Fraud Vector
A Fraud Vector in cybersecurity is a specific pathway, technique, or method used by a malicious actor to exploit vulnerabilities, manipulate human behavior, or compromise systems with the express purpose of achieving financial or material deception and illicit gain.
It is a specialized form of a general attack vector, where the primary objective is not just system compromise but the completion of a fraudulent transaction or act, such as unauthorized money transfers, identity theft for financial purposes, or the acquisition of credentials to perpetrate further fraud.
Key Characteristics and Examples
Fraud vectors leverage weaknesses across three main surfaces: technology, people (social engineering), and third-party relationships.
Technology-Based Fraud Vectors: These exploit vulnerabilities in software or network configurations to steal financial information or perform unauthorized actions.
SQL Injection: An attacker uses this to inject malicious code into a web application's input fields to access, view, or manipulate sensitive financial or customer database records.
Malware and Ransomware: Malicious software (trojans, spyware) is used to gain access to corporate networks to steal data, or to encrypt systems and demand a ransom payment in cryptocurrency (extortion).
Misconfigurations: Errors in cloud service or application configuration (e.g., exposed APIs, default credentials) allow attackers to gain unauthorized access to data or control of systems for fraudulent purposes, such as an Account Takeover (ATO).
Human-Based Fraud Vectors (Social Engineering): These manipulate individuals' trust or fear to trick them into performing fraudulent actions.
Phishing/Spear Phishing: The attacker impersonates a trusted entity (e.g., a bank, a manager, or a government agency) through email, text, or phone calls (vishing) to trick the victim into providing sensitive data, such as login credentials or banking details. This can lead directly to financial fraud or corporate account takeover (CATO).
Compromised Credentials: Stolen usernames and passwords, often acquired via phishing or data breaches, are the most common access vector. An attacker uses these compromised credentials to log in, impersonate a legitimate user, and execute financial fraud or data theft.
External/Organizational Fraud Vectors: These exploit the relationships an organization has with the outside world.
DNS Spoofing: An attacker redirects a user's web traffic by manipulating DNS records, sending the victim to a malicious website that impersonates a legitimate site to steal credentials or financial information.
Third-Party and Supply Chain Attacks: A fraudster compromises a trusted vendor or service provider that an organization uses, gaining access to the organization's data or code-signing procedures, which can be used to deliver fraudulent, infected updates to the victim's systems.
The successful exploitation of a fraud vector results in severe impacts, including financial losses, identity theft, and damage to brand reputation.
ThreatNG is highly effective at identifying and mitigating Fraud Vectors by focusing its detection capabilities on the external-facing assets and digital risks that attackers would use for financial deception and illicit gain.
ThreatNG’s Role in Combating Fraud Vectors
ThreatNG's strength lies in providing an External Adversary View, which directly uncovers the staged resources and misconfigurations that serve as entry points for financial and corporate fraud.
External Discovery and Continuous Monitoring
ThreatNG performs purely external, unauthenticated discovery with no connectors, which is the foundational step for locating external fraud vectors such as malicious lookalike domains or exposed credentials. The continuous monitoring capability ensures that, as soon as a new fraud vector—such as a recently registered typosquatted domain used in a phishing campaign—is created and goes live, it is detected immediately, enabling rapid intervention.
External Assessment for Fraud Susceptibility
Several ThreatNG security ratings are directly relevant to uncovering and quantifying fraud vectors:
BEC & Phishing Susceptibility Security Rating: This is critical for identifying fraud vectors that rely on social engineering and email impersonation, such as Business Email Compromise (BEC) and phishing scams.
Fraud Vector Example: The rating includes analysis of Domain Name Permutations (available and taken) and Domain Name Record Analysis (missing DMARC and SPF records). An attacker uses a typosquatted domain that ThreatNG flags as a key phishing fraud vector. Furthermore, the absence of DMARC and SPF records on the legitimate domain makes it easier for an attacker to spoof the corporate email address for a BEC wire-transfer fraud scheme.
Data Leak Susceptibility Security Rating: This identifies vectors that expose the data necessary to commit identity theft or Account Takeover (ATO) fraud.
Fraud Vector Example: ThreatNG flags Compromised Credentials and Cloud Exposure (exposed open cloud buckets). Compromised credentials are a prime vector for ATO fraud. An exposed cloud bucket is a vector that can expose high-value data, such as customer financial records or Personally Identifiable Information (PII), which are then used for identity fraud.
Breach & Ransomware Susceptibility Security Rating: Ransomware is a significant fraud vector focused on financial extortion.
Fraud Vector Example: This rating is based on findings like Ransomware Events and Compromised Credentials. The detection of compromised credentials and exposed ports (Exposed Ports on subdomains) highlights the initial access vectors a ransomware gang would use to gain entry and execute their financial extortion attack.
Investigation Modules
ThreatNG’s investigation modules actively hunt down the staging grounds and tools of fraud actors:
Domain Intelligence: This module is essential for discovering domain-based fraud vectors.
Fraud Vector Example: The Domain Name Permutations feature identifies domains that use Targeted Keywords such as pay, payment, business, login, and account in combination with the brand name. A domain like
[brandname]-payment.comor[brandname]-login.netis a precursor fraud vector explicitly designed to trick users into giving up credentials or money. It also checks for Web3 Domain Discovery and Identification to identify fraud vectors in new decentralized naming services.
Mobile Application Discovery: This module is critical for detecting mobile fraud vectors.
Fraud Vector Example: ThreatNG identifies mobile apps and exposes whether they contain hardcoded secrets that a fraudster could use to gain access to financial services, such as Stripe API Keys, PayPal Braintree Access Tokens, or Square Access Tokens. This prevents attackers from bypassing the app's security controls.
Intelligence Repositories (DarCache)
The intelligence repositories provide the necessary context on the actors and the tools they use for fraud.
DarCache Rupture (Compromised Credentials): This repository is a direct source of fraud vectors—stolen credentials—that an attacker can use to commit ATO fraud or breach a corporate network for financial gain.
DarCache Ransomware: By tracking over 70 Ransomware Gangs, this repository provides security teams with insight into the latest financial extortion tactics and indicators, enabling them to anticipate the methods adversaries will use.
Cooperation with Complementary Solutions
ThreatNG's external view on fraud vectors is greatly enhanced when shared with complementary solutions focused on prevention and response.
Complementary Solutions Example 1 (Financial Fraud Detection Systems): When ThreatNG identifies Compromised Credentials or a Domain Name Permutation being used as a phishing fraud vector, this intelligence can be fed directly to an internal financial fraud detection system. This system can then use the information to automatically flag accounts associated with the compromised credentials or block transactions originating from the malicious domain, preventing unauthorized money transfers.
Complementary Solutions Example 2 (Identity and Access Management - IAM): If the Sensitive Code Exposure module detects a leaked AWS Access Key ID, the finding (a transparent fraud vector) can be immediately sent to the IAM platform. The IAM system can then use the information to automatically revoke the exposed key and require Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) or a password reset for the associated user account, closing the fraud vector before it can be exploited.
