A single phishing email can snowball into a complete network takeover faster than most security teams can respond. Organizations face this reality every day as attackers perfect their ability to turn stolen credentials into full system access.
The path from initial compromise to total network control follows a predictable pattern: attackers start with credential theft, move laterally through systems, escalate privileges, and establish persistent access. Understanding this attack chain gives you the roadmap to build defenses that stop these attacks.
Let’s map out exactly how credential-based attacks unfold and where you can break the chain before it’s too late.
Types of Credential Theft
Phishing
Phishing continues to be one of the most common and effective attack methods, with even security-aware users falling victim at concerning rates. Modern phishing has become incredibly sophisticated, with AI helping attackers create convincing emails that harvest credentials and unlock entire networks.
Credential Stuffing
This attack exploits one simple human behavior: password reuse. Attackers take credentials stolen from previous breaches and systematically test them across multiple sites and services. The technique works because it scales. While individual success rates are low, the massive volume makes these attacks profitable.
Password Spraying
Password spraying takes the opposite approach. Instead of many credentials against one target, attackers use common passwords against many accounts. The method requires minimal effort to execute, and gained attention when Russia-backed hackers used password spraying to breach Microsoft’s corporate network in early 2024.
Malware and Keyloggers
While phishing grabs headlines, malware continues to silently harvest credentials from infected systems. Keyloggers capture everything users type, while more advanced malware steals browser-saved passwords and authentication tokens. Attackers often combine these techniques with phishing campaigns for maximum impact.
The Attack Stages
Once attackers obtain valid credentials, they follow a predictable four-stage process to expand their access and achieve their objectives.
Stage 1: Initial Access
Armed with stolen credentials, attackers begin by validating their access and conducting internal reconnaissance. They map the network structure, identify user privileges, and locate high-value targets like domain controllers and file servers.
IBM’s X-Force report stated that 80% of attacks use Active Directory to perform this reconnaissance. Active Directory essentially provides attackers with a roadmap to an organization’s entire network.
Stage 2: Lateral Movement
This represents the most critical phase. Attackers use their existing access to move between systems, often using legitimate protocols and tools to avoid detection. Lateral movement can occur in a matter of minutes, and this rapid progression gives security teams very little time to detect and respond.
Attackers use several techniques:
- Credential Harvesting: Extracting additional credentials from compromised systems
- Pass-the-Hash: Exploiting Windows authentication to move between systems without passwords
- Remote Services Exploitation: Abusing RDP, SSH, and SMB protocols
- Living Off the Land: Using built-in system tools to avoid security alerts
Stage 3: Privilege Escalation
Privilege escalation transforms basic user access into administrative control. Attackers exploit service accounts with excessive privileges, unpatched vulnerabilities, or simply use administrative credentials harvested during lateral movement.
Once attackers achieve administrative access, they can disable security tools, create persistent backdoors, and access any data within their reach. This stage often determines whether an incident becomes a minor security event or a catastrophic breach.
Stage 4: Full Compromise
The final stage involves establishing persistent access and achieving ultimate objectives. Attackers create backdoors, disable security controls, collect valuable data, and deploy final payloads like ransomware.
This persistence can last months or years, with sophisticated attackers maintaining access for extended periods while slowly achieving their goals.
Why Traditional Defenses Fail
Many organizations discover their expensive security investments are ineffective against attacks that use legitimate credentials. The fundamental challenge is that these attacks look like normal user activity.
When attackers log in with valid credentials and use standard tools like Remote Desktop or PowerShell, security systems see normal network traffic. Traditional perimeter defenses and endpoint protection struggle to identify malicious behavior that appears identical to legitimate user activity.
MFA Bypass Techniques
While multi-factor authentication provides significant security improvements, attackers have developed numerous MFA bypass techniques. Common methods include MFA fatigue attacks (overwhelming users with requests), session hijacking (stealing authentication tokens), and social engineering (convincing users to provide codes).
These techniques show why MFA alone isn’t sufficient protection against determined attackers who understand how to exploit both technical vulnerabilities and human psychology
Permanent Admin Rights Accelerate Everything
One of the biggest factors accelerating these attacks is widespread use of permanent administrative rights. When users have constant elevated privileges, credential theft immediately provides attackers with administrative access.
Permanent admin rights create several problems: immediate privilege escalation, expanded lateral movement capabilities, faster attack progression, and easier persistence establishment. Many organizations grant these rights for convenience, creating express lanes for attackers.
Stopping the Attack Chain
The speed and legitimacy of credential-based attacks mean detection-focused strategies often arrive too late. Organizations need prevention-focused approaches that stop attacks from progressing.
Just-in-Time Privilege Management
Just-in-time privilege management transforms how organizations handle administrative access. Instead of permanent elevated rights, users receive administrative privileges only when needed and only for specific tasks.
This approach stops lateral movement by:
- Eliminating standing privileges that attackers can immediately exploit
- Creating approval gates for privilege requests where suspicious activity can be detected
- Limiting blast radius even when initial access occurs
- Providing detailed audit trails of all administrative activity
Admin By Request’s EPM solution exemplifies this approach, allowing users to request elevation for specific applications or time-limited administrative sessions while maintaining complete audit trails and approval workflows.
Time-Limited Access Prevents Persistent Compromise
Traditional security models grant long-term or permanent access that attackers can exploit indefinitely once they steal credentials. Time-limited access automatically expires, forcing attackers to repeatedly request new privileges that security teams can monitor and control.
When combined with just-in-time privilege management, time-limited access creates multiple checkpoints where malicious activity can be detected and stopped. Attackers can’t simply steal credentials once and maintain persistent access for months.
How Admin By Request Disrupts Attack Paths
We take a fundamentally different approach to privilege management that breaks the traditional attack chain at multiple points. Admin By Request EPM removes permanent administrative rights from users while providing secure, audited methods to obtain elevated privileges when needed. This eliminates the standing privileges that attackers rely on for lateral movement and privilege escalation.
When users need administrative access, they request specific applications or time-limited sessions through our platform. Each request creates an approval gate where suspicious activity can be identified and blocked. All elevation activity is logged and monitored, providing complete visibility into administrative actions.
Our Secure Remote Access solution extends this protection to remote access scenarios, eliminating the persistent VPN tunnels and direct RDP connections that attackers often exploit. Instead, remote access requires just-in-time approval and automatically terminates when work is complete.
Make Stolen Credentials Worthless
Attack paths from stolen credentials to full network access are predictable and stoppable. The solution is implementing controls that assume credential theft will occur and focus on preventing attackers from exploiting those credentials.
Organizations that embrace just-in-time privilege management, time-limited access, and proper network segmentation can transform inevitable credential theft from a catastrophic breach into a manageable security incident.
Ready to see how our Zero Trust Platform can stop credential-based attacks in your environment? Book a demo or start with our lifetime free plan for up to 25 endpoints.
