Means
Ability to Modify Cloud Resources
Access
Aiding and Abetting
Asset Control
Bluetooth
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
Clipboard
Delegated Access via Managed Service Providers
FTP Servers
Installed Software
Media Capture
Network Attached Storage
Physical Disk Access
Placement
Printing
Privileged Access
Removable Media
Screenshots and Screen Recording
Sensitivity Label Leakage
SMB File Sharing
SSH Servers
System Startup Firmware Access
Unmanaged Credential Storage
Unrestricted Software Installation
Unrevoked Access
Web Access
- ID: ME027
- Created: 01st August 2025
- Updated: 01st August 2025
- Contributors: The ITM Team, David Larsen,
Unmanaged Credential Storage
Authentication credentials, including passwords, API keys, and tokens are stored in unmanaged locations outside the scope of enterprise access governance. These may include plain text documents, spreadsheets, shared folders, configuration files, or personal notes. These storage locations are not subject to audit, version control, or policy enforcement, and often fall outside of privileged access management (PAM) or identity and access management (IAM) systems.
Unmanaged credential storage creates a latent security condition in which one or more subjects may be able to retrieve high-privilege credentials without generating any access logs or triggering control workflows. In many cases, these credentials are reused across systems, are not rotated, and are inconsistently protected. This creates durable risk, especially in environments where entitlement reviews do not include stored credentials as an exposure category.
The presence of unmanaged credentials increases the feasibility of lateral movement, privilege escalation, and untraceable access to sensitive systems. Investigators should treat the existence of untracked or insecurely stored credentials as an enabling factor when reconstructing access conditions for an infringement. Their presence also indicates control breakdowns that may permit future abuse or support behavioral drift within privileged roles.
Subsections
ID | Name | Description |
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ME027.001 | Credentials in Ticketing Systems | Passwords, API keys, and privileged credentials are communicated, stored, or embedded in service desk tickets, including incident responses, change management notes, and administrative work orders. These credentials are often entered by IT or support personnel as part of access restoration, environment configuration, or user provisioning workflows.
Because many service desk platforms (such as ServiceNow, Jira Service Management, Freshservice & Zendesk) are broadly accessible across IT, engineering, and sometimes third-party vendor teams, the storage of credentials in ticketing systems significantly expands the number of individuals who can retrieve operationally sensitive access. In many cases, ticket logs are not considered part of the formal audit surface for access control, and standard retention, encryption, or obfuscation policies are inconsistently applied.
When credentials are available through searchable tickets, any subject with sufficient access to the service desk platform may bypass formal access provisioning and review processes. This creates an unmonitored path to privilege, especially when ticket histories are long-lived and tied to high-value systems. Investigators should treat such platforms as latent access repositories, especially during retrospective analysis of system access or in cases where no formal credential use appears in logs. |
Prevention
ID | Name | Description |
---|---|---|
PV058 | Consistent Enforcement of Minor Violations | Establish and maintain processes where all policy violations, including those perceived as minor or low-impact, are addressed consistently, proportionately, and promptly. By reinforcing that even small infractions matter, organizations deter boundary testing behaviors and reduce the risk of escalation into more serious incidents.
Implementation Approaches
Operational Principles
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PV038 | Insider Threat Awareness Training | Training should equip employees to recognize manipulation tactics, such as social engineering and extortion, that are used to coerce actions and behaviors harmful to the individual and/or the organization. The training should also encourage and guide participants on how to safely report any instances of coercion. |
PV048 | Privileged Access Management (PAM) | Privileged Access Management (PAM) is a critical security practice designed to control and monitor access to sensitive systems and data. By managing and securing accounts with elevated privileges, PAM helps reduce the risk of insider threats and unauthorized access to critical infrastructure.
Key Prevention Measures:
Benefits:
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Detection
ID | Name | Description |
---|---|---|
DT046 | Agent Capable of Endpoint Detection and Response | An agent capable of Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) is a software agent installed on organization endpoints (such as laptops and servers) that (at a minimum) records the Operating System, application, and network activity on an endpoint.
Typically EDR operates in an agent/server model, where agents automatically send logs to a server, where the server correlates those logs based on a rule set. This rule set is then used to surface potential security-related events, that can then be analyzed.
An EDR agent typically also has some form of remote shell capability, where a user of the EDR platform can gain a remote shell session on a target endpoint, for incident response purposes. An EDR agent will typically have the ability to remotely isolate an endpoint, where all network activity is blocked on the target endpoint (other than the network activity required for the EDR platform to operate). |
DT045 | Agent Capable of User Activity Monitoring | An agent capable of User Activity Monitoring (UAM) is a software agent installed on organization endpoints (such as laptops); typically, User Activity Monitoring agents are only deployed on endpoints where a human user Is expected to conduct the activity.
The User Activity Monitoring agent will typically record Operating System, application, and network activity occurring on an endpoint, with a focus on activity that is or can be conducted by a human user. The purpose of this monitoring is to identify undesirable and/or malicious activity being conducted by a human user (in this context, an Insider Threat).
Typical User Activity Monitoring platforms operate in an agent/server model where activity logs are sent to a server for automatic correlation against a rule set. This rule set is used to surface activity that may represent Insider Threat related activity such as capturing screenshots, copying data, compressing files or installing risky software.
Other platforms providing related functionality are frequently referred to as User Behaviour Analytics (UBA) platforms. |
DT047 | Agent Capable of User Behaviour Analytics | An agent capable of User Behaviour Analytics (UBA) is a software agent installed on organizational endpoints (such as laptops). Typically, User Activity Monitoring agents are only deployed on endpoints where a human user is expected to conduct the activity.
The User Behaviour Analytics agent will typically record Operating System, application, and network activity occurring on an endpoint, focusing on activity that is or can be conducted by a human user. Typically, User Behaviour Analytics platforms operate in an agent/server model where activity logs are sent to a server for automatic analysis. In the case of User Behaviour Analytics, this analysis will typically be conducted against a baseline that has previously been established.
A User Behaviour Analytic platform will typically conduct a period of ‘baselining’ when the platform is first installed. This baselining period establishes the normal behavior parameters for an organization’s users, which are used to train a Machine Learning (ML) model. This ML model can then be later used to automatically identify activity that is predicted to be an anomaly, which is hoped to surface user behavior that is undesirable, risky, or malicious.
Other platforms providing related functionality are frequently referred to as User Activity Monitoring (UAM) platforms. |
DT050 | Impossible Travel | Custom or pre-built detection logic can be used to determine if a user account has authenticated from two geographic locations in a period of time that is not feasible for legitimate travel between the locations. |
DT102 | User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) | Deploy User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) solutions designed for cloud environments to monitor and analyze the behavior of users, applications, network devices, servers, and other non-human resources. UEBA systems track normal behavior patterns and detect anomalies that could indicate potential insider events. For instance, they can identify when a user or entity is downloading unusually large volumes of data, accessing an excessive number of resources, or engaging in data transfers that deviate from their usual behavior. |
DT101 | User Behavior Analytics (UBA) | Implement User Behavior Analytics (UBA) tools to continuously monitor and analyze user (human) activities, detecting anomalies that may signal security risks. UBA can track and flag unusual behavior, such as excessive data downloads, accessing a higher-than-usual number of resources, or large-scale transfers inconsistent with a user’s typical patterns. UBA can also provide real-time alerts when users engage in behavior that deviates from established baselines, such as accessing sensitive data during off-hours or from unfamiliar locations. By identifying such anomalies, UBA enhances the detection of insider events. |