Likely Normal

Once attackers breach your perimeter defenses, they enter a wonderland of security oversights where the real “work” of hacking becomes almost laughably easy. It’s like spending months picking a high-security lock only to find the vault door inside was left wide open with a “Welcome” mat. The internal network, which most organizations treat as a trusted safe space, often turns out to be a hacker’s all-you-can-exploit buffet.

The discovery phase is where the comedy begins. Attackers frequently find Active Directory configured with all the restraint of a toddler’s birthday party – everyone gets admin privileges! File shares overflow with sensitive documents helpfully labeled “CONFIDENTIAL” in the filename but accessible to all. Printers, those forgotten IoT devices, broadcast their vulnerabilities like carnival barkers. And somewhere, there’s always that one server still running Windows Server 2008 because “it’s not hurting anyone.”

Moving laterally through the network feels less like sophisticated hacking and more like playing a game of “The Floor Is Lava” where the floor is actually just regular carpet. Forgotten service accounts with excessive permissions become the attacker’s golden tickets. Unpatched internal systems provide escalations paths smoother than a corporate ladder in a yes-man’s company. And that one developer who needed local admin “just temporarily” three years ago? Their workstation becomes the attacker’s favorite springboard.

The privilege escalation phase often reaches peak absurdity. Attackers frequently stumble upon domain admin credentials stored in plaintext files named “passwords.txt” on shared drives, or discover that the “backup admin” account uses the same password as the office WiFi. Sometimes they don’t even need to try – cached credentials and over-permissioned service accounts do all the work for them.

By the time attackers reach the exfiltration phase, they’re not so much sophisticated hackers as they are digital shoplifters in a store with no security cameras. Sensitive data flows out as easily as water through a sieve, while overworked IT staff remain none the wiser. The real joke? Most of these attacks could be prevented with basic internal segmentation, proper privilege management, and regular patching – security measures that are about as exotic and expensive as a decent office coffee machine.

As one penetration tester friend likes to say, “Breaking in is hard. Moving around inside is like playing a video game on creative mode.” The moral of the story? Your internal network security probably needs more attention than your front door – because today’s sophisticated attackers know that once they’re inside, they’re often home free.