Steps Criminals Take To Assume Control Of A Network
Stu Sjouwerman is the Founder and CEO of KnowBe4 Inc., a security awareness training and simulated phishing platform.
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Cybercriminals are constantly evolving, innovating new ways to masquerade as trusted sources, breach defenses, and attack people, governments and organizations. While hacking tools and techniques evolve in line with increased experience and financial motivation, the fundamental techniques used by attackers have largely remained the same. Experts call these steps “The Cyber Kill Chain,” a term describing stages of a cyberattack.
To keep it simple, let’s break it down to four stages that explain how cybercriminals assume total control of a network.
Identifying A Target
Cybercriminals identify targets based on numerous factors. Everyday cyberattacks (or the shotgun approach) tend to indiscriminately target individuals or organizations, exploiting a vulnerability, a location, an industry or anyone who falls prey to a wide-spreading malware or phishing campaign. In other cases where stakes are higher and goals are specific (such as IP theft, financial fraud or reputation damage), attackers select victims after days or even months of surveillance, monitor public information, study social media profiles and conduct other analysis.
Accessing Credentials And/Or Researching Loopholes
Once cybercriminals set their targets, stealing credentials is one of the first things hackers do to get a foot in the door. Attackers typically have two choices:
1. Research credentials: They find a password dump (some 65% of people reuse passwords, or they make an educated guess after reviewing open-source intelligence sources).
2. Buy credentials: More than 15 billion passwords are up for sale on the dark web — or they steal them via phishing emails, exploiting a software vulnerability or eavesdropping on networks. Even if they don’t have your email address or password, there are a number of tools hackers can use to pull employee names, open ports and breach vulnerable software — or find data dumps such as spreadsheets. Short and weak passwords can be cracked easily. Attackers with sophisticated tools can crack seven-letter passwords in under a…
