Eight Common Attack Vectors Organizations Need To Be Aware Of

An attack vector, also known as a threat vector, is a way for cybercriminals to gain access to an organization’s network or system. Some common types of attack vectors that organizations need to defend against include weak and compromised credentials, social engineering attacks, insider threats, unpatched software, lack of encryption and misconfigurations. Organizations must identify all of the potential attack vectors and protect their network against them to avoid security breaches.

Continue reading to learn more about attack vectors, how they get exploited, eight common types of attack vectors and how to secure your organization against these attack vectors.

What is an attack vector?

An attack vector refers to the specific method that a cybercriminal uses to gain unauthorized access to an organization’s systems. The sum of attack vectors makes up an organization’s attack surface, and the larger the attack surface is, the more vulnerable an organization is to cybercriminals gaining unauthorized access. Once cybercriminals have gained unauthorized access, they can infect the network with malware, steal sensitive data and disrupt the organization’s operations.

How attack vectors get exploited

Cybercriminals use a variety of methods to exploit attack vectors and gain unauthorized access to an organization’s network. Attack vectors typically fall under two categories: active and passive attack vectors.

Active attack vectors

Cybercriminals who use active attack vectors try to gain unauthorized access to the organization’s network and cause damage to the organization. Active attack vectors directly harm, alter or damage an organization’s network of systems and resources to disrupt their regular operations. They are easy to detect due to the direct harm done to the organization’s operations. Common examples of active attack vectors include malware and DDoS attacks.

Passive attack vectors

Passive attack vectors are harder to trace than active attack vectors because they do not directly harm the organization’s regular operations. They monitor the organization’s systems to gain access to data and other sensitive information. Cybercriminals will exploit security vulnerabilities to acquire information without affecting the organization’s systems. Common examples of passive attack vectors include social engineering and man-in-the-middle attacks.

8 types of attack vectors

Here are eight common types of attack vectors cybercriminals use to gain unauthorized access to an organization’s network.

Weak and compromised credentials

Weak and compromised credentials are one of the primary attack vectors used by cybercriminals to gain unauthorized access to an organization’s network. Cybercriminals can easily crack weak passwords using password-related cyber attacks such as brute force and credential stuffing. They can also use already compromised credentials from previous cyber attacks or data leaks to gain unauthorized access to the network.

Malware

Malware is malicious software that cybercriminals use to infect an organization’s network to cause damage and steal their sensitive data. Cybercriminals secretly install malware by exploiting security vulnerabilities or tricking people into installing malware through phishing and other means. They use different types of malware to steal an organization’s data such as ransomware, spyware, Trojans and viruses. 

Social engineering

Social engineering is a psychological manipulation technique used by threat actors to get victims to reveal their private information. Cybercriminals will use social engineering attacks to trick members of an organization into giving up sensitive information such as passwords to gain unauthorized access to the organization’s network. 

The most common form of social engineering that cybercriminals use is phishing. Phishing is when cybercriminals impersonate a familiar face to trick victims into revealing their personal information. Cybercriminals send emails or text messages with malicious attachments or links for victims to click on. When the victim clicks on the malicious link, they are taken to a spoofed website that either downloads malware onto their device or prompts them to reveal their personal information.

Insider threat

Insider threats are cyber threats that come from within an organization. They occur when current or former employees, partners, contractors or vendors cause sensitive data and systems to become compromised, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Malicious insider threats will try to intentionally sabotage the organization by leaking or stealing its sensitive data. Threat actors will also exploit negligent insiders who are careless about cybersecurity best practices. Negligent insiders may make a human error that leads to a data breach such as falling for a phishing attack.

Unpatched software

Cybercriminals often exploit new vulnerabilities found within outdated software and systems to gain unauthorized access to an organization or an individual’s device. However, regularly updating outdated software will patch most bugs and flaws that cybercriminals can exploit. If organizations are running unpatched software, then cybercriminals can use it as an attack vector to steal the organization’s sensitive data.

Lack of encryption

Encryption is the process of converting data from a readable format known as plaintext into an unreadable format known as ciphertext. Ciphertext consists of blocks of random characters that cannot be read unless it is decrypted with an encryption key back into plaintext. Encryption helps protect sensitive data in transit and at rest from getting stolen, read or altered by unauthorized users. 

