When Attackers Exploit Trust Instead of Vulnerabilities
A financial services organization with a strong security posture learned that trust relationships can still become a path to domain compromise.
Industry
Financial Services Organization
A financial services organization with a high security posture still requires regular penetration testing.
Cybermode Services Performed
- Comprehensive Penetration Test
- Comprehensive API Penetration Test
- Comprehensive Web Application Penetration Test
- Comprehensive Cloud Penetration Test
- Enterprise Risk Assessment
- Enterprise Incident Response
- Dark Web Breach Data Assessment
- Social Engineering and IAM Assessment
Engagement Scope
The assessment examined both the organization's external attack surface and internal enterprise network over a multi-week engagement that included onsite testing.
Cybermode evaluated:
- Internet-facing infrastructure
- Windows Active Directory environment
- Internal network segmentation
- Authentication controls
- Microsoft domain security
- Password policies
- Firewall and VPN security
- SSL/TLS configurations
- Public attack surface
- Breach data exposure
- DNS infrastructure
- Employee OSINT footprint
- Credential management
- Network protocol security
Unlike a traditional vulnerability scan, the engagement simulated the techniques used by modern threat actors to determine how far an attacker could realistically progress after obtaining an initial foothold.
The financial services organization network stood strong over initial engagements. Cybermode then evolved methodologies and tactics to manipulate and completely breach the internal Active Directory Windows Domain.
Impact
Cybermode was able to breach even a highly secure network by utilizing state of the art hacking techniques. This demonstrates the continually changing nature of cybersecurity risk.
Lessons Learned
This engagement reinforced an important cybersecurity principle: a high security posture with strong vulnerability management alone does not entirely eliminate enterprise risk.
The financial services organization maintained a well managed environment with almost no exploitable software vulnerabilities, yet sophisticated identity-based attacks remained capable of breaching the network and obtaining domain administrator access because of trust relationship weaknesses inherent within traditional Windows enterprise networks.
A regular penetration test is necessary, even within highly secure, well managed networks.
