Topic starter
08/06/2026 5:02 pm
TL;DR: Attack vectors are the paths adversaries use to gain unauthorized access, and StrongDM’s overview highlights how credentials, phishing, misconfigurations, trust relationships, and session hijacking remain common entry points. The operational lesson is that identity controls only reduce risk when they cover the entire access path, not just login events.
Editorial analysis by NHI Mgmt Group, based on content published by StrongDM: “What is an Attack Vector? 15 Common Attack Vectors to Know”.
Key questions
Q: What breaks when identity governance stops at login events?
A: Teams lose visibility into the actions that happen after authentication, including token reuse, secret harvesting, and privilege escalation.
Q: Why do trust relationships increase attack risk in IAM programmes?
A: Trust relationships reduce friction by letting one authentication event extend into multiple systems, but that same convenience expands blast radius when an identity is compromised.
Q: How do security teams know whether session governance is actually working?
A: They should test whether sessions can only be created after strong authentication, whether privileged accounts are reauthenticated at sensitive steps, and whether abnormal session use is visible in logs.
Practitioner guidance
- Define the full access path Map how an identity reaches each critical resource, including login, federation, trust relationships, session reuse, and post-authentication access.
- Inventory and constrain trust relationships List vendor links, service-to-service trust, and delegated access that allow one authentication event to open multiple resources.
- Harden sessions, not only passwords Shorten session lifetime where appropriate, bind sessions to stronger context checks, and monitor for reuse or abnormal continuity.
Bottom line: Attack vectors expose the gap between authentication and actual resource access, which is where identity programmes most often fail.
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This topic was modified 4 days ago by NHI Mgmt Group
08/06/2026 7:00 pm
Attack vectors expose an identity gap at the edge: the control failure is rarely the absence of login protection alone. The deeper issue is that organisations still design access control as if entry and use are the same event. In practice, the attacker often wins by moving through credentials, trusted relationships, and sessions after the first check has passed. The implication is that identity governance has to cover the whole access path, not just the front door.
A few things that frame the scale:
- 90% of IT leaders say properly managing NHIs is essential for a successful zero-trust implementation, according to the Ultimate Guide to NHIs.
A question worth separating out:
Q: What should organisations do first to reduce privilege creep in third-party access?
A: The first step is to establish a repeatable process for reviewing and revoking access that is no longer required. Once that is in place, organisations can centralise identities, apply least privilege more consistently, and layer on controls such as MFA and governance reviews. Without a clear revocation process, privilege creep will continue even if other controls exist.
👉 Read our full editorial: Attack vectors expose why identity controls fail at the edge
This post was modified 4 days ago by NHI Mgmt Group