How to Improve Identity Security Strategies

🗞️ Needed report By CyberArk on a burning issue : identity security. A decisive element that will determine our ability to restore digital trust. 🔹 « Identity is now the primary attack surface. » Defenders must secure every identity — human and machine 🔹 with dynamic privilege controls, automation, and AI-enhanced monitoring 🔹and prepare now for LLM abuse and quantum disruption. Machine identities are the fastest-growing attack surface 🔹Growth outpaces human identities 45:1. 🔹Nearly half of machine identities access sensitive data, yet 2/3of organizations don’t treat them as privileged. Quantum readiness is urgent 🔹Quantum computing will break today’s cryptography (RSA, TLS, identity tokens). 🔹Transition planning to quantum-safe algorithms must start now, even before standards are finalized. Large Language Models include prompt injection, data leakage, and misuse of AI agents. So organizations must treat them as a new class of machine identity requiring monitoring, access controls, and secrets management. 🧰 What can we do? ⚒️ 1/ Implement Zero Standing Privileges (ZSP) • Remove always-on entitlements; grant access dynamically and just-in-time. • Minimize lateral movement by revoking privileges once tasks are complete 👥2/ Secure the full spectrum of identities • Differentiate controls for workforce, IT, developers, and machines. • Prioritize machine identities: vault credentials, rotate secrets, and eliminate hard-coded keys. 🛡️ 3/ Embed intelligent privilege controls • Apply session protection, isolation, and monitoring to high-risk access. • Enforce least privilege on endpoints; block or sandbox unknown apps. • Deploy Identity Threat Detection & Response (ITDR) for continuous monitoring. ♻️ 4/ Automate identity lifecycle management • Use orchestration to onboard, provision, rotate, and deprovision identities at scale. • Relieve staff from manual tasks, counter skill shortages, and improve compliance readiness. 5/ Align security with business and regulatory drivers • Build an “identity fabric” across IAM, PAM, cloud, SaaS, and compliance. • Tie metrics (KPIs, ROI, cyber insurance conditions) to board-level priorities. 6/ Prepare for next-generation threats • Establish AI/LLM security policies: control access, monitor usage, audit logs. • Begin phased adoption of post-quantum cryptography to protect long-lived sensitive data. Enjoy the read

🚀 Strengthen Your Entra ID Security with Industry Best Practices 🔐 I’ve categorized key Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) security requirements into six essential areas, aligning with ISO 27001, NIST 800-53, CIS Controls, and Microsoft Security Best Practices. These recommendations will help you protect identities, reduce risk, and enhance compliance in your organization. 🔹 1️⃣ MFA & Access Control 🔑 Without Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), your organization is an easy target. Enforce strong authentication policies, migrate from legacy MFA, and implement passwordless security to enhance both protection and usability. 🔹 2️⃣ Identity Protection & Risk-Based Policies 🔒 Identity threats are constantly evolving—use sign-in risk policies to block suspicious logins and user risk policies to take automated action against compromised accounts. Proactive security is the key to preventing breaches! 🔹 3️⃣ Privileged Access Security 🛡️ Admin accounts are the ultimate target for attackers—they should never be used for daily tasks. Enforce Privileged Identity Management (PIM), restrict standing admin access, and always have a Break-Glass emergency account for resilience. 🔹 4️⃣ User & Guest Access Management 👤 Uncontrolled guest access creates a compliance and security risk. Limit who can invite external users, block unauthorized app registrations, and restrict guest privileges to maintain control over your tenant’s security. 🔹 5️⃣ Device & Session Security 🛑 Every login session is a potential attack surface. Set strict session timeouts, disable persistent browser sessions, and require self-service password reset (SSPR) to protect user identities while improving IT efficiency. 🔹 6️⃣ Defender for Identity & Monitoring 🛡️ Your best security tool is visibility. Deploy Microsoft Defender for Identity to detect compromised accounts and insider threats, ensure audit logs are enabled, and use behavioral analytics to stop attacks before they escalate. 📌 You can also track and implement many of these benchmarks using Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager, where you can assess your security posture and get actionable recommendations to improve your identity protection score. 📥 Feel free to download and use this categorized security checklist in PDF format! 👇 Let me know your thoughts—do you have any additional identity security recommendations we should add to the list? Let’s discuss in the comments! 🚀 #MicrosoftSecurity #EntraID #ZeroTrust #Cybersecurity #IAM #AzureAD

