Industry Profile
Multi-national manufacturing organization with distributed OT/IT networks, including legacy industrial systems, IoT devices, and centralized ERP platforms.
Attack Path Analysis
- Initial Foothold: IoT device firmware exploited via outdated protocol stack gave attackers remote shell access.
- Lateral Movement: Service accounts with shared credentials enabled pivoting into Active Directory via SMB relay.
- Privilege Escalation: Hidden scheduled task with SYSTEM privileges permitted domain takeover through command injection.
Mitigation Strategy
- Deployed behavior-based endpoint monitoring agents on lateral entry nodes
- Established tiered identity zones and context-aware access controls
- Implemented regular attack path simulations within threat modeling workshops
Strategic Takeaways
- Attack surfaces must be visualized from adversarial perspectives, not just asset inventories
- Legacy privileges and dormant services often open high-impact lateral access
- Mapping real-world paths uncovers choke points that offer maximum defensive value
- Simulated breaches aligned with business risk deliver faster response prioritization
Book a Demo
