Mimikatz

 Mimikatz is a powerful post-exploitation tool primarily used for credential harvesting, password extraction, and privilege escalation on Windows systems. It was created by Benjamin Delpy and is widely used by security professionals, penetration testers, and attackers alike for both legitimate and malicious purposes.

  Common Use Cases:

-Credential Harvesting: Attackers or penetration testers use Mimikatz to extract clear-text passwords and hashed credentials from memory after compromising a system.

- Lateral Movement: Once credentials are obtained, attackers can use them to move across different machines and escalate privileges within a network.

- Privilege Escalation: Mimikatz can be used to escalate privileges by dumping hashes or Kerberos tickets that allow for the impersonation of higher-privileged accounts.

- Post-Exploitation Tool: Often used after an initial compromise to gather further information about the network and to maintain access.

 Detection and Mitigation:

-Endpoint Detection: Modern endpoint detection tools may flag Mimikatz usage due to its suspicious activities such as memory manipulation.

- Antivirus/EDR Solutions: Many antivirus and endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions have signatures for Mimikatz, although its ability to evade detection (e.g., by using reflection techniques) makes it harder to detect.

- Network Segmentation: Mitigating lateral movement by segmenting the network can help limit the impact of Mimikatz.

- Use of LAPS (Local Administrator Password Solution)**: Protects local admin passwords, reducing the effectiveness of credential harvesting tools like Mimikatz.

Mimikatz remains one of the most well-known tools in the world of cybersecurity for its ability to manipulate and harvest credentials in sophisticated ways.

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