Nine Days to Lockdown
Attackers broke in through unpatched SharePoint servers and, in one case, went from first foothold to locked computers in just nine days.
Key terms
AP Cybersecurity alignment
- 2.1.C.5In the lateral-movement phase of an attack, adversaries try to escalate their privileges by accessing computers and user accounts with elevated permissions to services and data.Learning objective: Describe the phases of a cyberattack.
- 2.1.C.6In the taking-action phase of an attack, adversaries act on their objectives by collecting targeted data, exfiltrating it, and disrupting services or destroying data.Learning objective: Describe the phases of a cyberattack.
- 4.3.C.2Ensuring that a computer’s operating system and software applications are updated to the most recent version prevents adversaries from taking advantage of a known vulnerability.Learning objective: Explain why keeping a device’s operating system and software updated makes it more secure.
AP Networking alignment
- 3.4.B.5Security controls to limit lateral movement or unintended communication between segments can include: • allowing only essential services, such as printing, to communicate across segments • deny-by-default firewall or access…Learning objective: Determine appropriate security controls to limit the impacts of common threats and vulnerabilities in a segmented LAN.
- 4.5.A.3Widespread data compromise, service outages, or loss of administrative control can occur when an adversary or malicious software moves laterally across a network. These impacts are more likely in segmented or large networks…Learning objective: Identify the impacts of common threats and vulnerabilities in a managed network.
- 4.6.B.4Applying and documenting software updates and patches reduces the risk of failure and reduces recovery time if an outage occurs.Learning objective: Identify ways to improve the reliability and availability of networked systems.