Are your identity defenses as strong as you think, or are they a hacker’s next target? 🎯 ATT&CK v15 reveals that it's time for a reassessment. Updates show attackers easily bypassing traditional security measures, even in sophisticated systems like Entra ID and Okta. The expansion of Technique T1484 and the new T1556.009 sub-technique spotlight a critical issue: over-reliance on outdated methods and the urgent need for adaptive strategies. Three things you can do: 1️⃣ Audit and update access controls: Monthly review and revise access policies and conditional access settings across all platforms, especially Azure AD and Okta. Pay attention to abnormal permission grants and ensure least privilege access. 2️⃣ Implement phishing-resistant 2FA, e.g., FIDO2: If not already in place, deploy FIDO2 for all user accounts without exceptions. Prioritize critical accounts and admin interfaces first. 3️⃣ Purple team exercises: Quarterly, conduct targeted purple team exercises that specifically challenge the integrity of your identity management systems. Focus these exercises on scenarios involving policy manipulation and conditional access bypass. These targeted steps will strengthen your defenses against the evolving threats highlighted in ATT&CK v15. 🛡️ #cybersecurity #infosec #iam MITRE

🕵️♂️🚨 Take a look at the thread I came across on a dark web forum. You'll find countless similar and related offerings there: pre-verified accounts for sale, identity mules willing to rent out their accounts for quick cash, and repeated calls from fraudsters actively looking for such people. It got me thinking… The #𝟭 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 most fintechs make when implementing biometric verification: They limit it to user onboarding. After that, they assume the account remains under the control of the same person. And if they notice something unusual (a new device, an unfamiliar location, or a suspicious usage pattern), most of the time they would simply ask a user to reverify via OTP sent to a phone number or email address. But these knowledge-based factors do not really verify identity! A bad actor can gain access to email, phone numbers, and credentials, pass the checks, and from an organization's perspective (relying on these trivial checks) appear as a legitimate user. So why do organizations keep using them instead of biometrics? → Some may hesitate to use it because they believe it will affect user experience. [In reality, it's hard to imagine a satisfied customer abandoning a service simply because of an occasional security check designed to protect them]. → Others may simply want to avoid paying biometric vendors for extra checks. [But long-term, which is more expensive: absorbing fraud losses or investing in additional biometric checks to keep a proper security level]. My point is simple: organizations need to stop blindly assuming the same person remains in control of an account throughout its entire lifecycle. In practice, this means making a liveness-proven biometric check whenever suspicious signals appear and on a periodic basis. Here's what that should look like✍️: 𝟭. Define high-risk triggers. New device. New geography. Password reset. Change of payout details. Unusual transaction velocity. 𝟮. Map each trigger to a proper step-up action. Not SMS / email OTP. A liveness-proven biometric check tied to the enrolled identity. 𝟯. Introduce periodic re-verification. For example, every 3-5 months for active accounts, regardless of visible risk signals. 𝟰. Bind high-impact actions to biometric confirmation. Withdrawals above a threshold. Adding beneficiaries. Changing KYC data. Enabling new payment instruments. 𝟱. Log and monitor biometric mismatches. Repeated failures should escalate to manual review, not fallback to weaker methods. 𝟲. Measure fraud reduction. Track step-up frequency, completion rate, and prevented losses to respond to changing risk dynamics. Done right, this helps prevent account takeovers caused by leaked or stolen credentials and mitigates identity mulling or account selling. ▂▂ Follow Ilya Vlasov 🕵️♂️ for more insights on #fraudprevention!

