Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

There are numerous ways of carrying out cyberattacks. Identity is now one of the most common ways attackers gain access to systems. Instead of malware or exploits, attackers rely on stolen credentials or reused passwords. They abuse permissions to carry out sophisticated attacks that appear normal on the surface. Basic monitoring tools cannot detect these attacks. Identity misuse is becoming more common. Many organizations now work across cloud services and remote access.

Security teams collect more data today than ever before. Logs are generated from endpoints, cloud services, identities, networks, and applications. Teams are still using traditional SIEM tools to handle this growing volume of data. This puts a lot of pressure on these tools, leading to significant deterioration in their efficiency. The data will continue to grow, resulting in slower searches and limited visibility. This problem can be addressed with data lakes.

Endpoint protection helps keep everyday devices safe. In an organization, various types of endpoints are used, like desktops, laptops, and servers. These devices are often the first targets that attackers try to use to break into an organization’s infrastructure. In the past, protection meant blocking known viruses. That approach worked when threats were easy to recognize. Now, attacks have become more advanced and harder to detect.

Managed service providers (MSPs) manage multiple client environments at the same time. It’s not an easy task, as threats move quickly and alerts never stop. It poses a big challenge for human-only SOC teams to handle such huge volumes of alerts and threats. This is where AI SOC changes how security operations are conducted for MSPs. An AI SOC uses artificial intelligence to monitor activity and identify threats in real-time.

It is not always malware or a sophisticated tool that results in cyber threats. Sometimes, this happens through a convincing email or a request that appears trustworthy. There have been occasions where attackers created a moment of urgency to lead someone into clicking, sharing, or approving without realizing the consequences. This is social engineering. Social engineering threats are becoming more dangerous.

Rondodox is a botnet that operates quietly and causes damage over time. It does not flood networks with traffic or trigger obvious alerts. It continues to run in the background for extended periods without being detected. In most cases, botnets are found when something breaks, but Rondodox is different. It blends into normal activity and relies on low-noise communication. This is why detecting this botnet is difficult, even in environments with mature security tools.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is used to protect user accounts. It adds an extra layer during login, but MFA bypass attacks still happen. In many attacks, MFA is not broken. Attackers simply avoid it. They take control of sessions that are already logged in or trick users into signing in through pages that appear legitimate. Once access is granted, MFA is no longer involved. This is where assumptions start to break.

Many attacks start without drawing attention. Nothing looks obviously wrong at first. It could be through a reused password or an exposed service that allows attackers to gain access to their systems. Sometimes, a well-crafted email is all that's needed. By the time security teams notice something is wrong, attackers have already been inside for days or weeks. This poses a huge challenge for many security teams. They often use multiple tools and conduct manual checks to find signs of intrusion.

Malicious actors use different tactics to launch cyberattacks, commonly referred to as attack vectors. They exploit misconfigurations, weak controls, and other poor security practices to gain unauthorized access to victims’ systems. There is a document co-authored by cybersecurity authorities from various countries, like the US, Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. It is released by CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency).

Some attacks are easy to spot. Others aren’t. In many cases, nothing obviously breaks or crashes, and no malware ever shows up. Nothing looks wrong at first. Access appears normal, and systems continue to run as usual. Modern attacks are challenging to detect because attackers often use the same tools and access paths as legitimate users. In addition, attackers remain low-key and use access that appears normal.

Attackers, after an initial compromise, look to remain inside a network for as long as possible. For this, they use different methods. Beaconing is one of the common techniques used to maintain this access. Beaconing activity can easily blend into normal traffic and can remain unnoticed for long periods. Therefore, it is important for IT and security teams to understand how beaconing works in order to effectively carry out beaconing detection and response.