What Is Lateral Movement?

Lateral movement is a critical phase in many advanced cyber attacks, allowing threat actors to:

• Blend in with regular network traffic and avoid detection
• Gather more information about the network structure and potential vulnerabilities
• Identify and target high-value assets, such as servers containing sensitive data
• Establish multiple points of persistence within the network

The stages of lateral movement

Understanding lateral movement attacks helps organizations to safeguard their networks against advanced threats. By identifying the indicators of lateral movement and implementing the right security protocols, businesses can greatly minimize the risk of a widespread breach. Threat actors typically follow steps to navigate a network and achieve their objectives.

Initial compromise

The first phase begins with the attacker gaining a foothold in the network through various means:

• Exploiting a vulnerable public-facing server
• Successfully executing a phishing attack
• Compromising an employee's credentials
• Leveraging a zero-day vulnerability

At this stage, the attacker has limited access but is positioned to begin exploring the network.

Reconnaissance

Once inside, the attacker starts gathering information about the network environment:

• Mapping the network structure
• Identifying potential high-value targets
• Discovering user accounts and their privileges
• Locating security measures and potential vulnerabilities

Attackers often use legitimate system tools to avoid detection during this phase.

Infection

With a better understanding of the network, the attacker begins to:

• Deploy malware or backdoors on compromised systems
• Establish command and control (C2) channels
• Create persistence mechanisms to maintain access

These actions ensure the attacker can retain control even if the original access point is found and secured.

Credential harvesting/dumping

To move laterally, attackers need valid credentials. They employ various techniques to obtain them:

• Extracting credentials from memory (e.g., using Mimikatz)
• Exploiting vulnerabilities in password storage
• Brute-forcing attacks against weak passwords
• Social engineering to trick users into revealing credentials

Privilege escalation

With a collection of credentials, the attacker aims to increase their level of access:

• Exploiting vulnerabilities in operating systems or applications
• Using stolen admin credentials
• Leveraging misconfigurations in user permissions
• Employing techniques like pass-the-hash or pass-the-ticket

The goal is to obtain the highest level of privileges possible, often domain admin rights.

Access

In this final stage, the attacker has achieved their objectives:

• Unrestricted movement throughout the network
• Ability to access and exfiltrate sensitive data
• Control over critical systems and infrastructure
• Capability to deploy widespread attacks (e.g., ransomware)

At this point, the attacker can cause significant damage to the organization, whether through data theft, system disruption, and/or holding assets for ransom.

Common lateral movement tactics

Cybercriminals employ various sophisticated techniques to move laterally within a network. Understanding these tactics is critical for developing effective defense strategies. Here are some of the most common lateral movement tactics:

Pass-the-hash

Allows attackers to authenticate to remote servers and services using the underlying local access network (LAN) manager (NTLM) or LAN manager (LM) hash of a user's password instead of the password itself.

Why attackers use this:

• Attackers don't need to crack the password; they obtain the hash
• Often used to compromise multiple systems quickly
• Particularly effective in Windows environments

Pass-the-ticket

Similar to pass-the-hash, but used in Kerberos authentication environments:

• Attackers steal Kerberos tickets to move between systems
• Can grant access to various services without needing the user's password
• Often combined with ticket forging techniques for elevated access

Spear-phishing

While often an initial attack vector, spear phishing is also used for lateral movement:

• Attackers use gathered information to craft convincing emails to other employees
• May impersonate trusted individuals within the organization
• Aims to obtain higher-level credentials or install additional malware

Remote service

Attackers exploit legitimate remote access tools and protocols:

• Misuse of Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)
• Exploit of vulnerable VPN services
• Abuse of admin tools like PsExec or Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)

Secure shell highjacking (SSH)

In Unix-based environments, attackers may:

• Exploit poorly configured SSH keys
• Use stolen SSH agent credentials
• Plant SSH backdoors for persistent access

Keylogging

Attackers deploy keyloggers to capture credentials and sensitive information:

• It can be software-based or hardware devices
• Often installed on strategic systems like admin workstations
• Used to gather credentials for further lateral movement

These tactics highlight the importance of a multi-layered security approach, including strong authentication measures, network segmentation, and continuous monitoring of suspicious activities. Organizations can better prepare their defenses against lateral movement attacks by understanding these common tactics.

Types of lateral movement attacks

Understanding the technique of lateral movement in various types of cyber attacks is crucial for organizations. It equips them to better prepare their defenses against these attack types. Here are the main types of attacks that often involve lateral movement:

Ransomware

Increasingly sophisticated ransomware attacks often involve lateral movement as attackers move through the network to identify and encrypt high-value data.They may also seek to turn off backups and security software. The goal is to maximize impact and increase the likelihood of ransom payment. For example both Ryuk and WannaCry ransomware spread rapidly through networks.

Data exfiltration

Many attacks aim to steal sensitive information from multiple different systems. They may establish multiple exfiltration points to ensure data theft success. Typical targets include customer data, financial information, and intellectual property. Advanced persistent threat (APT) groups often use this approach for long-term espionage campaigns.

Espionage

State-sponsored and corporate espionage involves attackers aiming to maintain a long-term, stealthy presence in the network. They move carefully between systems to gather intelligence. The focus is on remaining undetected while collecting valuable information. Examples include APT29 (Cozy Bear) and APT28 (Fancy Bear).

Botnet infection

Some attackers use lateral movement to build or expand botnets. The goal is to compromise as many systems as possible within a network. Infected systems become part of a giant botnet controlled by the attacker. Attackers use botnets for DDoS attacks, cryptomining, or further malware distribution. Mirai and Emotet are both examples of a botnet infection.

Each attack type leverages lateral movement techniques to maximize impact and achieve specific objectives.

How to detect and prevent lateral movement

Effective defense against lateral movement requires a multi-faceted approach that combines detection and prevention strategies. Here are five essential methods to bolster your organization's security posture:

Implement comprehensive monitoring and analysis

• Deploy advanced security information and event management (SIEM) systems to collect and analyze log data across your network.
• Utilize behavioral analytics to identify unusual patterns that may indicate lateral movement, such as off-hours logins or unexpected admin activities.
• Leverage network detection and response to monitor network traffic for signs of reconnaissance activities, unauthorized access attempts, or data exfiltration.
• Implement continuous monitoring of user behavior, file access patterns, and system interactions to detect anomalies quickly.

Enforce strong access controls and authentication

• Implement least privilege access control to ensure users have only the access rights appropriate for their respective roles.
• Use multi-factor authentication (MFA) across all systems and applications, especially for privileged accounts.
• Regularly audit and update access rights, removing unnecessary privileges and deactivating dormant accounts.
• Implement robust password policies and consider passwordless authentication methods where appropriate.

Employ network segmentation and microsegmentation

• Divide your network into smaller, isolated segments to limit an attacker's ability to move laterally.
• Implement microsegmentation to create granular security policies at the workload level.
• Use virtual local area networks (VLANs) and firewalls to control traffic between network segments.
• Regularly review and update segmentation policies to align with business needs and security requirements.

Conduct regular security assessments and updates

• Conduct frequent vulnerability scans and penetration tests to identify potential weaknesses before attackers can take advantage of them.
• Regularly update and patch all systems, applications, and devices across the network.
• Conduct periodic security audits to ensure compliance s and identify areas for improvement.

Adopt a proactive security Stance with threat hunting

• Conduct regular threat-hunting exercises to search for hidden threats or ongoing attacks proactively.

• Utilize threat intelligence feeds to stay informed about emerging threats and attack techniques.

By implementing these strategies, organizations can significantly enhance their ability to detect lateral movement attempts early and prevent attackers from successfully navigating the network.