Lateral Movement

Lateral Movement is a technique used by cyber attackers to expand their control within a network after initially compromising a system. Rather than immediately stealing data or causing damage, attackers use lateral movement to silently navigate through the environment, gaining access to other systems, accounts, and resources to reach their true target.

This tactic is commonly employed in advanced persistent threats (APTs), where the goal is to remain undetected for as long as possible while collecting sensitive data or escalating privileges. Lateral movement helps attackers gather intelligence, avoid detection, and exploit additional vulnerabilities across the compromised network.

Variants

There are several techniques used to perform lateral movement:

• Remote Services: Attackers use services like Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), SSH, and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) to access and control other machines remotely.
• Pass-the-Hash / Pass-the-Ticket: Attackers reuse stolen hashed credentials or Kerberos tickets to authenticate without needing plaintext passwords.
• Windows Admin Shares: Default administrative shares (like C$ and ADMIN$) can be used to access file systems and execute scripts or malware.
• PsExec and Similar Tools: Tools such as PsExec allow attackers to execute processes on remote systems using valid credentials.
• Remote PowerShell: Enables attackers to issue PowerShell commands to other computers in the domain.

Types

Credential-Based Movement

• Pass-the-Hash: Uses stolen NTLM hashes to authenticate against other systems. No need for password cracking.
• Pass-the-Ticket: Leverages Kerberos tickets to access network resources. Often used in Active Directory environments.
• Credential Dumping: Tools like Mimikatz are used to extract passwords and tokens from memory.

Exploitation-Based Movement

• Exploiting Software Vulnerabilities: Attackers use unpatched software flaws to jump between systems.
• Malware Propagation: Worm-like behavior spreads malware automatically through the network (e.g., EternalBlue).
• Token Impersonation: Attackers impersonate user sessions and execute code as that user.

Impact

Lateral movement can have devastating consequences. It allows attackers to access sensitive data, escalate privileges, disable security tools, and deploy ransomware or other malicious payloads to high-value systems. Because it often goes undetected for long periods, it enables full domain compromise and long-term persistence, especially in enterprise networks.

Discoverability

Detecting lateral movement can be difficult, especially when attackers use legitimate credentials and tools. Security teams must look for subtle anomalies such as unusual login patterns, abnormal use of admin tools, and authentication attempts across systems. Endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions, SIEM systems, and behavioral analytics can help identify suspicious movement within the network.

Protection

Defending against lateral movement involves a multi-layered approach:

• Use strong segmentation and firewall rules to limit internal access.
• Implement least privilege access and regularly audit user permissions.
• Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all accounts, especially administrators.
• Monitor for credential abuse and unusual network behavior.
• Regularly patch systems to prevent exploitation-based propagation.
• Deploy EDR tools to detect misuse of admin tools and commands.