least privilege
2 articles with this tag
Benesse Data Leak (2014) — Why an Insider Couldn't Be Stopped, and the Least-Privilege Defense
A dispatched systems engineer at an outsourced group company used legitimately granted database access to copy customer data in bulk, transfer it to a personal smartphone, and sell it to data brokers. The monitoring software blocked writes to USB storage but did not block transfer to a smartphone (MTP). Up to ~35 million records leaked. Defend by minimizing privilege (least privilege / need-to-know), closing every exfiltration path with DLP, detecting bulk access, and extending oversight all the way to contractors and sub-contractors.
Don't give root keys to environments that can be compromised: SSH key least privilege
Registering a root key into production from an ephemeral, compromisable environment (GPU pod, CI runner, throwaway VM) means that the moment the environment is compromised, production is taken with root. Fix: no root keys on ephemeral environments; remove keys when unused; if needed again, use a non-root user plus a command-restricted key that limits the key to one operation. A reused key is your most critical asset — never build a 'one leak, everything' setup.