The Cyber Threat Perspective Episode 134: Preventing Data Breaches: Strategies to Mitigate Initial Compromise
May 16, 2025
Explore the critical first step to cybersecurity: preventing initial compromise. The hosts dissect common attack vectors, emphasizing the importance of layered defenses like MFA and DMZs. Learn about modern cloud WAFs and their role in blocking web exploits. Discover the significance of monitoring known-exploited vulnerabilities and leveraging automation for rapid responses. The discussion also touches on the dangers of leaked secrets in code repositories and how to enhance email security against phishing attacks. Tune in for actionable insights!
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Exploitation And Credential Theft Are Rising
- Exploitation and credential theft became the dominant initial compromise vectors in 2024 reports.
- Attackers are faster: median time from compromise to data theft shrank to days or hours.
Front-End Web Apps With A WAF
- Deploy a cloud WAF in front of internet-facing apps to block common exploits and add telemetry.
- Change DNS to route traffic through a WAF; it adds negligible latency and gives anomaly detection.
Segment Public Systems From Internal Networks
- Segment and harden publicly facing systems into a DMZ or equivalent to limit blast radius.
- Treat internet-facing servers as assumed-compromised and restrict their access to internal resources.