🚨Final Call: NIST’s New Identity Standards! NIST’s latest draft, SP 800-63B-4, is making waves for simplifying password management and diving deeper into digital identity solutions. The key theme? Common sense over complexity. Even though these two requirements aren’t new, they’re still not followed widely enough: 🚫 No Mandatory Password Rotations: Changing passwords regularly without a reason hasn’t improved security. NIST says resets should only happen when there’s a known breach. ✋ Simpler, Stronger Passwords: Forget forcing a complex mix of characters. NIST's focus is now on length—passwords must be at least 8 characters, and 15+ characters offer the best protection. But wait, there’s more! NIST is looking for your feedback on some critical digital identity topics with their latest draft: 1️⃣ Risk Management & Identity Models: How well does the "user-controlled wallet" align with real-world solutions like mobile IDs? 2️⃣ Identity Proofing: Are the requirements for proofing and fraud prevention clear? Are there new fraud controls that should be considered? 3️⃣ Authentication: Are syncable authenticator requirements strong enough for real-world use cases? How about wallet-based mechanisms? In a world moving toward #ZeroTrust, getting identity management right is essential. NIST’s guidelines are crucial to ensuring secure, resilient systems that can defend against modern threats 📅 Public comment is open until October 7. From supporting other USG RFCs, I know my former colleagues take these opportunities to gain valuable feedback from agencies, academia, the IT community, and the public very seriously. ➡️ Full details and NIST's submission link at: https://lnkd.in/eG5QTdNr #informationsecurity #computersecurity #cybersecurity #riskmanagement

The digital battlefield is now the frontline for kinetic conflict. As geopolitical tensions escalate in the Middle East, our latest Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 Threat Brief highlights a significant surge in Iranian state-aligned cyber activity that every global leader should have on their radar. Cyber operations are Iran’s primary asymmetric weapon. Based on our latest intelligence, here are the three most critical takeaways for your defense & operational resilience strategy: 1️⃣ Weaponized Identity is the Primary Entry Point: Iranian actors continue to move away from complex malware and toward logging in. By using social engineering and exploiting federated identity systems, they are bypassing traditional perimeters to move laterally across your network undetected. 2️⃣ Retaliatory Wipers: We are seeing a shift from stealthy espionage to aggressive, disruptive tactics. This includes the use of wiper malware designed to permanently destroy data and paralyze critical infrastructure, often masquerading as hacktivist activity to provide plausible deniability. 3️⃣ AI Accelerated Reconnaissance: Threat actors are now using Generative AI to map regional infrastructure and identify vulnerabilities in minutes, not days. This compressed attack lifecycle means your detection and response must now operate at machine speed. To outpace these threats, leadership must prioritize three proactive shifts: 1️⃣ Move to Phishing-Resistant MFA: Standard MFA is no longer enough to stop sophisticated identity based attacks.  Prioritize hardware based authenticators for high value roles to neutralize the log in threat. 2️⃣ Implement Just-in-Time Admin Rights: Eliminate standing administrative privileges. By moving to a model where access is granted only when needed and for a limited time, you drastically reduce the blast radius of a compromised account. 3️⃣ Automate External Patching: With AI-accelerated recon, the window to exploit a new vulnerability has shrunk to hours. Organizations must mandate automated patching for all internet facing assets to close the gap before the adversary can find it. At Palo Alto Networks, we are committed to protecting our clients worldwide by turning this intelligence into action. Link to the full Unit 42 analysis in comments below.

