CISA Red Team's Operation Highlights the Necessity of Defense-in-Depth

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) conducted a SILENTSHIELD red team assessment against a Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) organization, simulating nation-state cyber operations to evaluate the organization's security posture. The red team gained initial access through a web server vulnerability and phishing, compromising the network and accessing tier zero assets. Lessons learned highlighted the importance of defense-in-depth, behavior-based indicators of compromise, and network segmentation. Recommendations include applying multiple security layers, using behavior-based monitoring, and establishing network baselines. CISA encourages organizations to follow mitigation recommendations to enhance their cybersecurity posture. The assessment also emphasized the need for software manufacturers to implement Secure by Design principles to reduce the risk of domain compromise. The technical details of the assessment included the red team's tactics, such as exploiting vulnerabilities, gaining credential access, lateral movement, and persistence. The collaboration phase focused on enhancing the organization's ability to detect malicious activity based on adversary behavior. Overall, the assessment underscores the necessity of proactive cybersecurity measures to defend against sophisticated cyber threats.