An attack path often involves a combination of concealed permissions, unconstrained delegation, nested group membership and inherent security gaps in AD architecture.īloodHound provides hackers with a clear, graphical view of Active Directory attack paths and therefore a roadmap to control of the entire domain. Adversaries can use an open-source tool called BloodHound to identify Active Directory attack paths - chains of abusable privileges and actions that could enable an attacker who compromises a user account to gain administrative privileges. Unfortunately, all too often, becoming a Domain Admin is far easier than it ought to be. In particular, an attacker who controls an account that is a member of the Domain Admins group has unlimited power in the domain. Attack path mappingĪ key goal for an adversary is to gain membership in a highly privileged Active Directory security group. Here are some of the top techniques used specifically in Active Directory attacks.
But some of the phases, especially lateral movement and privilege escalation, exploit specific features of the IT ecosystem that has been penetrated. For example, hackers can use phishing attacks to gather credentials for any corporate network. Some of these phases are not system-specific. Common Active Directory attacks and defense strategies Techniques include uninstalling programs or scripts used in the attack, deleting any folders or accounts that they created, and modifying, corrupting or deleting audit logs. In addition, they often also use their privileged access to disable backups and cover their tracks in order to thwart investigations and keep the organization from enhancing their defenses against future attacks. Last, the adversary exfiltrates or encrypts the organization’s data, or perhaps corrupts systems to disrupt business operations. It also often involves ensuring that they can get back in if they are spotted and booted out using persistence techniques such as creating new user accounts, modifying registry settings, setting up PowerShell scripts and installing backdoors. That means evading detection using strategies like causing systems to falsely report that everything is working normally. Once an adversary has gained an initial foothold in the network, they will seek to escalate their privileges and compromise additional systems to locate sensitive data and other critical resources. Lateral movement and privilege escalation
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For instance, the adversary might succeed in guessing an employee’s credentials in a password spraying, credential stuffing or brute force attack gain entry through an unpatched or misconfigured system or trick an employee into launching malware hidden in a malicious attachment to a phishing email. The adversary then uses the chosen attack vector to attempt to breach the organization’s network perimeter. Examples include exploiting a zero-day vulnerability, launching a phishing campaign such as a business email compromise (BEC) attack, or even bribing an employee to provide credentials or deploy malware. Next, the adversary determines which attack vector to use for infiltration. And it can also involve active techniques like network and port scanning to understand the target organization’s network architecture, firewalls, intrusion detection programs, operating systems, applications and services, as well as the access provided to third-party vendors, contractors and others.
Reconnaissance can involve using public sources such as tax records, job postings and social media to discover what systems and applications the organization uses, the names of its employees, and so on.
ReconnaissanceĪdversaries start by identifying target organizations and collecting information about them - what valuable data they might be able to steal, how big a payoff they could get from a ransomware attack, how strong the organization’s cybersecurity posture is, and so on. The five stages of cyberattacksĪctive Directory attacks follow the same five stages of any cyberattack: reconnaissance, planning, intrusion, lateral movement and privilege escalation, and exfiltration and cleanup. Any adversary who gains control over your Active Directory can steal your sensitive data, launch ransomware or bring your business to a standstill.īut how exactly does an Active Directory attack unfold? What are the most common Active Directory attacks, and what steps can organizations take to mitigate their risk? Read on to find out. Understanding Active Directory attacks is vital for one simple reason: Active Directory provides the essential authentication and authorization services that keep your IT ecosystem running.
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