Path Description
In cybersecurity, specifically within the framework of attack path intelligence, a Path Description is a narrative explanation of an adversarial threat model. While a "Path Name" identifies a specific attack vector, the Path Description provides the strategic "how and why" behind the risk, detailing the logic an attacker uses to bridge the gap between initial discovery and a final objective.
What is a Path Description?
A Path Description serves as the connective tissue of a security finding. It transforms a static list of vulnerabilities into an actionable threat model. Explaining the overarching logic of a threat allows security teams to move beyond technical checkboxes and understand the actual harm an adversary intends to inflict on a specific asset.
In professional security circles, the Path Description is often referred to as a TTP (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures) Narrative. It outlines the adversary's playbook, providing the necessary context to navigate the high-stakes environment of modern digital risk.
Core Elements of an Effective Path Description
To be truly useful for risk management, a Path Description must incorporate several layers of strategic and technical detail:
1. The Adversarial Narrative
The primary goal of the description is to tell the "story" of the potential breach. It connects disparate findings—such as a developer's minor configuration error and a dark web mention—into a single roadmap. This narrative shows that seemingly unrelated technical omissions can actually facilitate high-level crimes such as credential theft or data exfiltration.
2. Contextual Certainty and Impact
The description must answer the "So What?" question. It defines the business impact of a technical state. For example, it might explain that a missing security header is not just a compliance failure but the primary driver behind a clickjacking attack that could lead to unauthorized session acquisition.
3. Exploitation Logic
A high-quality description details the iterative steps an attacker takes to exploit a vulnerability. This includes:
Identification of the opening: How the attacker finds the weakness from the outside.
The "Hook": How they use human psychology or technical misconfigurations to gain a foothold.
Amplification: How one weakness is used to bypass broader security controls.
4. Attribution and Veracity
Modern path intelligence uses the description to establish "Legal-Grade Attribution." This means the narrative is backed by multi-source data fusion—correlating technical risks with legal, financial, and operational context to provide irrefutable evidence of a material threat.
Why Path Descriptions are Vital for Security Strategy
Without a detailed Path Description, security data remains fragmented, leading to a "Crisis of Context" that paralyzes defenders.
Ending Alert Fatigue: By providing narrative and descriptions, analysts can distinguish between "noise" and high-fidelity threats. This reduces the "Hidden Tax" on security operations centers where analysts spend hours investigating low-impact alerts.
Prioritizing Choke Points: Descriptions help identify "Attack Path Choke Points"—critical vulnerabilities where multiple potential attack chains intersect. By understanding the narrative, teams can break the chain at its most vulnerable point for maximum security impact.
Board-Level Communication: A Path Description translates technical jargon into business-risk language. It allows a CISO to explain to the board why a specific external exposure justifies immediate resource allocation.
Common Questions About Path Descriptions
How is a Path Description different from a TTP?
While they are very similar, a Path Description is the specific narrative applied to an organization's actual attack surface. A TTP (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures) is a broader description of how a particular threat actor group generally operates.
Can a Path Description help with compliance?
Yes. It provides the "Reasoning" required by many GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance) frameworks. By documenting the "Security of Processing," a Path Description helps prove that an organization is proactively identifying and mitigating risks to data protection by design.
What is the "Pivot Point" in a Path Description?
A Pivot Point is a specific point in the narrative where the attacker moves from one area of the attack surface to another (e.g., from a social media finding to a cloud infrastructure finding). The Path Description explains the logic behind this transition.
In cybersecurity, a Path Description serves as the narrative-driven explanation of a threat model, detailing the "how and why" behind an identified risk. It transforms isolated technical findings into a cohesive story that outlines an adversary's likely movement from initial discovery to a final objective.
ThreatNG facilitates this process by providing a detailed, outside-in view of the attack surface, using its DarChain capability to chain disparate findings into a clear adversarial narrative.
External Discovery of Initial Findings
ThreatNG begins the path description process with purely external, unauthenticated discovery, identifying all possible entry points without requiring internal agents.
Shadow IT Identification: The platform uncovers unmanaged cloud instances or forgotten subdomains that often serve as the starting nodes for an attack path.
Asset Attribution: ThreatNG identifies all domains, IPs, and cloud buckets associated with an organization, establishing the foundation for potential adversarial narratives.
Supply Chain Mapping: It identifies dependencies on external vendors, revealing paths that could originate from a compromised third-party partner.
