SafeUM
Home Blog Services Download Help About Recharge

Axarhöfði 14, 110 Reykjavik, Iceland

Iceland - 2015
SafeUM
Blog
Services
Download
Help
About
Recharge
Menu
Archive
TOP Security!
11 Nov 2015

88 percent of corporate networks expose credentials for privileged accounts

A recent report from CyberArk shows that corporate Windows networks are most of the times improperly configured and end up exposing credentials for critical, privileged user accounts.

The report analyzed the presence of vulnerabilities and structural problems that related to credentials theft attacks, an infosec term that describes the act of stealing a user's password or password hash, and then using this information to log in as the user and steal sensitive data from the target PC.

These attack types can quickly escalate if the hacker manages to steal credentials for privileged accounts, like network administrators, or for users who have network-wide access. These kinds of attacks are highly efficient and were used in the wild against companies like Target in 2013, and Home Depot in 2014.

One or two machines can compromise the entire network

According to CyberArk's data, gathered by analyzing over 50 Windows-based corporate networks, in over 88% of the cases, the security researchers found "highly threatening machines" in the network's structure. These are computers that hold information, which, if hacked, can compromise the entire network, allowing attackers to access most, if not all company computers, using only the hacked (privileged) account.

But don't think that actual user accounts are the danger alone in these cases. Windows computers also provide privileged service accounts, used by various of the operating system's functions. These, just like regular user accounts, are just as susceptible to attacks as the others.

"We’ve seen similar credential theft methods as the basis for major attacks across a number of organization," said Andrey Dulkin, director of cyber innovation at CyberArk Labs. "Identifying these machines and securing the associated privileged credentials against theft and exploitation is a critical step in securing against advanced cyber attacks."

The full “Analyzing Real-World Exposure to Windows Credential Theft Attacks” report is available on CyberArk's website. The report also analyzes various credential abuse methods (Pass-the-Hash, Overpass-the-Hash, Kerberos attacks) and the effectiveness of different mitigation strategies.

Tags:
information leaks
Source:
Softpedia
2335
Other NEWS
3 Jul 2020 safeum news imgage An encrypted messaging service has been infiltrated by police
4 May 2020 safeum news imgage Two-Factor Authentication ​What Is It and Why You Should Use It
12 Dec 2019 safeum news imgage Encryption is under threat - this is how it affects you
4 Nov 2019 safeum news imgage Should Big Decisions Be Based on Data or Your Intuition?
7 Jun 2018 safeum news imgage VPNFilter malware infecting 500,000 devices is worse than we thought
4 Jun 2018 safeum news imgage Hackers target Booking.com in criminal bid to steal hundreds of thousands from customers
1 Jun 2018 safeum news imgage Operator of World's Top Internet Hub Sues German Spy Agency
30 May 2018 safeum news imgage US says North Korea behind malware attacks
29 May 2018 safeum news imgage Facebook and Google targeted as first GDPR complaints filed
25 May 2018 safeum news imgage A new reason to not buy these cheap Android devices
24 May 2018 safeum news imgage Flaws in smart pet devices, apps could come back to bite owners
23 May 2018 safeum news imgage Google sued for 'clandestine tracking' of 4.4m UK iPhone users' browsing data
21 May 2018 safeum news imgage LocationSmart reportedly leaked phone location data onto the web
18 May 2018 safeum news imgage The SEC created its own scammy ICO to teach investors a lesson
17 May 2018 safeum news imgage Thieves suck millions out of Mexican banks in transfer heist
All news
SafeUM
Confidential Terms of Use Our technologies Company
Follow us
Download
SafeUM © Safe Universal Messenger

Axarhöfði 14,
110 Reykjavik, Iceland

Iceland - 2015