Why Identity Security Now Defines Your Cyber Resilience

Identity has become the new network boundary—and attackers know it. Recent ransomware hits on UK retailers M&S and Co‑op reportedly began with vishing that harvested helpdesk passwords, providing an initial foothold. The resulting damage exceeded £500 million plus reputational fallout—an increasingly common pattern across sectors, including critical infrastructure.

Why identity attacks are surging

• Modern IT is distributed across cloud, on‑prem, remote work and mobile, erasing the old castle‑and‑moat perimeter. Credentials are now the keys to the kingdom. Verizon reports credential abuse in about 22% of breaches.
• Infostealer malware is rampant, spreading via phishing, malicious apps, drive‑by downloads and social scams. One estimate attributes 75% (2.1B of 3.2B) stolen credentials last year to infostealers.
• Phishing, smishing and vishing continue to harvest logins, especially when tailored to specific targets. In the M&S and Co‑op cases, attackers are believed to have vished an outsourced IT helpdesk.
• Database breaches at organizations or suppliers feed fresh credentials onto criminal forums for resale.
• Brute‑force techniques scale: credential stuffing (reused logins), password spraying (common passwords) and dictionary attacks against single accounts.

The impact is real. Colonial Pipeline suffered major disruption after a likely brute‑force attack compromised a single legacy VPN password. UK logistics firm KNP went bankrupt after attackers guessed an employee password and encrypted key systems.

What magnifies identity risk

• Excess privileges: Weak enforcement of least privilege enables lateral movement and inflates the breach blast radius, while amplifying insider risk.
• Identity sprawl: Poorly managed user, service and machine identities create blind spots and larger attack surfaces. AI agents and IoT will further expand machine identities requiring central governance.
• Third‑party exposure: MSPs, outsourcers and software vendors often hold powerful access. Complex supply chains heighten the odds of identity compromise.

How to harden identity security now

• Enforce least privilege and review entitlements regularly to shrink blast radius.
• Require strong, unique passwords stored in an enterprise password manager.
• Add MFA everywhere; prefer authenticator apps or passkeys over SMS codes.
• Implement identity lifecycle management: auto‑provision/deprovision during onboarding and offboarding; find and remove dormant accounts.
• Protect admin access with privileged access management (PAM): automatic credential rotation and just‑in‑time elevation.
• Strengthen security awareness from the board to the front line; run frequent phishing simulations.

Zero Trust and rapid detection
Most of these controls align to Zero Trust: never trust, always verify. Every human and machine request is authenticated, authorized and continuously validated, with environments monitored for anomalies. A 24/7 managed detection and response (MDR) team can quickly spot and contain intrusions, complementing a prevention‑first strategy.

Bottom line: Treat identity as your new perimeter. Tighten privileges, raise authentication standards and watch continuously—because the fastest path to breach is still a stolen or misused credential.

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