What it is
Once an attacker compromises a single system, they rarely stop there. Lateral movement involves using stolen credentials, misconfigurations, or trust relationships to access additional servers, databases, or cloud services.
Why it matters
Lateral movement turns a small breach into a major incident. It allows attackers to:
- Access sensitive systems not directly exposed to the internet
- Escalate privileges
- Reach backups, identity services, or production environments
Many large breaches escalate because lateral movement goes undetected.
How to reduce risk
- Enforce network segmentation
- Apply least-privilege access controls
- Monitor authentication and access patterns
- Identify exposed services and credentials before attackers do