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TL;DR
Treat Identity as a Single, Cohesive Attack Surface
Attackers don’t care about your product categories—they follow privilege wherever it leads[2]. Many organizations still manage identity in silos: one tool for Identity and Access Management (IAM), another for password vaulting, and maybe a separate solution for endpoint privilege. This fragmented approach leaves gaps that attackers love to exploit.
Why a Unified Identity Security Posture Matters
- Attackers use privilege escalation and lateral movement to bypass isolated controls.
- Fragmented tools create blind spots, making it hard to see the full attack path.
- Integrated, multilayered defenses close these gaps and make it harder for attackers to succeed.
How to Build a Unified Defense:
- Use identity threat modeling tools to map potential attack paths across all identity silos.
- Implement access control tools that verify every identity before granting access.
- Secure credentials with password and secrets vaults to prevent theft.
- Enforce granular, context-aware privilege policies with Endpoint Privilege Management (EPM).
- Enable just-in-time (JIT) privilege elevation so users only get access when needed[2].
Think of your identity environment like a castle: it’s not enough to lock the front gate if the side doors and windows are wide open. You need every entry point covered, all the time.
How Can You Detect Identity Attacks Earlier in the Kill Chain?
Manual permission reviews are slow, error-prone, and often outdated by the time they’re complete. Attackers exploit over-permissioned accounts and forgotten access rights to move undetected.
The Power of Automated Audits
- Automated tools continuously scan for excessive or risky permissions.
- Real-time alerts flag suspicious changes or privilege escalations.
- Automated remediation can revoke unnecessary access before it’s abused.
Benefits of Automated Permission Management:
- Reduces the risk of privilege creep and shadow IT.
- Frees up security teams to focus on higher-value tasks.
- Provides a clear, up-to-date view of who has access to what.
“Conduct regular, automated audits of permissions and trust relationships to uncover subtle gaps and prevent attackers from exploiting them.”
— Sygnia 2025 Threat Report[1]
Enforce Strong, Context-Aware Authentication
Passwords alone are no match for today’s attackers. Phishing, credential stuffing, and session hijacking are all on the rise[3][4]. Smart companies are moving beyond basic Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) to more adaptive, context-aware methods.
What Is Context-Aware Authentication?
- Authentication that considers user behavior, device health, location, and risk signals.
- Requires re-authentication for sensitive actions or when risk factors change.
- Uses phishing-resistant methods like hardware tokens or biometric verification.
Key Steps to Strengthen Authentication:
- Require MFA for all users, not just admins.
- Enforce re-authentication for high-risk operations (like wire transfers or admin changes).
- Use Zero Trust principles: never trust, always verify, even inside the corporate network[1].
Example: If an employee logs in from a new country or device, the system prompts for additional verification before granting access.
Where Does Automation Give You Leverage Against Identity Threats?
Even with strong defenses, attackers sometimes slip through. The difference between a minor incident and a major breach often comes down to how quickly you detect and respond.
Real-Time Identity Threat Detection
- Monitors for unusual login patterns, privilege escalations, and suspicious email activity.
- Uses machine learning to spot anomalies that traditional rules might miss.
- Integrates with incident response workflows to automate containment.
What to Look For:
- Impossible travel (logins from two distant locations in a short time).
- Sudden changes in email forwarding rules or sharing permissions.
- Unusual access to sensitive files or mailboxes.
“You can’t defend what you can’t see—and attackers are counting on that. With these layers in place, you’re no longer guessing where identity risks live. You’re defining and defending them.”
— The Hacker News, 2025[2]
Test and Validate with Identity-Focused Red Teaming
Security controls are only as good as their real-world performance. Regular, identity-focused red team exercises help uncover hidden weaknesses before attackers do.
What Is Identity-Focused Red Teaming?
- Simulates attacks that target permission chains, service accounts, and Single Sign-On (SSO) trust relationships.
- Tests the effectiveness of your identity controls under realistic conditions.
- Reveals attack paths that traditional vulnerability scans might miss.
How to Get the Most from Red Teaming:
- Include scenarios that mimic advanced phishing, deepfakes, and session-cookie theft.
- Validate that just-in-time access and re-authentication controls work as intended.
- Use findings to fine-tune your detection and response processes[1].
Think of red teaming as a fire drill for your identity defenses: it’s better to find the gaps now than during a real attack.
Take Control of Your Identity Security Posture
Identity attacks aren’t slowing down. The smartest companies are already treating identity as a unified attack surface, automating permission management, enforcing strong authentication, detecting threats in real time, and validating their defenses with red teaming. Material Security brings all these capabilities together in a single platform designed for Google Workspace and Microsoft 365—helping you protect your people, data, and business without slowing down productivity.
Ready to see how Material Security can help you stop account takeovers, prevent data loss, and secure your cloud email environment? Contact us for a personalized demo or explore our resources to learn more.
References
- A Surge in Identity-based Attacks: Cybersecurity trends from Sygnia’s new 2025 Threat Report
- Identity-First Security: A Multilayered Approach to Reducing Identity Attack Risk
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