Privileged Attack Vectors: Building Effective Cyber-Defense Strategies to Protect Organizations

© Morey J. Haber and Brad Hibbert 2018

Morey J. Haber and Brad HibbertPrivileged Attack Vectorshttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-3048-0_2

2. Shared User Credentials

Morey J. Haber¹  and Brad Hibbert²

(1)

Heathrow, Florida, USA

(2)

Carp, Ontario, Canada

 

One of the most cardinal rules in cybersecurity is never to share your password with anyone and at any time. Realistically, that is not possible. Whether it is a colleague, or contractor, there are no sound use cases when it should be done; ever! That said, many employees continue to share passwords in times of emergency, to delegate tasks, or to overcome issues in planning with sick leave and vacation - being two common culprits.

The problem with shared credentials is that once they are out of your ...