Cybercriminals almost always need to leverage credentials as part of just about any kind of cyberattack. To no surprise, phishing and social engineering play a dominant role.
Usually when we’re talking about cyberattacks, it’s a conversation that starts with an endpoint, a malware infection, and then a succession of malicious actions intent on gathering internal credentials to move laterally, access resources, and eventually the desired data and applications to carry out the final step in the attack – be it ransomware, exfiltration, or fraud.
But, new data found in the Identity Defined Security Alliance’s latest report 2022 Trends in Securing Digital Identities, identity is a target much earlier in an attack and is very often the focus. According to the report, a majority (84%) of organizations have experienced an identity-related breach in the last 12 months. Of these orgs, 78% of them dealt with “direct business impacts” including recovery costs and reputational damage.
Digging a bit deeper, the data begins to reveal the why behind that 84% number. According to the report:
- 59% of organizations have experienced phishing-based campaigns focused on stealing credentials
- 27% experienced social engineered password scams
- 23% experienced brute force password attacks
Each of these experienced relate to one simple factor within an organization’s security strategy – the educating of its’ users. Those organizations that undergo continual Security Awareness Training have a userbase more apt to utilize secure passwords (working to thwart the brute force attacks), and are vigilant enough to spot phishing and social engineering attacks a mile away, stopping cyberattacks – whether focused on identity or not – dead in their tracks.
