Adrian Johnson
TLDR:
Key Points:
- Cybercriminals use lateral movement to infiltrate and compromise multiple systems in corporate networks.
- Understanding the tactics of threat actors during lateral movement is crucial for cybersecurity teams to detect, assess, and prevent further damage.
Tracing the Steps of Cyber Intruders: The Path of Lateral Movement
When cyber attacks occur, they often target corporate networks to compromise multiple systems. Cybercriminals use techniques such as brute-force attacks, exploiting vulnerabilities, and phishing emails to gain a foothold. Once inside, they move laterally within the network to access valuable assets and escalate their attack. Understanding the tactics used during lateral movement is key for cybersecurity teams to detect and prevent further damage. Some common techniques include exploiting remote services like RDP, using the SMB protocol, and abusing system tools like PsExec and PowerShell.
Lateral movement is a critical phase in cyber attacks where threat actors pivot to other systems within the network. This phase offers cybersecurity teams the opportunity to detect and analyze the techniques and tools used by attackers. By monitoring RDP connections, analyzing SMB/Windows Admin Share exploitation, and investigating PsExec and PowerShell usage, cybersecurity teams can uncover evidence of lateral movement and take steps to mitigate the breach.
Tools like Belkasoft X can help with digital forensics analysis, allowing cybersecurity teams to extract and categorize data from compromised machines to identify signs of compromise and investigate incoming and outgoing connections. By understanding and leveraging these tools and techniques, cybersecurity teams can enhance their incident response capabilities and strengthen their defenses against cyber intruders.
