Cybersecurity – Attack and Defense Strategies - Second Edition

8

Lateral Movement

In the previous chapters, the tools and techniques that attackers use to compromise and gain entry into a system were discussed. This chapter will focus on the predominant thing that attackers attempt to do following a successful entry: solidifying and expanding their presence. This is what is referred to as lateral movement. Attackers will move from device to device after the initial hack with the hopes of accessing high-value data. They will also be looking at ways in which they can gain additional control of the victim's network. At the same time, they will be trying not to trip alarms or raise any alerts. This phase of the attack life cycle can take a long time. In highly complicated attacks, the phase takes several ...