A lack of encryption often results in data being transmitted in plaintext which cybercriminals can read and steal through Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attacks. MITM attacks are when cybercriminals intercept data from two exchanging parties. Often, cybercriminals rely on unencrypted network connections to eavesdrop, steal and alter any connected internet traffic.

DDoS

A Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack is a cyber attack that tries to slow down or crash a targeted server by overwhelming it with a flood of internet traffic. Cybercriminals often use infected devices known as bots to execute DDoS attacks. They use the bots to exploit the limited bandwidth of an organization’s network server to disrupt its normal operations. 

Misconfigurations

Organizations may run into an issue in which their systems are too complex, leaving their network with vulnerable settings and disparate security controls. Systems that are manually configured can have errors and gaps if improperly configured. Cybercriminals will exploit misconfigurations to gain unauthorized access to the organization’s network.

How to stay protected against attack vectors

Organizations need to protect themselves against attack vectors and prevent unauthorized access to their network. Here are the best ways for organizations to secure their network against attack vectors.

Use a business password manager

A business password manager is a tool that employees use to securely store, manage, track, share and protect their login information for their work accounts. Passwords are stored in a digitally encrypted vault that can only be accessed using a strong master password. Employees can store more than just passwords in their password vault such as SSH keys, identity cards and other important documents.

Organizations should have their employees use a business password manager to ensure they practice good password hygiene. A business password manager allows administrators full visibility into employee password practices. Organizations can efficiently enforce password policies since business password managers identify weak passwords and prompt users to strengthen them. A business password manager also allows employees to securely share passwords when necessary.

Educate employees about cybersecurity best practices

Negligent employees are one of the most common attack vectors cybercriminals will exploit to gain unauthorized access to your organization’s network. You need to educate employees about cybersecurity best practices to lower the success rate of cybercriminals. 

Some cybersecurity best practices employees should follow include:

• Using strong and unique passwords to protect online accounts
• Enabling Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) whenever possible
• Avoiding oversharing on social media
• Recognizing cyber threats to avoid
• Using secure password-sharing methods
• Avoiding public WiFi networks

Keep software up to date

Cybercriminals will exploit security vulnerabilities found in outdated and unpatched software to gain unauthorized access to an organization’s network, and often, install malware. Software updates will patch most security flaws and bugs that cybercriminals exploit and add security features that better protect your organization. You should regularly update all of the software within your organization to prevent cybercriminals from using unpatched software as an attack vector.

Implement least privilege access

Least privilege access is a cybersecurity principle that gives users and machines just enough network access to do their jobs, and no more. By implementing least privilege access, organizations can reduce the number of attack vectors cybercriminals can exploit. Least privilege access limits what resources users can access. If a threat actor were to infiltrate the organization’s network, they would be limited to the levels of access of the machine or account they compromised, preventing lateral movement within the network.

Invest in cybersecurity solutions

Organizations need to invest in cybersecurity solutions to help them secure against attack vectors and prevent cybercriminals from exploiting them. Here are some cybersecurity solutions organizations should consider.

• Privileged Access Management (PAM): A tool that secures and manages accounts that have access to highly sensitive systems and data. With a PAM solution, organizations have full visibility into who is accessing their entire infrastructure. PAM solutions allow organizations to control and audit who is accessing all of their networks, applications, servers and devices. 
• Antivirus software: A program that detects, prevents and removes known malware from your device. Threat actors will try to exploit any security vulnerabilities found within an organization’s network to install malware. Antivirus software will scan your organization’s devices to find hidden malware and remove it. It will also detect incoming malware and prevent it from installing on your network.
• Virtual Private Network (VPN): A service that secures your internet connection and online privacy by masking your IP address and encrypting your internet connection. A VPN helps users remain anonymous online and ensures their internet traffic is unreadable by unauthorized users. It helps organizations stay safe from MITM attacks.

Use Keeper to secure your organization against attack vectors

The best way to secure your organization against attack vectors is with a PAM solution. PAM allows organizations to implement the principle of least privilege and have full visibility into their entire infrastructure. It allows organizations to prevent lateral movement from threat actors and misuse of privileges from insider threats. 

KeeperPAM™ is a zero-trust and zero-knowledge privileged access management solution that combines Keeper Enterprise Password Manager (EPM), Keeper Secrets Manager® (KSM) and Keeper Connection Manager® (KCM). With KeeperPAM, organizations can secure and control passwords, secrets, connections and privileges all in one unified platform.