88% of corporate networks expose privileged account credentials: Most corporate networks fail to protect accounts with administrator privileges, exposing companies to attack vectors.
A recent study by CyberArkshows that corporate Windows are often configured improperly and end up exposing the credentials of accounts with administrative privileges.
The research analyzed the presence of vulnerabilities and structural issues related to theft attacks credential , a term that describes the act of stealing a password or password hash and then using that information to log in as a user and steal sensitive data from the target computer.
These types of attacks can escalate very quickly if the hacker manages to steal data for privileged accounts, such as a network administrator, or users who have network-wide access.
These attacks are very effective and are often targeted at companies such as Targetin 2013 and Home Depot in 2014.
According to CybeArk data , collected by analyzing over 50 Windows-based corporate networks, in over 88% of cases, researchers identified "high-risk machines" in the network structure .
These machines are computers with information that, if compromised, can compromise the entire network, allowing hackers to access most - if not all - computers on the network, using only the compromised (privileged accounts).
But real user accounts are also at risk in these cases. Windows computers also provide administrative account services, which are used for various system functions. These, just like regular user accounts, are just as vulnerable to attacks.
“We’ve seen similar credential theft methods serve as the basis for larger attacks,” said Andrey Dulkin, director of cyber innovation at CyberArk Labs. “Identifying these machines, and securing the associated privileged account credentials against theft and exploitation, is a critical step in securing against advanced cyber attacks.”
