If the last year has demonstrated any lessons for IT and security teams, it’s this: managing privileged access should be a top priority for the business. When a large portion of the workforce began working remotely, there was a frenzy to extend access so individuals could perform their jobs from home. Yet this may have unintentionally caused inappropriate access levels to be extended to employees....

Chances are your organization is relying on an extensive number of enterprise applications, systems, and platforms to ensure successful execution of the business. According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, large organizations rely on an average of nearly 130 applications across their business, while smaller firms use around 70 applications on average. The ability to manage user access to...

Pen testing is a well-established practice for many organizations. With such diverse environments consisting of different applications from different vendors, it’s safe to assume security weaknesses are lurking somewhere. But why aren’t these security flaws found earlier, by the creators themselves? In this blog, we’ll explore why applications should also go through security testing and review...

While no one could have anticipated the way in which COVID-19 would change the workforce over the last year, perhaps even more unexpected is the lasting impact the pandemic will have on remote work. With millions of employees still working from home, organizations are especially vulnerable because they lack visibility into the actual access levels employees possess across the collaboration tools...

As the need for regular security assessments continues to grow, penetration testing tools are helping organizations advance their in-house programs through strategic automation. However, there is a misconception that automated tools are best for those with a reduced headcount, like small teams or individuals. Fortunately, Core Impact is designed with every team in mind, and offers capabilities...

These days, an organization’s technology stack isn’t merely computers and servers. The Internet of Things (IoT)—a catch all term for the many different devices that have sensors or software that connect them to the Internet—has carved out a foothold in every industry. Hospitals are filled with devices that monitor patient status, farmers are using sensors placed in the ground to obtain data about...

Authored by: Julio Sanchez In part four of this series, we examined a penetration testing engagement that the Core Security Services team performed, exploring an insider attacker engagement that showed one of the ways an attacker can escalate their privileges using Kerberos tickets. The four scenarios presented over the course of this series demonstrate the many types of attacks, both internal and...

As a new year looms bright with possibility in front of us, how can we prepare for a world that looks profoundly different than it did a year ago? On the cybersecurity front, we can always anticipate continuing battles with familiar foes, as well as a few new challenges on the horizon. Though we may not have a crystal ball, based on our observations and discussions, here are six predictions for...

As 2020 comes to an end and we anticipate gleefully tossing our calendars in the garbage, we can all agree it was one of the most tumultuous years in recent history. It was a difficult time for almost every person and industry, and cybersecurity was certainly no exception, with shocking breaches, mass transitions to remote working, and threat actors thriving as the pandemic raged on. Though we’re...

It’s no secret that organizations today face a constant onslaught of identity-related access risks within the current threat landscape. One of the most critical and potentially damaging access risks that can exist under the surface of an organization is the lack of controls to ensure adequate segregation of duties (SoD). Throughout this blog, we will examine what it means to segregate duties...

The latest release of Core Impact has arrived! Version 20.3 showcases our commitment to creating a comprehensive, streamlined process for testing the defenses of any IT environment. At the forefront of this effort is the debut of exciting new interoperability capabilities with our red teaming platform, Cobalt Strike. Additionally, this latest release includes new features focused on both...

These days, encountering malware like viruses, ransomware, trojans, or worms has become all too common—it’s almost an inevitability. In fact, according to the 2020 Malware Report by Cybersecurity Insiders, 88% see malware as an extreme or moderate threat, and 75% believe malware and ransomware will increase in the next year. As this threat continues to loom, almost all organizations have antivirus...

When someone says “pen test,” you’re not alone if you pictured someone clicking a ball point pen top, drawing scribbles to see if any ink comes out. But if you keep listening, it actually seems like pen testers are paid to hack into computers all day long. So what do they actually do? We went behind the scenes, taking a closer look at the day in the life of a pen tester.

Day after day, we see the evidence of an increased number of breaches. As a Privileged Account Management (PAM) provider, we are also seeing a similar increase in requests for proposals on our Core Privileged Access Manager (BoKS) solution. What is most interesting is that a large number of security professionals who contact us indicate that they are not not even sure what privileged accounts are...

“Some cloud vendors tout that systems deployed within their framework require little or no administration: You create an image with the software and applications that you want it to provide services for, spin it up in a management console, and Voila! you have an entirely new system online; with minimal cost, no hassle, little work. However, even with newer models for virtualization appearing on...

Authored by: Julio Sanchez In part 3 of this series, we examined a penetration testing engagement that the Core Security Services team performed, simulating an insider attacker with low-level credentials escalating their privileges with Kerberos tickets and pass-the-hash attacks. In this final scenario, we’ll explore another insider attack engagement, demonstrating how different techniques can be...

Implementing an Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) solution can be a daunting task. Organizations of all sizes recognize the complexity of mitigating identity-related access risks across countless devices, applications, and systems, but need a way to see through the competing priorities and to understand that IGA is not an all or nothing proposition. Rather than a destination, Identity...