February 23, 2024 at 02:25PM
Attackers are increasingly using legitimate tools, making it challenging for enterprise defenders to detect and defend against attacks. Rethinking network architecture is essential, with a focus on strong access controls, privileged behavior monitoring, and cloud security technologies. Organizations should prioritize telemetry sources and take a proactive approach to detect living off the land attacks.
Key takeaways from the meeting notes:
1. Adversaries are increasingly using legitimate tools to hide their malicious activities, prompting the need for rethinking network architecture for better detection and defense.
2. “Living off the land” tactics involve using native, legitimate tools within a victim’s environment for attacks, making it hard for defenders to separate malicious actions from legitimate activity.
3. To force attackers to create more noise on the network, IT security leaders must rethink the network architecture, implement strong access controls, and monitor privileged behavior analytics.
4. Cloud access security broker (CASB) and secure access service edge (SASE) technologies can help understand unexpected or suspicious network flows.
5. Securing identities and limiting movements through zero trust and strong privileged access controls is crucial in making it harder for attackers to move around the network.
6. An evidence-based approach is important in prioritizing telemetry sources to gain visibility into legitimate utility abuse, with a focus on storing higher-volume log sources that provide a window into threats observed most often in the wild.
7. Practical steps for IT security leaders include having visibility into events, detecting attackers living off the land, and reducing reliance on credentials to establish connections.
8. Service Accounts, often unregulated and weakly-protected, are prime targets for living off the land attacks, and strong authentication mechanisms should be employed on them.
9. Building a culture of security requires willing leadership to support and champion the cause, along with investments in reducing technical debt in systems.
10. Speed of detection and response is crucial for defenders, and a quick response from alert SecOps analysts can make a significant positive difference in mitigating threats.
Overall, the meeting notes underscore the importance of rethinking network architecture, implementing strong access controls, leveraging cloud security technologies, and taking an evidence-based approach to gain visibility into malicious activities involving legitimate tools. Additionally, it is essential for organizations to reduce their reliance on credentials, secure service accounts, and invest in building a culture of security.