Cyber Kill Chain: How Cybercriminals Penetrate Corporate Networks

May 13, 2022

Digitization significantly simplifies people’s lives and offers many other advantages: unfortunately also for criminals – cybercriminals! Because cybercriminals are constantly looking for vulnerabilities like Log4Shell and exploit them to gain access to company networks and data. The procedure or attack model attackers use to infiltrate systems is called the “cyber kill chain.” What exactly does such a cyber kill chain look like, and how can companies break it?

Measures against installation: In this step, the efforts taken by the attacker should be consistently thwarted. Security-relevant actions must also be recorded and examined within the company and not just at the security perimeter. Because only if the processes carried out by the cybercriminal are logged, evaluated, and recognized can they still be stopped in this phase.

Measures against command and control: Compromised systems and services communicate with the attackers for command control. Through network and endpoint monitoring, such command and control messages from/to the attacker can be detected, and the necessary countermeasures can be derived. Security gaps that have come to light should be closed immediately. For detection, it is essential that your data traffic is monitored from and within the company and that limit value violation or abnormalities are quickly detected.

Measures against Actions on Objective: If an emergency has occurred and an attacker has gained access to all or a large part of the IT infrastructure, it is almost impossible to take effective defensive and containment measures. The aim is, of course, that an attacker never reaches the last phase and has already been noticed and warded off before this partial step. However, if it is already too late for this, the damage must be reduced as far as possible using actions defined in advance (such as disaster recovery, BCM, and backup plans).

The security expert’s job requires extensive knowledge of the latest technologies and attack vectors and an understanding of specific countermeasures to ensure the reaction to attacks, detection of vulnerabilities, minimization of risks, and mitigation of the consequences of aggression. Security specialists must also have comprehensive know-how of the respective system. Suppose company employees are regularly trained in security risks and social engineering methods. If the technology is constantly updated and complete threat detection is carried out, companies’ risk of successful cyber attacks is significantly reduced. Unfortunately, it turns out.

Conclusion: Cyber Security Versus Chain Reaction – For A Secure IT Infrastructure

Defense against cyberattacks can only be successful for companies if their security teams and partners know how cybercriminals operate. If the necessary measures are taken, and security requirements are met, the risk of cybercriminals penetrating corporate networks and causing damage is reduced. Knowledge of the attack model of the Cyber Kill Chain, therefore, enables the defense against cyber-attacks!

Cyber ​​Kill Chain: How Cybercriminals Penetrate Corporate Networks

Conclusion: Cyber Security Versus Chain Reaction – For A Secure IT Infrastructure

Cyber Kill Chain: How Cybercriminals Penetrate Corporate Networks