A Powerful Hacker Tactic: “Island-Hopping”

July 1, 2019

The term derives from military history of World War II. Instead of a frontal attack on a big target, the strategy is to slowly take small islands off the coast, building “strength and stealth.” It was the basic allied strategy in the Pacific theater. In the hacker context it means breaching the supply chain and third parties around larger organizations, and in that way slowly building the capacity to strike and penetrate the real target. Today, according to this post, about 50 percent of cyber attacks involve island-hopping. The vulnerable “islands” in this scenario are often so-called managed service providers (MSPs) – including managed security services providers. It’s a tactic that can be devastatingly effective.

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