[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"framework:mitre-attack\u002Ft1078":3},{"item":4,"lessons":18,"controls":68,"related":98},{"family":5,"item":6,"code":7,"title":8,"citations":9,"publisher":10,"summary_md":11,"official_text":12,"official_attribution":13,"official_url":14,"link_label":15,"note":16,"updated_at":17},"mitre-attack","t1078","T1078","Valid Accounts",120,"MITRE","**What attackers do.** Attackers log in with real credentials that were stolen, bought, guessed or left at defaults, so their activity looks like normal user behaviour. Valid accounts support Initial Access, Persistence, Privilege Escalation and Defence Evasion at once, which makes this one of the hardest techniques to spot.\n\n**How to defend.** Enforce MFA everywhere, especially for remote access, cloud consoles and privileged roles, and remove or disable dormant, shared and default accounts. Apply least privilege and separate admin accounts from daily accounts. Centralise authentication logs from identity providers, VPN, cloud and directory services, and baseline normal login patterns per user.\n\n**Signs to look for.** Watch for logins from unusual locations, devices or times, impossible travel, service accounts logging in interactively, and dormant accounts suddenly becoming active. The usual gap is that each log source looks fine in isolation; only correlation across identity, endpoint and network data reveals the misuse.","Adversaries may obtain and abuse credentials of existing accounts as a means of gaining Initial Access, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, or Defense Evasion. Compromised credentials may be used to bypass access controls placed on various resources on systems within the network and may even be used for persistent access to remote systems and externally available services, such as VPNs, Outlook Web Access, network devices, and remote desktop. Compromised credentials may also grant an adversary increased privilege to specific systems or access to restricted areas of the network. Adversaries may choose not to use malware or tools in conjunction with the legitimate access those credentials provide to make it harder to detect their presence.\n\nIn some cases, adversaries may abuse inactive accounts: for example, those belonging to individuals who are no longer part of an organization. Using these accounts may allow the adversary to evade detection, as the original account user will not be present to identify any anomalous activity taking place on their account.\n\nThe overlap of permissions for local, domain, and cloud accounts across a network of systems is of concern because the adversary may be able to pivot across accounts and systems to reach a high level of access (i.e., domain or enterprise administrator) to bypass access controls set within the enterprise.","© The MITRE Corporation. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of The MITRE Corporation (MITRE ATT&CK®).","https:\u002F\u002Fattack.mitre.org\u002Ftechniques\u002FT1078\u002F","Open the technique on MITRE ATT&CK",null,"2026-10-18T15:18:43.663+00:00",{"total":9,"list":19},[20,24,28,32,36,40,44,48,52,56,60,64],{"slug":21,"title":22,"published_at":23},"compromised-connectwise-credential-exposes-173-microsoft-365-tenants","Compromised ConnectWise Credential Exposes 173 Microsoft 365 Tenants","2026-10-17T08:20:20.122+00:00",{"slug":25,"title":26,"published_at":27},"beyondtrust-zero-day-exploited-for-months-before-patch","BeyondTrust Zero-Day Exploited for Months Before Patch","2026-10-16T08:21:15.847+00:00",{"slug":29,"title":30,"published_at":31},"billion-message-phishing-ecosystem-targeting-microsoft-users-dismantled","Billion-Message Phishing Ecosystem Targeting Microsoft Users Dismantled","2026-10-14T14:20:50.56+00:00",{"slug":33,"title":34,"published_at":35},"ivanti-zero-day-grants-root-access-to-fully-patched-vpn-appliances","Ivanti Zero-Day