Towards Identity-Centric Security: Elevating IAM to ITDR Security for Cyber resilience

Despite investing in IAM tools at an incredible pace, 90% of organizations have experienced at least one identity-based attack in the past year alone. 

Adversaries are increasingly relying on identity-based attacks that involve compromising legitimate credentials to invade systems undetected. As digital identities become the prime target for attackers, relying on traditional threat detection tools like EDR, IAM, and NDR is no longer sufficient to address the unique challenges of identity-based attacks ranging from credential theft to insider threats. These staggering numbers emphasize the significance of integrating ITDR solutions into the existing IAM according to their technical infrastructure and needs. 

This blog delves deep into the potential impact of identity-based attacks across industries, emphasizing the critical role of ITDR solutions in defending its multifaceted nature and ensuring robust threat detection and prevention. 

Evolving Identity-Based Threat Landscape 

Over the past few years, identity-based attacks have taken center stage as attackers are evolving with advanced tactics and technologies like phishing, social engineering, and buying legitimate credentials from access brokers that can even bypass MFA (Multi-factor Authentication), impeding the defender’s ability to differentiate between a legitimate user and a breach.  

Let’s understand the primary types of identity-based attacks. 

• Cached Credentials: Cached credentials are commonly stored on endpoints, in memory, in the registry, or on disk. Attackers use a variety of tools and techniques to harvest them and gain access to more privileged identities. Once collected, they can use them to move laterally and log into different applications. 

• Credential Stuffing: This involves acquiring stolen login credentials from adversaries directly to gain unauthorized access.  Consequently, they can automate login attempts across multiple platforms, exploiting users who reuse passwords across different sites without proper management and oversight. 

• API Keys and Secrets: Stolen APIs and secrets allow adversaries to steal sensitive information. If these API keys are not updated and revoked, the attacker could retain access indefinitely. 

• Session Cookies and Tokens: By using session cookies and tokens, attackers can masquerade them as legitimate users and authenticate to the application. 

• Kerberoasting: Kerberoasting targets service accounts in Active Directory (AD) environments by requesting service tickets for these accounts and then attempting to crack their passwords offline. 50% of identity-related breaches stem from Microsoft Active Directory, as most enterprises rely on AD as the primary method for user authentication for both on-premises and in the cloud. 

Potential Consequences of Identity-Based Threats

The ramifications of identity-based attacks can be severe and multifaceted: 

• Financial Loss: Organizations may face direct financial losses due to fraud, theft, or remediation costs associated with breaches. 

• Reputational Damage: Successful attacks can erode customer trust and damage an organization’s brand reputation, leading to long-term consequences. 

• Regulatory Penalties: Non-compliance with data protection regulations (such as GDPR and CCPA) can result in hefty fines and legal repercussions if organizations fail to protect sensitive information adequately. 

• Third-Party Relationship Exploitation: As threat actors are increasingly targeting third-party relationships with a motivation of ROI, one compromised organization can lead to thousands of follow-on targets, opening doors for exploiting hardened end targets.  

Real-World Incidents: Capita Phishing Attack Costing $26 million Loss 

Capita is a leading provider of third-party administrators in the UK, managing over 450 pension schemes and memberships of over 4.3 million. The black Basta ransomware gang had sent phishing mail in the form of a .zip file, and when an employee clicks it, it gives initial access to actors. As a consequence, they used Mimikats to extract Microsoft 365 credentials. By leveraging stolen identities, they disabled security tools. Initial access into Capita’s systems took place on March 22, and attackers were able to move around undetected until March 31. As part of the fallout from the breach, Capita is expected to pay more than $26 million due to its loss of supplier and customer data. 

This incident clearly underscores how identity-based attacks can have severe consequences, especially when privileged accounts are compromised when organisations lack strong MFA and IAM practices. It emphasizes the significance of expanding the role of IAM, enforcing MFA, managing privileged access, and performing regular access audits to mitigate the risks associated with identity-based attacks. 

Why do we need ITDR Security?  

