Summary
Mission-focused strategies for securing networks against advanced threats Effective cyber hygiene remains essential for defending networks against advanced persistent threats (APTs), including those leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) for computer network exploitation (CNE). As APTs and cybercriminals increasingly use AI to accelerate and scale various CNE techniques, the frequency and scale of targeting poorly configured and unpatched networks have also increased and will continue to do so. This guide will assist organizations looking to act now and develop plans for long term actions to harden networks against this changing threat landscape. This guide is informed by NSA's operational experience in defense cyber operations, incident response, and Zero Trust implementation. Critically, these mitigations have been validated against various AI-generated exploitation plans and AI-identified vulnerabilities, proving their resilience in today’s AI-enabled threat landscape. This guide emphasizes immediate actions to reduce risk, such as network inventory, multifactor authentication (MFA), and patching, while building toward implementing Zero Trust practices, such as segmentation and continuous monitoring.