What is Lateral Movement in Cybersecurity?
Lateral movement is a critical concept in cybersecurity that refers to the techniques cybercriminals use to navigate through a network after gaining initial access. Unlike the point of entry—often achieved through phishing, malware, or exploiting vulnerabilities—lateral movement focuses on the attacker’s ability to move deeper into the system, quietly expanding their reach. Think of it as a burglar who’s slipped through the front door and is now creeping from room to room, looking for valuables while avoiding detection. In the digital realm, those valuables might be sensitive data, intellectual property, or control over critical infrastructure.
The process typically begins once an attacker establishes a foothold, often on an employee’s device or a less-secure endpoint. From there, they employ various methods to "move laterally"—jumping between devices, servers, or accounts—to reach their ultimate target. This could be a database with customer information, a financial system, or even an administrator account with elevated privileges. The goal is to blend in with legitimate traffic, making it harder for security teams to spot the intrusion until significant damage is done.
Attackers rely on a range of tactics during lateral movement. Credential dumping, for example, involves stealing usernames and passwords from one system to access others. Tools like Mimikatz are popular for extracting these credentials from memory. Alternatively, they might exploit weak network configurations, such as unpatched software or shared drives with lax permissions. Pass-the-hash attacks, where stolen hashed credentials are reused without needing the plaintext password, are another common technique. In more sophisticated cases, attackers use legitimate system tools—like Windows Remote Desktop or PowerShell—to avoid triggering security alerts, a method known as "living off the land."
Why is lateral movement so dangerous? It’s the bridge between a minor breach and a full-scale compromise. A single infected laptop might not raise alarms, but if the attacker can pivot to a domain controller or a server hosting sensitive data, the impact skyrockets. This stealthy progression often goes unnoticed because it mimics normal user behavior, bypassing traditional perimeter defenses like firewalls. Advanced persistent threats (APTs),such as those seen in high-profile breaches like SolarWinds, lean heavily on lateral movement to maintain long-term access and maximize damage.
Detecting lateral movement requires a proactive approach. Security teams often use tools like intrusion detection systems (IDS),endpoint detection and response (EDR),and network traffic analysis to spot unusual patterns—say, a workstation suddenly accessing a server it never interacts with. Prevention, meanwhile, hinges on strong segmentation, least-privilege policies, and multi-factor authentication (MFA) to limit how far an attacker can roam. By understanding what lateral movement entails, organizations can better prepare to disrupt this silent threat before it turns a small crack into a gaping hole.
Common Techniques Used in Lateral Movement
Once an attacker gains a foothold in a network, lateral movement becomes their pathway to deeper access and greater damage. This phase of a cyberattack relies on a variety of techniques, each designed to exploit weaknesses in systems, credentials, or network configurations. Understanding these common methods is essential for building defenses that can stop intruders from spreading unchecked. Here’s a closer look at the most prevalent techniques used in lateral movement.
One of the most widely used methods is credential dumping. Attackers extract usernames, passwords, or hashed credentials from a compromised device, often targeting the memory of systems where login details are temporarily stored. Tools like Mimikatz are notorious for this, allowing attackers to harvest credentials that unlock additional machines or accounts. Once they have these keys, they can impersonate legitimate users, moving laterally without raising immediate suspicion.
Another frequent technique is the pass-the-hash attack. Instead of needing plaintext passwords, attackers use stolen password hashes—encrypted versions of credentials—to authenticate to other systems. Since many networks, especially those running older Windows protocols, accept these hashes as valid, attackers can hop from one machine to another without ever cracking the actual password. This method thrives in environments with poor credential hygiene or outdated security settings.
Exploitation of vulnerabilities also plays a big role. Attackers scan the network for unpatched software or misconfigured systems—like an outdated server or an exposed remote desktop protocol (RDP) port. By exploiting these weaknesses, they gain access to new devices, often without needing stolen credentials. For example, the EternalBlue exploit, famously used in the WannaCry ransomware attack, allowed attackers to spread laterally across networks by targeting unpatched Windows systems.
Then there’s living off the land, a stealthy approach where attackers use legitimate tools already present in the environment. PowerShell, Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI),or even remote desktop services become their weapons of choice. Because these are native to the system and often trusted by security software, their use rarely triggers alarms, making it a favorite for advanced persistent threats (APTs).
Finally, abusing shared resources is a simpler but effective tactic. Attackers exploit shared drives, network folders, or poorly secured file servers to move between systems. If permissions are lax—say, an employee’s account has unnecessary access to a critical server—they can plant malware or steal data with ease.
Each of these techniques highlights the importance of layered security. Strong password policies, timely patching, network segmentation, and monitoring for unusual activity can disrupt lateral movement. By knowing how attackers operate, organizations can close the gaps that turn a single breach into a sprawling network takeover.
Detecting Lateral Movement in Your Network
Spotting lateral movement in a network is like catching a shadow moving in the dark—it’s subtle, deliberate, and often blends into the background of normal activity. Attackers rely on this stealth to escalate privileges and access sensitive systems, making detection a critical challenge for cybersecurity teams. Fortunately, with the right tools, strategies, and vigilance, it’s possible to identify and disrupt lateral movement before it leads to a devastating breach. Here’s how organizations can effectively detect this elusive threat.
The first step in detection is monitoring network traffic for anomalies. Lateral movement often involves unusual patterns—like a workstation suddenly communicating with a server it rarely interacts with or a spike in authentication attempts across multiple devices. Network traffic analysis tools can flag these irregularities by establishing a baseline of normal behavior and alerting teams to deviations. For instance, if an employee’s device starts pinging a domain controller late at night, it could signal an attacker probing for deeper access.
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) systems are another powerful ally. These tools provide visibility into individual devices, tracking processes, file changes, and user activity in real time. If an attacker uses a stolen credential to log into a new system or launches a tool like Mimikatz to dump credentials, EDR can catch the suspicious behavior. Look for signs like unexpected PowerShell execution, new service installations, or repeated login failures—these are breadcrumbs of lateral movement.
Log analysis is equally essential. Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems aggregate logs from across the network—think authentication logs, firewall data, and system event records. By correlating these logs, teams can spot telltale signs, such as a single account accessing multiple machines in a short time (a hallmark of pass-the-hash attacks) or a device reaching out to an unfamiliar IP address. Advanced SIEM setups with machine learning can even prioritize alerts, reducing the noise of false positives.
Behavioral analytics takes detection a step further. User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) tools profile how users and devices typically operate, then flag deviations. If a low-level employee’s account suddenly tries to access a restricted server—or if a system starts scanning the network for open ports—it’s a red flag. This approach excels at catching attackers who “live off the land,” using legitimate tools to avoid traditional detection.
Finally, deception tactics can lure attackers into revealing themselves. Deploying honeypots—fake systems or credentials designed to look valuable—can trick intruders into interacting with them. When they do, alerts go off, giving defenders an early warning of lateral movement in progress.
Detecting lateral movement demands a proactive mindset. Combining real-time monitoring, detailed logging, and smart analytics creates a net tight enough to catch even the sneakiest intruders. By staying one step ahead, organizations can turn the hunter into the hunted.