External Assessment and DarChain Narrative Mapping
The core of ThreatNG's Path Description capability is DarChain (Digital Attack Risk Contextual Hyper-Analysis Insights Narrative), which performs hyper-analysis to chain fragmented findings into a structured threat model.
Detailed Examples of DarChain Path Descriptions
The Phishing-to-Account Takeover Path: An assessment might identify a registered lookalike domain with an active mail record (MX). DarChain chains this with leaked executive profiles found on LinkedIn and a subdomain missing a Content Security Policy (CSP). The resulting path description explains how an attacker uses a believable persona to trick employees into providing credentials, which are then harvested through the vulnerable subdomain.
The Subdomain Takeover Path: ThreatNG identifies a "dangling DNS" record pointing to an inactive service. DarChain labels this as the "Script Injection from Hijacked Subdomain" path and describes how an attacker can claim that resource to host malicious scripts that bypass browser security controls to steal session cookies.
The Regulatory Disclosure Path: ThreatNG mines SEC 8-K filings and correlates them with technical exposures. If an organization discloses a risk but has an unpatched "Critical" vulnerability in that area, DarChain highlights this as a "Governance Gap Exploitation" path, showing how attackers use public disclosures to validate the value of their target.
Investigation Modules for Granular Analysis
ThreatNG includes specialized investigation modules that allow analysts to deep-dive into specific "Step Actions" and "Step Tools" within a path.
Detailed Examples of Investigation Modules
Sensitive Code Exposure: This module scans public repositories, such as GitHub, for leaked API keys and credentials. For example, finding a hardcoded Jenkins password provides a validated step for a "Secrets Leakage" path.
Dark Web Presence: This module monitors hacker forums for brand mentions and compromised credentials. An investigation might reveal attackers discussing a specific unpatched vulnerability, validating the "Post-Exploitation and Impact" path.
Social Media Discovery: These modules turn "conversational risk" from Reddit or LinkedIn into intelligence. If an employee asks for technical help online, an attacker can use that information to build a "technical blueprint" for a targeted social engineering path.
Intelligence Repositories and Historical Data
ThreatNG maintains extensive intelligence repositories, branded as DarCache, which provide the historical context needed for accurate path descriptions. This includes tracking over 70 ransomware gangs and their active tactics, integrating data from the KEV (Known Exploited Vulnerabilities) catalog and EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) to predict which paths are most likely to be weaponized.
Reporting and Continuous Monitoring
To maintain proactive defense, ThreatNG provides:
Continuous Monitoring: The platform continuously rescans for new assets and vulnerabilities, ensuring the map of potential attack paths remains up to date.
Actionable Reporting: ThreatNG provides technical workbooks that identify "Attack Path Choke Points"—vulnerabilities that, if fixed, will collapse multiple potential attack narratives simultaneously.
Cooperation with Complementary Solutions
ThreatNG provides the external intelligence that triggers and enriches the workflows of internal security tools to break the identified paths.
Security Orchestration and Automation (SOAR): High-priority alerts from a "Subdomain Takeover" path can trigger SOAR playbooks to automatically delete a dangling DNS record or block malicious IP addresses at the perimeter firewall.
Identity and Access Management (IAM): When ThreatNG uncovers a "Secrets Leakage" path involving leaked API keys in public code, it feeds this data to IAM platforms to trigger immediate key rotation or password resets.
Vulnerability Management and EDR: ThreatNG identifies the specific "Tech Stack" an attacker is likely to target. This allows internal scanners to prioritize those assets and enables Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) tools to increase monitoring sensitivity on servers along the potential path.
Common Questions About Path Descriptions
How does a Path Description differ from a vulnerability report?
A vulnerability report lists isolated technical flaws. A Path Description is the broader adversarial narrative that explains how an attacker would use those flaws, often in combination, to achieve a business-impacting goal.
Why is identifying "Choke Points" critical for remediation?
A "Choke Point" is a critical vulnerability where multiple different attack paths intersect. Remediating a choke point is the most efficient use of resources because it disrupts many potential attack chains simultaneously.
Can non-technical data initiate an attack path?
Yes. ThreatNG treats organizational instability, such as layoff chatter or lawsuits, as starting points for paths like "Social Engineering via Layoff-Driven Uncertainty," recognizing that these events provide the psychological "hook" for technical breaches.