As we are witnessing a seismic shift in security perimeter towards identity-centric security, there is a pressing need to inventory critical assets, prioritize risks, and continuously monitor identities to prevent misconfigurations and vulnerabilities.  

Limitations of IAM: IAM couldn’t detect malicious activities once a bad actor has entered the right credentials and authenticated as they can easily vanish from sight. It can only provide preventive control through access provisioning and authentication, often lacking in detecting identity-based threats.  

Stopping Lateral Movement:  While advanced threat intelligence tools such as EDR, SIEM, and SOAR are significantly hardening organizations’ security posture, they often fail to detect mid-attack-chain activities such as privilege escalation and lateral movement of attackers. Once they gain initial access, no one can track and stop them from doing lateral movement. Moreover, they may bog down security teams by generating high numbers of false positives as they are highly sensitive to suspicious behavior. 

What is ITDR Security? 

ITDR can bridge this gap that encompasses threat intelligence, behavioral monitoring, tools, and processes for effective mitigation, ensuring integrity across all verticals and regions.   

ITDR is an integrated security solution that can proactively detect, investigate, and respond to identity-based threats across various verticals of organizations, including Active Directory, Entra ID, IAM, PAM, and endpoints. It solely focuses on protecting digital identities and critical infrastructure of organizations when they are compromised and accelerates effective remediation against evolving threats and vulnerabilities, including credential theft, account takeover, and insider threats.  

A good ITDR strategy not only prevents and detects but also investigates and coordinates responses to restore integrity in the face of identity infractions. 

ITDR Vs. EDR 

EDR can detect any suspicious activity by continuously monitoring and analyzing system and network log records in the organization’s system. However, it is crucial to figure out how the attacker gained access to the network via leaked credentials. Here, ITDR comes into play, where it can provide actionable insights into identity-related incidents by matching the credentials used by authorized users. This level of visibility helps security teams identify and prioritize the most dangerous identities first. It also accelerates incident response while identifying root cause analysis, paving the way for preventing such incidents in the near future. 

ITDR Security Framework in a Nutshell: Breaking the Middle Age of Attack Chain 

According to Gartner’s prediction, “ITDR has made significant strides to improve organization’s IAM systems. 

Gartner identified the ITDR as one of the top cybersecurity trends in 2022, emphasizing the growing concerns of evolving identity-based attacks. ITDR complements the existing IAM and TDR systems rather than completely replacing them.  An ITDR system continuously monitors all endpoints, including clients, servers, IAM systems, and identity repositories, to identify unmanaged, misconfigured, and exposed identities. This comprehensive data provides actionable insights into your unique identity risks.  

Let’s explore how Gartner’s ITDR Security framework effectively catches the attackers. 

Prevention: Stopping Threat Actors Before Exploitation 

With continuous monitoring of endpoints of both clients and servers and enforcing conditional access policies, IAM systems can detect unmanaged, misconfigured, and exposed identities, providing greater visibility for security analysts to identify unique identity risks.  By leveraging insights from advanced threat intelligence, ITDR can detect atypical travel, leaked credentials, and unfamiliar login attempts. By categorizing and prioritizing risk based on risk score, ITDR can trigger pre-defined remediation efforts such as blocking user access.  

Detection: Real-Time User Behaviour Monitoring 

Organizations can strengthen their detection and response capabilities, emphasizing identity tactics, techniques, and procedures. This involves continuous monitoring of user accounts and activities to identify suspicious behavior as it occurs. By leveraging AI and machine learning and correlating identity data from other security domains, ITDR can analyze user behavior to establish baseline patterns such as unusual login attempts and privilege escalations, ensuring early threat detection and mitigation.   

Rapid and Automated Incident Response- Halt Lateral Movements 

When a breach occurs, every second matters.  Time is money for adversaries. The ultimate goal of the ITDR security is to stop the in-progress attacks and halt the lateral movement of attackers. ITDR empowers SOC with AI and machine learning algorithms that can disrupt attacks at unprecedented speed. Meanwhile, it can automate incidence response and remediation workflows that drastically reduce the response time from hours to minutes or seconds. However, it doesn’t replace human security experts rather than empowering them to focus more on strategic tasks while automating only prioritizing risk alerts, configurations, and posture management.   

