Attackers do not breach environments by guessing where the most sensitive systems are. They begin with the simplest, most reliable footholds. Across industries, across cloud providers, across company sizes, three initial weaknesses appear in nearly every intrusion Lares analyzes.
This blog outlines what attackers target first and how those footholds become full compromises.
1. Identity Exposure
Most attacks start with identity misuse, not exploits.
Common weaknesses include:
stale or unused accounts
inconsistent MFA enforcement
predictable password patterns
public credential exposure
weak contractor identity hygiene
Attackers target identities because escalation from a valid credential is faster and quieter than exploiting a vulnerability.
2. Cloud Misconfigurations
Cloud environments grow more complex with every sprint, integration, and role added. This drift creates unintended trust relationships and over-permissive IAM policies.
Attackers exploit:
orphaned roles
excessive permissions
inherited trust chains
misconfigured service accounts
Cloud privilege escalation is now one of the most common intruder pathways.
3. Vendor and Contractor Access
Third-party access expands attack surface in ways most organizations underestimate. These accounts often sit outside the security team’s visibility and do not follow internal governance standards.
Attackers know vendors are the weakest defended door into most enterprises.
How These Footholds Become Impact
Identity compromise → Authentication bypass → Cloud role escalation → Lateral movement → Access to sensitive systems or data
Every major breach follows a variation of this sequence.
Why CISOs Validate These Paths
A security program cannot claim resilience until it proves that attackers cannot escalate from these starting points. Adversary testing provides the evidence required to understand whether that assumption holds.
If you would like a brief assessment of the most likely attack path in your environment, Lares can provide one at no cost.