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Security leaders need a short, evidence-led list of what to fix first. This briefing ranks the top five initial access vectors and shows how to block them with concrete controls, SLAs and KPIs, synthesising 2025 data from Verizon DBIR, ENISA, Microsoft identity telemetry, and CISA’s KEV to prioritise action where it matters most.
Stolen or Valid Credentials: Make Identity a Hard Target
Attackers prefer to log in with the right keys. Microsoft reports ~7,000 password attacks per second and that over 99% of daily identity attacks still target passwords. That volume explains why credential abuse keeps topping breach entry patterns. Shift the centre of gravity from perimeter to identity.
Start with phishing-resistant MFA for privileged roles and remote paths. Harden your IdP. Reduce token lifetimes. Enforce device trust and conditional access on risky sessions. Lock down legacy protocols that bypass modern controls. Measure coverage, not policy on paper. Pause. Check your IdP logs.
Do you see impossible travel and token replay? Close the loop with detection and rapid step-up. This is where small changes pay off at scale.
Phishing and Social Engineering: Stop Malware-Free Logins
Email and chat remain reliable beachheads. Many intrusions are malware-free and end in session theft or token abuse. Treat collaboration tools like internet-facing apps, not walled gardens. Deploy modern filtering with link isolation for high-risk users. Instrument user-reported phish to auto-quarantine similar lures. Train, then test, then train again. Keep the goal in view. The attacker wants a valid session that looks normal.
Counter with continuous access evaluation, risky sign-in policies, and fast reauth on anomaly. Use controlled simulations to measure your true detection rate across email and chat, not just inbox filtering claims. The signal from mainstream telemetry is clear. Identity and social engineering pressure keeps rising across the board. Put people, process, and identity controls in the same loop.
Every day, our adversaries are using known vulnerabilities to target federal agencies.
Jen Easterly, Director, CISA – Reducing the Significant Risk of Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
Exploitation of Known Vulnerabilities on Public-Facing Systems
Exploitation of known CVEs is holding near the top of initial access. DBIR 2025 puts it at about 20% of breaches, with edge devices and VPNs repeatedly targeted. ENISA 2025 reports a ~21.3% share and highlights fast weaponisation after disclosure. Treat the CISA KEV catalog as the truth source for what to patch first. Exposure management and rapid maintenance windows matter, but so does virtual patching when downtime blocks you. Track time from KEV addition to your fix by asset class. Accept no unknowns on internet-facing tech. Visibility first, then speed.
What to implement now
- Inventory all edge appliances and internet-facing apps with version and exposure status
- Prioritise KEV items with strict SLAs and named owners
- Apply vendor fixes or temporary virtual patching and WAF rules
- Prove closure with rescans and exception review in change advisory
Third-Party and Supply-Chain Access: Govern External Entry Points
Partners and SaaS links often bypass your strongest gates. Recent incident datasets show valid accounts and public-facing exploits dominate, with third-party paths a persistent factor in response caseloads. Reduce trust by design. Use least privilege for external identities. Enforce MFA and device posture for partner access. Issue short-lived credentials and just-in-time elevation for administrative sessions. Put contractual controls in place for SBOM, security notifications, and minimum identity standards. Monitor external sessions to critical systems in real time and revoke on drift. The trend lines justify the effort. If an attacker compromises a supplier, your controls must fail closed, not open.
Misconfiguration and Exposed Services: Fix the Easy Doors
Configuration drift creates silent entry points. Open admin panels, weak defaults, and over-permissive cloud roles turn routine operations into breach fuel. ENISA flags the operational risk from exposure and the high conversion of vulnerability cases into intrusions. Pair baseline hardening with infrastructure-as-code policy so missteps do not recur. Scan for public exposure of management interfaces. Eliminate shared local admin accounts. Require MFA for console and SSH. Review cloud role assignments for least privilege and service control policies.
The goal is consistent hygiene, not one-off cleanups. Make drift detection continuous and actionable. Align findings to KEV and to identity risks for a complete picture. Close the obvious doors first, then keep them closed.
Overview of the 5 Attack Vectors
Executive summary of attack vectors, why they matter, key controls and KPIs.
| Vector | Why it matters | Key controls | KPI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stolen or valid credentials | High volume of password attacks and frequent token abuse leading to silent logins | Phishing-resistant MFA, hardened IdP, conditional access, device trust, legacy auth off | Privileged MFA coverage and passwordless adoption |
| Phishing and social engineering | Common initial foothold often malware-free that results in session or token theft | Advanced email and chat protection, link isolation for high-risk users, user-report loop, continuous access evaluation | Detection and quarantine rate within SLA |
| Exploitation of known vulnerabilities | ~20 to 21 percent of initial access and fast weaponisation on internet-facing systems | KEV-led patching SLAs, attack surface management, virtual patching and WAF where needed | Median KEV patch latency by asset class |
| Third-party and supply-chain access | Partner and SaaS connections become entry points and propagate compromise | Least-privilege external accounts, short-lived access, MFA and device posture, SBOM and notification clauses, session monitoring | % suppliers meeting MFA and device standards; time to revoke dormant partner accounts |
| Misconfiguration and exposed services | Open admin panels and over-permissive roles create easy doors for intrusion | Baseline hardening, IaC policy controls, continuous drift detection, public exposure scanning | Critical misconfigs remediated per quarter; reduction in exposed management interfaces |
FAQ
Stolen or valid credentials, phishing and social engineering, exploitation of known vulnerabilities, third-party access, and misconfiguration or exposed services. Evidence from DBIR 2025 and ENISA TL 2025 supports this ranking.
Use CISA’s KEV as your source of truth and set SLAs by exposure. Internet-facing assets within 72 hours. Track median KEV patch latency.
Roll out phishing-resistant MFA for privileged users, harden the IdP, shorten token lifetimes, and enforce device trust with conditional access. Microsoft shows password-based attacks still dominate.
Yes. DBIR 2025 highlights rapid exploitation of public-facing systems, including edge devices and VPNs, with remediation lag. Prioritise these in exposure management.
About the Author
Liam Rose
I founded this site to share concise, actionable guidance. While RFID is my speciality, I cover the wider Industry 4.0 landscape with the same care, from real-world tutorials to case studies and AI-driven use cases.