Grants Root Access to Fully Patched VPN Appliances","2026-10-13T20:21:02.111+00:00",{"slug":37,"title":38,"published_at":39},"mfa-gaps-in-internal-systems-leave-the-door-open-for-ransomware","MFA Gaps in Internal Systems Leave the Door Open for Ransomware","2026-10-13T16:21:32.111+00:00",{"slug":41,"title":42,"published_at":43},"asos-saas-breach-one-compromised-identity-opens-the-door","ASOS SaaS Breach: One Compromised Identity Opens the Door","2026-10-09T22:20:25.762+00:00",{"slug":45,"title":46,"published_at":47},"ai-agents-can-silently-exceed-their-assigned-permissions","AI Agents Can Silently Exceed Their Assigned Permissions","2026-10-09T16:20:55.25+00:00",{"slug":49,"title":50,"published_at":51},"shinyhunters-leader-arrested-after-70m-extortion-spree-targeting-140-organizations","ShinyHunters Leader Arrested After $70M Extortion Spree Targeting 140+ Organizations","2026-10-05T08:20:20.717+00:00",{"slug":53,"title":54,"published_at":55},"shinyhunters-suspect-detained-cooperating-with-fbi-to-expose-group","ShinyHunters Suspect Detained, Cooperating with FBI to Expose Group","2026-10-04T08:20:17.276+00:00",{"slug":57,"title":58,"published_at":59},"critical-flaws-in-privileged-access-manager-highlight-pam-security-risks","Critical Flaws in Privileged Access Manager Highlight PAM Security Risks","2026-10-03T12:20:58.495+00:00",{"slug":61,"title":62,"published_at":63},"iranian-state-linked-hacker-extradited-after-decade-long-data-theft-campaign","Iranian State-Linked Hacker Extradited After Decade-Long Data Theft Campaign","2026-10-02T12:21:07.859+00:00",{"slug":65,"title":66,"published_at":67},"governments-face-surge-in-cyber-threats-as-phishing-and-evasion-tactics-escalate","Governments Face Surge in Cyber Threats as Phishing and Evasion Tactics Escalate","2026-10-01T17:20:21.537+00:00",[69,74,79,84,89,93],{"slug":70,"name":71,"problem":72,"stories":73},"identity-threat-detection","Identity threat detection and response (ITDR)","Attackers who log in with real, stolen credentials get noticed.",54,{"slug":75,"name":76,"problem":77,"stories":78},"endpoint-detection-response","Endpoint detection and response (EDR and XDR)","Malware and hands-on-keyboard attackers on laptops and servers get spotted and stopped.",43,{"slug":80,"name":81,"problem":82,"stories":83},"phishing-resistant-mfa","Phishing-resistant MFA","A stolen password, or a user who taps Approve on a push prompt, is no longer enough to log in.",33,{"slug":85,"name":86,"problem":87,"stories":88},"patch-management","Automated patch management","Known holes get closed in days, not months.",32,{"slug":90,"name":91,"problem":92,"stories":88},"privileged-access-management","Privileged access management (PAM)","Admin accounts stop being one stolen password away from control of everything.",{"slug":94,"name":95,"problem":96,"stories":97},"vulnerability-management","Vulnerability scanning and prioritisation","You know which systems are vulnerable, and which ones to fix first.",20,[99,105,111,117,122,126,131,135],{"family":100,"item":101,"code":102,"title":103,"together":104},"nist-800-53","ac-2","AC-2","Account Management",83,{"family":106,"item":107,"code":108,"title":109,"together":110},"cis","6","Control 6","Access Control Management",71,{"family":112,"item":113,"code":114,"title":115,"together":116},"gdpr","32","Article 32","Security of processing",62,{"family":106,"item":118,"code":119,"title":120,"together":121},"12","Control 12","Network Infrastructure Management",50,{"family":106,"item":123,"code":124,"title":103,"together":125},"5","Control 5",42,{"family":106,"item":127,"code":128,"title":129,"together":130},"7","Control 7","Continuous Vulnerability Management",41,{"family":106,"item":132,"code":133,"title":134,"together":130},"13","Control 13","Network Monitoring and Defense",{"family":136,"item":137,"code":138,"title":139,"together":130},"nist-csf","de-cm","DE.CM-1","Continuous Monitoring"]