Session Security Posture
Session security posture refers to the overall strength and effectiveness of an organization's measures to protect user sessions from cyberattacks. It's a holistic view of how well an organization prevents, detects, and responds to threats that aim to compromise active user sessions.
Here's a breakdown of what contributes to an intense session security posture:
Strong Session Management: This is the foundation and includes:
Robust Session IDs: Using long, random, and unpredictable session identifiers.
Secure Storage: Protecting session IDs from unauthorized access (e.g., storing them securely on the server side).
Secure Transmission: Ensuring session IDs are transmitted securely (e.g., using HTTPS and HTTP Strict Transport Security).
Session Timeouts: Implementing appropriate session expiration times and inactivity timeouts.
Session ID Regeneration: Issuing new session IDs after critical events like login or privilege changes.
Authentication and Authorization:
Strong Authentication: Employing strong passwords and multi-factor authentication (MFA) to verify user identity.
Principle of Least Privilege: Granting users only the necessary permissions during a session.
Vulnerability Management:
Identifying and patching vulnerabilities in web applications, servers, and libraries that could be exploited to compromise sessions (e.g., XSS, SQL injection).
Threat Detection and Monitoring:
Real-time monitoring of session activity for suspicious behavior.
Anomaly detection to identify deviations from normal user behavior.
Intrusion detection systems (IDS) and web application firewalls (WAFs) to detect and block malicious traffic.
Incident Response:
Have a plan to respond to session-based attacks, including steps to terminate compromised sessions, notify users, and investigate the incident.
Security Awareness:
Educating users about the risks of session hijacking and how to protect themselves (e.g., avoiding public Wi-Fi, recognizing phishing).
An intense session security posture minimizes the risk of attackers gaining unauthorized access to user accounts and sensitive data through session-based attacks.
Here’s how ThreatNG can enhance an organization's session security posture:
ThreatNG's external discovery is fundamental to improving session security posture. Comprehensively mapping all external-facing assets provides a clear view of where user sessions originate and the potential attack surface.
For example, ThreatNG's discovery of all subdomains is crucial. It can reveal forgotten or unmanaged subdomains with weak security configurations, which attackers could exploit to compromise sessions.
ThreatNG's external assessment capabilities directly evaluate factors that impact session security posture:
The Web Application Hijack Susceptibility rating assesses the strength of web application security controls related to session management. A low rating indicates weaknesses that degrade the session security posture.
The Subdomain Takeover Susceptibility rating identifies vulnerabilities that could allow attackers to hijack subdomains and compromise sessions, directly impacting the organization's session security posture.
The Cyber Risk Exposure assessment uncovers external vulnerabilities (e.g., exposed ports, vulnerable services) that can be exploited in session-based attacks, providing insight into weaknesses in the organization's session security posture.
ThreatNG's reporting provides valuable information for improving session security posture:
Technical reports detail specific vulnerabilities and weaknesses that must be addressed to strengthen session security.
Security ratings offer a quantifiable measure of the organization's session security posture, allowing for progress tracking over time.
ThreatNG's continuous monitoring of the external attack surface helps maintain a strong session security posture by proactively identifying new or changing threats that could compromise sessions.
ThreatNG's investigation modules provide in-depth information for analyzing and improving session security posture:
Domain Intelligence offers a comprehensive view of the organization's domain infrastructure, enabling security teams to understand potential attack vectors and strengthen session-related controls.
The Sensitive Code Exposure module helps identify leaked credentials or API keys that bypass regular session security, allowing for proactive remediation to improve the overall posture.
The Search Engine Exploitation module helps discover information leakage that could aid attackers in planning session attacks, enabling preventative measures to enhance security posture.
ThreatNG's intelligence repositories provide context for assessing and improving session security posture:
The Dark Web Presence repository alerts organizations to compromised credentials that could be used to bypass authentication, highlighting a critical weakness in session security posture.
The repository of Known Vulnerabilities helps prioritize remediation efforts to address actively exploited weaknesses and improve session security posture.
Working with Complementary Solutions:
ThreatNG's insights enhance the effectiveness of other security tools, contributing to a more assertive overall session security posture:
ThreatNG's identification of vulnerable web applications can inform the configuration of WAFs and IDS to protect sessions better.
ThreatNG's data on compromised credentials can be integrated with IAM systems to enforce stronger authentication and improve session security posture.
Examples of ThreatNG Helping:
ThreatNG identifies a web application with weak session management, prompting the security team to implement stronger controls and improve the organization's session security posture.
ThreatNG discovers a publicly accessible test environment that lacks proper authentication, allowing the organization to secure it and enhance its overall security posture.
Examples of ThreatNG Working with Complementary Solutions:
ThreatNG's vulnerability data can be used to tune a WAF to provide more robust protection for sessions.
ThreatNG's compromised credential data can be integrated with a UEBA system to detect and respond to account takeover attempts, strengthening the organization's session security posture.
ThreatNG enhances an organization's session security posture by providing external visibility, assessing session-related risks, and integrating with other security tools for comprehensive protection.