BottomLine: Strengthening IAM with ITDR

As we stand on the cusp of the threat landscape of 2024, the statistics and trends highlighted a paradigm shift towards a proactive, identity-centric security strategy. Implementing robust security measures is not just defending against evolving threats but in predicting and neutralizing future threats. The integration of ITDR security into IAM helps you to clean up vulnerabilities before attackers discover them by creating a large maze of invisible traps across your environment that distracts attackers. Moreover, ITDR offers robust security controls that stop attacks before they turn into breaches, enabling you to secure your crown jewels by cutting off attacker’s pathways.  

At iLink Digital, we are at the forefront of advanced cybersecurity services and solutions with 360-degree risk assessments. From continuous infrastructure surveillance to rapid threat neutralization, we bolster your defenses to combat evolving threats, ensuring a secure, resilient digital future. 

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Thangaraj Petchiappan

Chief Technology & Innovation Officer at iLink Digital

Author

Thangaraj Petchiappan leads the company’s digital transformation initiatives for Fortune 500 clients. He focuses on enhancing infrastructure automation and integrating advanced bot solutions across various industries, including healthcare, oil & gas, manufacturing, telecom, retail, and NPO sectors. As the founder of the AI-Powered Cybersecurity iLab in Texas, he spearheads the development of innovative AI and ML solutions. Additionally, Thangaraj shares his expertise as a keynote speaker, cloud advocate, and coach, offering guidance on digital transformation and technology leadership.

Beyond Phishing: Expanding Employee Security Awareness to Tackle New Threats

Did you know that cybercrime is expected to surpass $12 trillion in 2025? 

In today’s threat landscape, cyber threats are evolving at an alarming rate, underpinning a tectonic shift in how organizations train their employees. While phishing remains a major threat, responsible for 36% of data breaches, the rise of new threats such as insider threats, ransomware, zero-day vulnerabilities, identity-based attacks, deepfakes, and GenAI-driven attacks demands a more comprehensive security awareness strategy. Moreover, the need for cyber skills and talent shortage continues to widen the threat exposure, posing a serious threat for both businesses and individuals.  

This blog dives deeper into the evolving threat landscape, discussing effective strategies to empower employees to recognize and respond to the wider array of cyber threats.

Understanding the Threat Landscape: New Threats on the Table 2024 

The digital threat landscape is constantly shifting, introducing new attack vectors and tactics aimed at exploiting vulnerabilities in an organization’s security infrastructure.  

A few key trends have intensified the need for security awareness among employees: 

Phishing Attacks: Despite being one of the oldest cyber threats, phishing remains a prevalent issue. Phishing scammers masquerade themselves as the most trustworthy identity, such as those of government entities or service providers. They often create a sense of fear and urgency by sending deceptive emails or links to trick employees into revealing their sensitive information.

According to Cisco’s 2021 report, “90% of data breaches are caused by phishing scams, affecting millions of people who fall victim to these scams every year.” 

Ransomware Realities: Around one-third of all data breaches now involve ransomware or related extortion techniques, underscoring a significant rise in ransomware attacks. As ransomware tactics become increasingly complex and negotiations more aggressive, we expect to see more groups employing double and triple extortion tactics in a bid to pressure payment. 

Learn how to prevent ransomware attacks! 

Identity-Based Attacks: Did you know 75% of the attacks to gain initial access were malware-free? The rise of identity-based attacks has taken center stage as adversaries are constantly striving for legitimate ways to access the victim’s environments. These attacks often target IAM weaknesses, ranging from credential stuffing to insider threats. As organizations shift towards remote and hybrid work, they tend to have more dispersed identities to manage, often lacking unified visibility across platforms.

