8 Common Cyber Attack Vectors & How to Avoid Them

As a cybersecurity professional, your mission is to stay ahead of adversaries and secure your organization’s attack surface. This begins by understanding your vulnerabilities and recognizing how social engineering attacks, malware, and other sophisticated tactics could breach your defenses..

Implementing the necessary protections, including regular software patching, deploying Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) software, and using multi-factor authentication, is crucial to maintaining a secure, resilient cybersecurity posture. It’s a significant responsibility critical to your enterprise.

So, what are some of the most common types of cyber attack vectors? Read on to find out:

1. Compromised Credentials

The most common type of access credential is the username and password. Compromised credentials occur when user credentials are exposed to unauthorized entities, often due to falling prey to phishing attempts. When compromised credentials are lost, stolen, or exposed, they can give intruders insider access, bypassing perimeter security and complicating detection.

The risk posed by compromised credentials varies with the level of access they provide, with privileged access credentials posing a higher risk than consumer credentials. Additionally, machine-to-machine credentials can allow unrestricted access throughout the enterprise when in the hands of an intruder.

Do this to avoid this type of cyber attack:

• Common usernames and weak passwords can lead to compromised credentials, so the enterprise must have effective password policies that ensure suitable password strength.
• Password sharing across services makes all applications that share credentials vulnerable if one service or application in the cohort is breached. Do not reuse the same password to access multiple apps and systems.
• Using two-factor authentication via a trusted second factor can reduce the number of breaches due to compromised credentials within an organization.

2. Weak and Stolen Credentials

Weak passwords and password reuse make credential exposure a gateway for initial attacker access and lateral movement within your network. Notorious malware attacks like Mirai highlight this threat to managed and IoT-connected devices.

Applications and protocols that transmit login credentials over your network without proper encryption pose a significant security threat. An attacker connected to your network can intercept these credentials and exploit them. For example, adversaries could steal Active Directory credentials, such as in the Target breach, and propagate their attack into the enterprise payment network.

How to Avoid This Type of Cyber Attack:

• Implement Strong Password Policies: Enforce complex passwords and regular updates. Weak passwords are easier for attackers to crack, and reusing passwords increases the risk of a broader compromise.
• Use Encrypted Protocols: Transmit login credentials using encrypted protocols to prevent interception by attackers.
• Employ Multi-Factor Authentication: Use MFA to add an additional layer of security, making it harder for attackers to compromise applications and systems with a single password.
• Monitor Password Hygiene: Track password usage across your enterprise to identify high-risk users and devices. This helps manage entitlements and reduce the risk associated with compromised accounts.
• Conduct Security Awareness Training: Train employees to recognize and avoid phishing and social engineering schemes, turning them into a critical layer of defense for the IT environment.
• Implement Zero-Trust Architecture: Validate every user connection to every device and every application to prevent threat actors from operating under the radar within the network.
• Identify Credential Abuse: Look for telltale signs such as anomalous activity, unexpected login attempts, and a sudden jump in password reset requests to detect and mitigate credential-based attacks early.

3. Zero-Day Vulnerabilities

A Zero-day vulnerability is unknown until the breach happens (hence the name zero-day, as no time elapses between the attack and when the vulnerability is made public). If a developer has not released a patch for the zero-day vulnerability before a hacker exploits it, the following attack is known as a zero-day attack. Having the red team write POC exploits is a way to mitigate zero-day vulnerabilities.

4. Missing or Poor Encryption

Data encryption translates data into another form that only people with access to a secret key or password can read. It protects digital data confidentiality; strong encryption must be applied to data at rest, in motion, and, where suitable, in processing.

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Missing or poor encryption leads to sensitive information, including credentials, being transmitted in plaintext or using weak cryptographic ciphers or protocols. This implies that an adversary intercepting data storage, communication, or processing could access sensitive data using brute-force approaches to break weak encryption.

Do this to avoid this type of attack vector:

• Don’t rely solely on low-level encryption or assume that the following compliance means the data is securely encrypted.
• Ensure sensitive data is encrypted at rest, in transit, and processing.

5. Misconfiguration

Misconfiguration occurs when there is an error in system configuration, such as if set-up pages are enabled or a user uses default usernames and passwords. With setup/app server configurations not disabled, the hacker can exploit flaws, which they can manipulate to gain entry to systems/apps. Misconfigured systems and apps present an easy entry point for attackers to exploit.

Do this to avoid this type of cyber attack:

• Put procedures and systems in place that tighten your configuration process and use configuration standards wherever possible. Monitoring application and device settings and comparing these to recommended best practices reveals the threat of misconfigured devices across your network.

6. Ransomware

Ransomware is a form of cyber-extortion in which users are unable to access their encrypted data until a ransom is paid. Users are shown instructions for how to pay a fee to get the decryption key. The costs can range from a few hundred dollars to thousands, payable to cybercriminals in Bitcoin.

Do this to avoid ransomware attacks:

• Ensure you have systems to protect all your devices from ransomware. This includes keeping your operating system patched and up-to-date to ensure you have fewer vulnerabilities to exploit and not installing software or giving it administrative privileges unless you know exactly what it is and what it does.
• Educate your users on ransomware techniques and continually assess their understanding, including making them aware of social engineering tactics.
• Employ email protection to protect against common ransomware exploits and stop access to compromised websites.

7. Phishing

Phishing is a cybercrime tactic in which the targets are contacted by email, telephone or text message by someone posing as a legitimate institution to lure individuals into providing sensitive data such as personally identifiable information, banking and credit card details, and passwords. It continues to be one of the most effective social engineering attack vectors.

Some phishing schemes are incredibly intricate and can sometimes look completely innocent. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) hack demonstrates how phishing can defeat almost all traditional security layers, such as email gateways and endpoint controls.

Do this to avoid phishing attacks:

• Measuring web browsing and email click-through behavior for users and devices provides valuable risk insight for your enterprise.
• When in doubt, it’s best to call the organization you received the email to determine if it is a phishing scam, or say that you will call them back if they provide a reference for the call.

Other breach methods

Brute Force Attack

This is a relentless attack based on trial and error in which the hacker attempts to determine passwords or access encrypted data. Like the thief attempting to crack a safe, the brute force attack tries numerous combinations until one finally works. Brute force works across all attack vectors described above, including password attacks, breaking weak encryption, etc., so it is not technically an attack vector.

DDoS

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) is a cyberattack against a network resource (e.g., server, website) by numerous compromised computer systems. The network resource is flooded with extraneous messages, which causes the target to slow down and/or crash, making it inaccessible to authorized users and systems. A DDoS attack typically occurs when multiple systems are compromised. A potential mitigation method for this is to use CDNs, reverse proxies, HA proxies, etc., that put layers of defense between systems serving content and clients requesting content.

Malicious Insiders

A malicious insider is an employee who exposes private company information and/or exploits company vulnerabilities. These employees are often unhappy. Users accessing sensitive data and networks can inflict extensive damage through privileged misuse and malicious intent. Watch out for disgruntled employees and monitor data and network access for every device and user to expose insider risk.

Conclusion

Adversaries and malicious insiders aim to access your high-value devices, apps, and data. Left unsecured, devices and users with access to sensitive apps, data, and networks will pose a significant risk to your enterprise.

Keeping the attack surface as small as possible should be considered a basic security measure and is key to maintaining a strong security posture. Also, managing trust relationships can help you limit or eliminate the impact or damage an attacker can inflict.