Securing the future by unifying endpoints and identities

Attackers are capitalizing on the proliferation of new identities to endpoints, coupled with the uncontrolled expansion of agents. By systematically scanning all accessible endpoints and ports, aggressors are automating their exploratory endeavors with the aid of AI and machine learning, surpassing the capacity of enterprises to keep pace.

Consequently, hackers are increasingly adept at identifying vulnerable junctures amidst endpoint protection and identity security, including Active Directory. Once infiltrating the infrastructure, they can skillfully elude detection for extended periods spanning months or even years.

The struggle to prevent identity breaches

The task of preventing identity breaches presents significant challenges. Virtually every organization, particularly mid-tier manufacturers, has encountered attempts of intrusion or breaches revolving around identities within the past year.

Manufacturing is the most targeted industry for the second consecutive year, with approximately one out of every four incidents monitored by IBM's 2023 Threat Intelligence Index focused on this sector. 84% of enterprises have fallen victim to breaches linked to identities, while 98% have confirmed a surge in the number of identities they manage. This escalation is predominantly driven by cloud adoption, relationships with third-party entities, and the proliferation of machine identities.

Exploiting endpoints and workloads serve as a primary battleground in this ongoing war. Hence, commencing with the most exceptional endpoint detection becomes imperative. However, the scope extends beyond endpoint telemetry. According to Forrester, a striking 80% of all security breaches involve using privileged credentials. Therefore, efforts must be directed toward extending security measures beyond endpoints to combat these breaches effectively.

This year, a staggering increase in the range of up to 75% of security failures can be attributed to human error in the management of access privileges and identities. This figure represents a significant rise from the 50% reported two years ago.

The prevalence of endpoint sprawl contributes to the formidable challenge of mitigating identity breaches. It is not uncommon to discover endpoints that are excessively configured to the extent that they become as susceptible as if they were left unsecured. On average, endpoints are equipped with 11.7 installed agents. Among these, 59% possess at least one identity and access management (IAM) agent, while 11% have two or more. The Endpoint Risk Report reveals that as the number of security agents installed on an endpoint increases, the likelihood of collisions and degradation also rises. Consequently, endpoints are just as vulnerable as if they lacked installed agents.

The highest-value target: Active Directory

Active Directory (AD) is the most coveted target for attackers due to its immense value. Breaching AD allows them to eliminate log files, erase their tracks, and establish federation trust relationships in other domains. Approximately 95 million Active Directory accounts are attacked daily, considering that 90% of organizations rely on this identity platform as their primary authentication and user authorization method.

Once attackers gain access to AD, they frequently employ a "low and slow" approach to surveillance and data exfiltration, enabling them to evade detection. Unsurprisingly, IBM's 2022 report on the cost of data breaches revealed that incidents based on stolen or compromised credentials took the longest to identify, with an average discovery time of 327 days.

Active Directory components hold paramount importance for attackers, who, once discovered, establish additional AD forests and domains while creating trust between them. This facilitates easier access from their end. Furthermore, they can establish federation trusts between entirely distinct domains, thus presenting authentication between trusted domains as legitimate. As a result, the attackers' subsequent actions may not be readily interpreted as malicious until it is too late, by which point data has already been exfiltrated, or acts of sabotage have been committed.

Strengthening zero trust by combining endpoint and identity security

The year 2023 is witnessing a focus on achieving greater productivity with fewer resources. CISOs face increased scrutiny on their budgets, prompting them to prioritize consolidating applications, tools, and platforms. The objective is to eliminate redundant applications, reduce costs, and enhancing real-time visibility and control beyond endpoints.

With 96% of CISOs planning to consolidate their technology stacks, alternative solutions such as extended detection and response (XDR) are being actively considered. The need for consolidation, cost reduction, and improved visibility is accelerating the integration of endpoint management and identity security. This unification directly contributes to an organization's overall zero-trust security strategy and posture. By integrating endpoint and identity security, organizations can achieve the following benefits:

Improved User Access Management: Combining endpoint and identity security enables real-time evaluation of user behavior and endpoint security status. Access is granted based on the minimum required level, reducing the risk of unauthorized access and lateral movement within the network.

Enhanced Network-Wide Visibility: Endpoint and identity security integration expands visibility beyond endpoints, allowing security teams to monitor resource access and swiftly identify potential breach attempts throughout the network.

Accurate Threat Correlation: Endpoint and identity security data improve the accuracy of real-time threat correlation by identifying suspicious patterns and linking them to specific threats. By collecting and analyzing data from endpoints and user identities, security teams gain a deeper understanding of the attack landscape and are better prepared to respond to evolving risks.

Context-Aware Access Controls: Following the principle of "never trust, always verify," the unified approach evaluates user credentials, device security posture, and real-time behavior. This enables enterprises to prevent unauthorized access and mitigate security risks by carefully reviewing each access request and implementing a strict network access control framework.

Granular Access Controls: Unifying endpoint management and identity security allow for more granular, context-aware access controls based on user identity, device security posture, and real-time behavior. This facilitates identity-based micro-segmentation and aligns with the principles of the zero-trust model, ensuring that only authorized users can access sensitive resources and enabling swift detection and response to suspicious activities.

Single Comprehensive Data Source: Integrating endpoint security and identity security provides organizations with a consolidated view of user activities and device security status. This unified approach enables faster and more accurate validation of access requests, taking into account user credentials, device security posture, and request context. It strengthens the security posture by applying context-aware access controls to every identity and request across endpoints.

Improved Threat Detection and Response: Integrating endpoint and identity security empowers organizations to detect and respond to real-time threats more effectively. By having a single comprehensive data source for monitoring user and device activity and analyzing network threats, security teams can quickly identify and address vulnerabilities or suspicious activities, enhancing the speed of threat detection and response.

Granular Control over Identities: Enterprises often struggle with managing the various personas, roles, and permissions associated with each identity, including the growing number of machine identities. By unifying endpoint and identity security into a single platform, organizations can enforce granular, context-aware access controls at the user identity level, considering device security and real-time behavior.

By combining endpoint security and identity security, organizations can establish a robust security framework that addresses access controls, threat detection, and granular control over identities. This integrated approach allows for better visibility, improved response capabilities, and strengthened security postures in the face of evolving cybersecurity challenges.