Zero-day Exploit: Zero-day exploitation has become more prevalent in IoT devices, firewalls, and VPNs, posing a significant threat due to their unknown nature and the potential for immediate exploitation by cybercriminals before any proactive measures are taken. This security flaw was significantly used by ransomware actors that were unknown to the vendor and had not yet been patched. “Zero days” refers to the fact that the developers had zero days to fix the issue since it was discovered. These vulnerabilities are particularly dangerous because they can be exploited by cybercriminals before any protective measures are implemented, leaving systems and data at significant risk. 

Supply chain attacks: The growing prevalence of supply chain attacks accounted for 15% of data breaches. Attackers are increasingly targeting supply chains, cloud service providers, and third-party infrastructures to compromise the trusted vendor’s integrity of products and services. They are using advanced tactics, including social engineering and malware injection, to infiltrate supply chains through legitimate channels. 

Insider Threats: Insider threats can stem from employees, contractors, or business partners who have inside information concerning the organization’s security practices, data, network, and computer systems.  43% of all breaches are executed by insider threats. Insider threats can be intentional, such as malicious actions taken by disgruntled employees. On the other hand, it can be unintentional due to human error or negligence. According to the Poneman Institute, 55% of insider threats were due to employee negligence. 

Addressing these threats requires a more sophisticated, multi-faceted approach that combines advanced threat detection and response mechanisms, continuous monitoring, and a steadfast commitment to employee training and security awareness.  

The Critical Role of Security Awareness Training: Empowering Employees

Employee security awareness is the first line of defense against these emerging threats.

Research shows that even a modest investment in Security Awareness Training can significantly reduce the business impact of a cyberattack by 72%. On the contrary, organizations are increasingly realizing that merely investing in advanced security technology is insufficient to safeguard their valuable assets and prevent data breaches. Hence, CXOs and CISOs are focusing on establishing policies and fostering a culture of security awareness through comprehensive training programs.  

Beyond phishing simulations, organizations today require a proactive approach that includes cultivating a “human firewall” of employees who can recognize and respond to nuanced threats in real-time. Leveraging AI and automation in security training can support these goals, enabling real-time alerts and simulations catering to each employee’s learning path and bridging the skill gap left by limited cybersecurity staffing. 

Here are some effective strategies for enhancing employee security training programs: 

Embracing Interactive Learning and Gamification Methods 

According to the Gartner Survey, “Low engagement is one of the biggest challenges in employee security awareness and training programs.” 

Traditional security awareness training methods often lack user engagement and knowledge retention, accelerate security behavior change and practical security practices. Gamification and interactive learning play a pivotal role in transforming boring learning and training into more engaging and rewarding experiences while increasing employee productivity.   

Interactive training modules provide employees with hands-on experience in simulated security scenarios, such as managing suspicious emails and recognizing social engineering tactics. This approach builds confidence and enhances preparedness for real-world threats, with immediate feedback promoting continuous learning. 

• Gamification: Gamified training incorporates reward systems like leaderboards and competitions, motivating employees to complete modules and participate actively by offering badges, certificates, and prizes. Using avatars allows users to create digital personas that simulate real-life attack situations, fostering an immersive learning experience. 
• Collaborative Learning: Collaborative learning further enriches gamified training through group discussions and role-playing exercises, encouraging teamwork and peer-to-peer learning. These activities deepen employees’ understanding of cybersecurity’s importance in organizational resilience while fostering camaraderie, ultimately equipping them to collectively defend against cyber threats. 
• Microlearning: Microlearning is an innovative approach to training that delivers short, focused learning sessions designed to teach specific skills or concepts quickly.  It allows employees to learn critical information in bite-sized modules, making it easier to fit training into their busy schedules. 

Role-Specific Security Awareness Training (SAT) with Personalized Learning Content 

To stay ahead of sophisticated AI-driven cyber threats, implementing role-based security awareness training (SAT) is paramount. Unlike traditional SAT programs, which often lack customization and relevance, AI can create personalized and role-specific SAT training content, catering to the employee’s unique responsibilities, learning styles, past behaviors, and risks associated with their job functions.  Moreover, it can identify employees who need more targeted training and support. 

