Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

Organizations will spend $327.5 billion in 2021 for AI systems according to the IDC report, but not all AI and Machine Leaning investments will bring the desired outcomes.

It has been reported that the hack that took down the largest fuel pipeline in the United States and led to fuel shortages across the whole of the East Coast was the result of a single compromised password that was leaked on the Dark Web through a data breach. On April 29th 2021, hackers gained access to the network of Colonial Pipeline Co. via a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection that allowed the hacker remote access to the corporate network.

The principle of least privilege in cybersecurity prescribes that no user should have access to system resources beyond what’s necessary for fulfilling a specific task. Adhering to this principle has become essential, as one of the primary ways malicious actors breach a system is by compromising (legitimate) user access.

We all have heard and read how the pandemic has disrupted our lives, how it has accelerated digital transformation to an unprecedented extent and how it challenged the existing security policies and practices. The question is how the people responsible for fortifying their organizations experienced the whole situation.

This quick blog is the first in a two-part series discussing a userland Windows exploit initially disclosed by James Forshaw and Alex Ionescu. The exploit enables attackers to perform highly privileged actions that typically require a kernel driver.