-prone, leaving the door open to hackers. This is why access abuse is the number one threat vector for hackers.  

Irrespective of the modus operandi and manifestation of most cyber breaches, credentials are a key pillar contributing towards privilege abuse leading to organizational disruption. The sophistication of cyberattacks is perpetrated through unused, old, expired and otherwise mismanaged access credentials are increasing by the minute, at the same time as it’s becoming challenging to respond to these attacks in an organized and timely manner.   

According to Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), valid account credentials are the root of most successful threat actor intrusions of critical infrastructure networks as well as state and local agencies.  

Organizations can act now and get ahead the number one hacker threat vector by implementing available tools that discover all user footprint across all the organizations to build the context and lineage behind every user to derive the intent behind who, what and why. Doing so will help alleviate pressure on IT teams, making it possible to closely monitor and manage access privileges in real-time across all environments.

About the Author

Venkat Thummisi is the co-founder and CTO, at Inside Out Defense.

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