• 👉 Overview
• 👀 What ?
• 🧐 Why ?
• ⛏️ How ?
• ⏳ When ?
• ⚙️ Technical Explanations
• 🖇️ References

👉 Overview

👀 What ?

Windows AD CS (Active Directory Certificate Services) Account Persistence is a technique in cybersecurity where a threat actor maintains their foothold on a compromised system by leveraging the functionality of AD CS.

🧐 Why ?

Understanding Windows AD CS Account Persistence is crucial in cybersecurity as it helps in detecting, preventing, and responding to cyber attacks. Threat actors often use this technique to maintain access to compromised systems, making it harder for security teams to completely eradicate the threat.

⛏️ How ?

To use Windows AD CS Account Persistence to your advantage, you need to first understand its working principle. The primary component in play here is a certificate. When a certificate is issued to a user, system, or service, it can be used for various purposes like authenticating a user or encrypting data. In a compromised system, a threat actor can request a certificate that allows code signing, and then use this certificate to sign malicious code, making it appear as trusted within the network.

⏳ When ?

The use of Windows AD CS Account Persistence has become more prevalent in recent years as threat actors continually seek more stealthy and sophisticated methods of maintaining access to compromised systems.

⚙️ Technical Explanations

Windows AD CS provides the infrastructure to create, validate and revoke public key certificates used in Windows environments. In the context of Windows AD CS Account Persistence, a threat actor having sufficient privileges in the compromised system can request a certificate, typically for code signing, from the AD CS. Once obtained, this certificate can be used to sign malicious code, which is then perceived as trusted within the network. This method of persisting in the system is stealthy and often overlooked, thus making it a potent threat.

🖇️ References