Yesterday my daughter made an observation that’s relevant to all mid-market CISOs. While speaking to her on voice call, my father-in-law struggled to switch the WhatsApp call to video to show their dog’s antics. He asked my mother-in-law to help. While on the call, my mother-in-law needed to transfer money via UPI to someone. So they had to cut the call - because my father-in-law needed to step in! My daughter came to me with this question: Two people. Same house. Same everyday things. Yet their skill levels are so different. Now, imagine this inside a company with hundreds or thousands of employees. - Some struggle to identify phishing emails - Some don’t understand the risk of weak passwords - Some click on malicious links without a second thought - Some approve payment requests based on text messages - Some download & install unauthorized software - Some share sensitive information over email without realizing - Some upload company secrets into ChatGPT for projects Yet, many CISOs run just 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙬𝙤 cyber awareness simulations per year & think it’s enough. It’s not. Cyber awareness needs to be continuous, personalized & measurable. A strong cyber awareness program should: 𝟭) 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹-𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘀 Phishing, smishing, vishing, and deepfake attacks that mimic what attackers actually do. 𝟮) 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘀 A finance executive needs different training than a new intern. 𝟯) 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 Gamification, role-based training, and bite-sized learning improve retention. 𝟰) 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 & 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿 Identify employees who need extra training instead of treating everyone the same. 𝟱) 𝗥𝘂𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲-𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 Cyber threats evolve daily; training should too. 𝟲) 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗯𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗻 Department-wise reports of people & the potential learning gaps Awareness is not running a simulation & calling it a day. It's the actions & the next steps: - for improvement - knowing the awareness posture of everyone - for building a culture where employees become security assets If you’re a CISO evaluating solutions that train employees further based on their actual responses, DM me. My team works with a platform designed to make cyber awareness practical, engaging & effective. -- Hi, I’m Rajeev Mamidanna. I help mid-market CISOs strengthen their Cyber Immunity.

Stolen session tokens, not cracked passwords, sit behind many of the BEC and ransomware incidents our DFIR team at McGrathNicol investigates. Attackers capture cookies through infostealers or adversary‑in‑the‑middle (AiTM) proxies, then simply replay them to sidestep MFA. Last week Microsoft levelled the playing field: “Token Protection” is now included with every Entra ID P1 licence (think M365 E3 / Business Premium). By cryptographically binding refresh tokens to the trusted Windows device that issued them, a copied cookie becomes dead weight when used from an attacker’s host. If an adversary phishes the cookie through an adversary‑in‑the‑middle site like EvilGinx, the replay attempt from their own host fails the policy check – no token, no access. Why this matters Token theft fuels initial access for many of the incidents we investigate. Underground markets trade in valid cookies; device‑bound tokens erode that resale value. Identity security is shifting from “Who authenticated once?” to “Is the same trusted user on the same trusted device still authenticated?” What to do next 1.    Enable Token Protection in report‑only mode, validate exceptions, then enforce organisation‑wide. 2.    Strengthen Conditional Access: require compliant or hybrid‑joined devices, block unknown platforms, and review legacy/OAuth exposures. 3.    Proactively hunt for stolen cookies in infostealer logs, dark‑web token dumps, and “impossible travel” alerts. 4.    Ask other identity provider when device‑bound tokens will arrive. We need an ecosystem‑wide fix, not a single‑vendor patch. This is a move in the right direction. Now we need industry-wide adoption so stolen tokens, one of the most abused commodities in modern intrusions, lose their value. #DFIR #IdentitySecurity #ZeroTrust #BEC #Ransomware #TokenProtection #MicrosoftEntra

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤. Not malware. Not a firewall bypass. But a stolen identity. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧: 1. 80%+ of breaches in 2025 are tied to identity compromise 2. MFA isn’t foolproof—push fatigue is now a real exploit 3. Dormant admin accounts = silent open doors 4. SSO misconfigurations create ripple breaches across apps 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦? Most organizations still treat identity as IT’s responsibility. But identity is everyone’s attack surface now. If someone can become “you” inside the system, they don’t need to hack anything—they operate like you. 𝐒𝐨, 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝? ✔ Context-aware access ✔ Just-in-time privilege elevation ✔ Real-time behavior-based authentication ✔ Revoking stale credentials system-wide ✔ Zero trust beyond the login page ✔ 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧—𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦-𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐲𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 Because a well-meaning employee can click one wrong link—and unlock everything. And once identity is compromised, it’s not a breach. It’s a silent takeover. #IdentitySecurity #IAM #ZeroTrust #CyberRisk #AccessControl #SecurityLeadership #DigitalTrust #CISOInsights