The most used lateral movement hacking tools across enterprise infrastructures


The statistics compiled from detection alerts* within Kaspersky Anti Targeted Attack (KATA) reveal the hacking tools most often used for lateral movement across enterprise infrastructures, highlighting the pressing need for reliable network security solutions to protect corporate environments.

Recent investigations into cyber-espionage groups show that attackers increasingly avoid detectable malware, choosing instead to blend into legitimate corporate network traffic. By weaponizing dual-use tools and administrative utilities already present in the system, they move laterally across the domain undetected to harvest credentials and locate high-value assets. In this era of silent intrusion, Kaspersky shares insights into the most frequently used hacking tools to help organizations defend their networks.

For a decade, KATA, Kaspersky’s mature NDR solution, has been delivering comprehensive anti-APT protection. It features advanced threat detection, in-depth network traffic analysis, and centralized incident response to ensure full visibility across the entire network. Equipped with nearly 12,500 network detection rules in its database, KATA detects an average of 312,705 potential attacks daily.

Read more…
Source:  Kaspersky


Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • vSphere and BRICKSTORM Malware: A Defender’s Guide

    April 2, 2026

    Building on recent BRICKSTORM research from Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG), this post explores the evolving threats facing virtualized environments. These operations directly target the VMware vSphere ecosystem, specifically the vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) and ESXi hypervisors. To help organizations stay ahead of these risks, we will focus on the essential hardening strategies and mitigating controls ...

  • Sophisticated supply chain attack exploited TrueConf update process

    April 2, 2026

    Southeast Asian governments were recently targeted by a highly sophisticated supply chain attack as part of a wider cyber-espionage campaign, which experts believe is the work of the Chinese government. Security researchers Check Point detailed their findings on Operation TrueChaos, a campaign revolving around a zero-day vulnerability in TrueConf, a video conferencing and collaboration platform which ...

  • Gigabyte warns users Control Center flaw could let hackers hijack your files

    April 1, 2026

    GIGABYTE Control Center, a Windows utility which comes preloaded with certain computers, carried a critical-severity vulnerability that allowed malicious actors to access files, run code, and trigger denial-of-service conditions on affected devices. The bug has now been addressed and users are advised to patch up without delay. GIGABYTE is a major hardware manufacturer known for, among ...

  • WhatsApp on Windows users targeted in new campaign

    April 1, 2026

    Microsoft researchers found a campaign that abuses WhatsApp attachments to sneak a script onto Windows machines which will lead to the attacker gaining remote control. WhatsApp offers a desktop application for Windows and macOS, which users can synchronize with their mobile devices. Desktop versions of WhatsApp are generally used as extensions of mobile apps rather than ...

  • UK manufacturers under cyber fire with 80% reporting attacks

    April 1, 2026

    Nearly 80 percent of British manufacturers say they’ve been hit by a cyber incident in the past year, as new research suggests disruption on the factory floor is no longer an exception but business as usual. According to security outfit ESET, 78 percent of UK manufacturers admit to suffering at least one cyber incident in the ...

  • A laughing RAT: CrystalX combines spyware, stealer, and prankware features

    April 1, 2026

    In March 2026, Kaspersky researchers discovered an active campaign promoting previously unknown malware in private Telegram chats. The Trojan was offered as a MaaS (malware‑as‑a‑service) with three subscription tiers. It caught the researchers attention because of its extensive arsenal of capabilities. On the panel provided to third‑party actors, in addition to the standard features of RAT‑like malware, ...