For instance, HR can receive training for handling sensitive employee information securely, whereas Finance executives can learn to recognize and prevent financial fraud and phishing attacks. This dynamic approach ensures that every employee is equipped with knowledge and skills to proactively identify and prevent cyber threats, ultimately safeguarding critical assets of organizations.  

This automated training also builds custom reminder workflows to encourage employees to complete their training by sending personalized reminders via email, Slack, and Teams. This personalized approach evaluates employee behavior during training, ultimately enhancing engagement and retention.  

AI-Driven Real-world Attack Simulations 

Attack simulators play a vital role in assessing an organization’s security posture by mimicking a wide range of real-world attack scenarios in a controlled environment. The well-crafted attack scenarios highlight vulnerabilities, enabling security teams to address and mitigate them before they materialize into full-blown incidents; AI can simulate more sophisticated and realistic cyber-attack scenarios, generate secure code examples, and assist in analyzing large datasets to identify security vulnerabilities, offering data-driven insights and comprehensive assessment report, ensuring cyber resilience. Simulation training is usually conducted by the IT department to boost security awareness and vigilance among users and test their impulsive behavior to strengthen their muscle memory.  

Measuring the Impact of Employee Security Awareness Training 

Measuring the impact of security awareness training for employees helps organizations identify hidden vulnerabilities and prioritize training efforts by analyzing simulation results, employee feedback, security incident trends, incident response time, and knowledge assessment scores. 

Continuous Learning and Adaptation 

 As the threat landscape constantly evolves, organizations should regularly update their training materials to keep end-users informed about the latest threats and best practices, enhancing their ability to detect and mitigate risk effectively. Continuously gathering employee feedback on training effectiveness helps organizations to identify potential vulnerabilities in their network. 

Building a Security Awareness Culture 

Building a robust security awareness culture requires a seamless collaboration between security professionals and other employees. This holistic approach ensures that everyone in the organization receives adequate training, takes shared responsibility, and is deeply committed to defending critical assets across the organization. However, it also requires a strong commitment from the top down, including leadership, employees, processes, and methods used for addressing security incidents.  

Here are some tips for creating a security awareness culture 

• Leadership Involvement: Leadership must actively promote the importance of cybersecurity. When executives prioritize security, it sets a tone that resonates throughout the organization, encouraging employees to take security seriously. 

• Regular Training and Drills: Implementing regular training sessions and incident response drills helps employees understand their roles in maintaining security. These exercises simulate real-world scenarios, allowing staff to practice their response protocols effectively. 

• Open Communication Channels: Encouraging open community forums for employees about security concerns fosters a sense of shared responsibility, making them feel comfortable reporting suspicious activities without fear of repercussions. 

Bottom Line: The Inevitable Role of Informed Employees

Cyber-attacks now occur every 39 seconds, 95% of which are caused by human error. 

As Cybersecurity Awareness Month unfolds this October 2024, organizations around the globe are gearing up to elevate their defenses and secure the digital landscape. This year’s theme, “Secure Our World,” isn’t just a slogan—it’s a rallying call for unified action toward safer digital hygiene practices. As threats loom around every corner, comprehensive security awareness training is essential for building digital resilient workforce to empower employees to counter threats ranging from phishing and insider threats to ransomware and sophisticated social engineering tactics. 

Check out our Cybersecurity Services!
Talk with Our Security Experts!

Thangaraj Petchiappan

Chief Technology & Innovation Officer at iLink Digital

Author

Thangaraj Petchiappan leads the company’s digital transformation initiatives for Fortune 500 clients. He focuses on enhancing infrastructure automation and integrating advanced bot solutions across various industries, including healthcare, oil & gas, manufacturing, telecom, retail, and NPO sectors. As the founder of the AI-Powered Cybersecurity iLab in Texas, he spearheads the development of innovative AI and ML solutions. Additionally, Thangaraj shares his expertise as a keynote speaker, cloud advocate, and coach, offering guidance on digital transformation and technology leadership.