Identity Protection in the AI Era
The article highlights the critical shift towards identity-centric cybersecurity in the AI era, where human, machine, and AI-agent identities form the primary attack surface. It advocates for unified Identity Visibility and Intelligence Platforms (IVIP) to combat AI-generated phishing, insider risks, and fragmented visibility, emphasizing automated threat detection and response.
Authors: Sara Atie, Sophie Chiang
Key Takeaways
- Identity is now the primary attack surface and organizing principle of modern cybersecurity.
- AI-generated attacks (phishing, BEC) and AI agents are accelerating account misuse and mimicking human behavior.
- Non-human identities (machine identities, service accounts) outnumber human identities and often lack behavioral baselines.
- Fragmented identity visibility across IAM, PAM, and IGA creates blind spots for security teams.
- Proactive identity-first security requires unified visibility, ITDR, and automated containment.
Affected Systems
- Microsoft Entra ID
- Active Directory
- Google Workspace
- Okta
- CyberArk
- OpenLDAP
- Cloud platforms
- SaaS ecosystems
Attack Chain
The attack begins with a spearphishing link delivered via email. Upon interaction, malicious Base64 encoded PowerShell is executed on the endpoint. This leads to the decoding and execution of a Cobalt Strike payload, establishing a connection to a C2 server via a non-standard HTTP port for further exploitation and potential data encryption for impact.
Detection Availability
- YARA Rules: No
- Sigma Rules: No
- Snort/Suricata Rules: No
- KQL Queries: No
- Splunk SPL Queries: No
- EQL Queries: No
- Other Detection Logic: No
- Platforms: TrendAI Vision One
The article does not provide raw detection rules but highlights the detection capabilities of TrendAI Vision One for identifying identity-based threats, Cobalt Strike, and malicious PowerShell.
Detection Engineering Assessment
EDR Visibility: High — The platform explicitly uses endpoint telemetry to detect malicious PowerShell, Cobalt Strike, and non-standard port connections. Network Visibility: Medium — Network telemetry is used to detect HTTP connections over non-standard ports. Detection Difficulty: Moderate — While AI-generated phishing and identity misuse can be hard to detect manually, unified ITDR platforms with behavioral baselining significantly lower the difficulty.
Required Log Sources
- Identity Provider Logs (Entra ID, Okta, etc.)
- EDR Telemetry
- Email Gateway Logs
- Network Traffic Logs
Hunting Hypotheses
| Hypothesis | Telemetry | ATT&CK Stage | FP Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Look for PowerShell execution containing Base64 encoded command line arguments, especially originating from email clients or browsers. | Process creation logs (Event ID 4688) with command line auditing | Execution | Medium |
| Identify outbound HTTP connections to external IP addresses over non-standard web ports (e.g., not 80 or 443). | Network connection logs, Firewall logs | Command and Control | Medium |
| Monitor for sudden privilege escalation or unusual access patterns from non-human identities (service accounts, API keys). | Identity Provider (IdP) audit logs | Privilege Escalation | High |
Control Gaps
- Fragmented identity visibility across IAM, PAM, and IGA
- Lack of behavioral baselines for non-human identities
- Manual containment processes delaying response
Key Behavioral Indicators
- Base64 encoded PowerShell commands
- HTTP connections on non-standard ports
- Anomalous identity access patterns
False Positive Assessment
- Low
Recommendations
Immediate Mitigation
- Implement automated containment workflows for compromised identities (e.g., force sign-out, password reset).
- Review and audit privileges for non-human identities (service accounts, API keys).
Infrastructure Hardening
- Deploy an Identity Visibility and Intelligence Platform (IVIP) to unify signals across all identity providers.
- Enforce Zero Trust principles and least-privilege access across human, machine, and AI-agent identities.
User Protection
- Enhance email security to detect AI-generated phishing and BEC campaigns.
- Implement continuous monitoring and intent validation for AI agents.
Security Awareness
- Train employees to recognize AI-generated phishing, deepfake audio, and context-aware social engineering.
- Educate security teams on the risks associated with machine identities and AI agents.
MITRE ATT&CK Mapping
- T1566.002 - Phishing: Spearphishing Link
- T1059.001 - Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell
- T1132.001 - Data Encoding: Standard Encoding
- T1071.001 - Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols
- T1571 - Non-Standard Port
- T1486 - Data Encrypted for Impact
Additional IOCs
- Command Lines:
- Purpose: Execute encoded payload | Tools:
PowerShell| Stage: Execution |powershell
- Purpose: Execute encoded payload | Tools:
