Cybersecurity Beyond the Perimeter: Digital Identity is the New Corporate Shield

The latest attack on the Brazilian financial system has become an emblematic case of how the traditional concept of the corporate perimeter has become obsolete. With criminals exploiting legitimate identities to infiltrate systems, it is clear that protecting access and credentials has become the main challenge for organizations. Instead of exclusively targeting technical infrastructure, cybercriminals now focus on the human factor, using valid credentials to access sensitive information without raising suspicion.

In the last major recorded attack in the country, intruders used stolen legitimate accounts to silently distribute malware, exposing serious vulnerabilities in the identity management of the involved companies. Attacks based on stolen credentials already account for over 70% of global cyber incidents, with annual losses reaching up to $13 million per company. In Latin America, this reality is even more critical, with 82% of breaches stemming precisely from the misuse of credentials or human errors.

Digital identity: the new security perimeter

The acceleration of digital transformation has brought not only agility and innovation to businesses but also complex challenges for corporate security. With the traditional infrastructure-based protection model becoming obsolete, the physical perimeter of organizations, once easily demarcated by internal networks and firewalls, has lost its relevance.

Currently, the concept of the perimeter is fluid, shaped by the dynamic behavior of users and the decentralized manner in which systems are accessed. In this context, digital identity is now the new critical frontier, imposing a profound strategic shift: companies must ensure that every credential, every user, and every device is continuously verified and validated before accessing sensitive information or executing critical transactions.

This new security dynamic aligns with the philosophy of the Zero Trust model, whose basic premise is to never implicitly trust, regardless of the access point. The perimeter is now formed by the very identity of authorized users and devices, redefining what is understood as effective security.

Unlike the previous approach, where it was sufficient to keep the criminal out of the network, today it is essential to continuously ensure that an authorized user is not, in fact, a disguised intruder. The core concept is permanent and adaptive authentication, where each access request undergoes multiple layers of contextual verification, including analysis of location, device, behavior, and time, in addition to identity itself.

Identity management: the critical point for cybersecurity

Inadequate management of digital identities opens the door to critical threats such as lateral movement, when intruders use a single compromised credential to access various internal systems, exploiting excessive permissions.

Furthermore, simple failures, such as relying solely on weak passwords, allow unauthorized access, enabling attackers to disguise themselves as legitimate users to obtain sensitive data without being detected. Internal fraud, carried out by malicious users or intruders who take over privileged accounts, also becomes frequent without strict controls and continuous monitoring.

Another growing threat is spear phishing, a targeted attack that uses detailed information about executives or administrators to create highly convincing communications, inducing victims to hand over their credentials or privileged access.

Finally, replacing static passwords with more robust methods, such as FIDO-standard-based passkeys or digital certificate authentication, significantly reduces the risk associated with vulnerable or reused credentials. In practice, companies that adopted these mechanisms faced fewer fraud attempts, proving that a solid and continuous identity protection strategy is essential to shield organizations against the current digital threat landscape.

Given this scenario, companies need to adopt some protective measures, such as: strong identity governance, with clear policies for IAM (Identity and Access Management) management, and segmentation of networks and applications, with reinforced controls for critical access, such as multi-factor authentication, helps limit damage in the event of an intrusion, blocking lateral movement and protecting more sensitive areas.

Furthermore, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for continuous monitoring and real-time behavioral analysis can bring an extra layer of monitoring to the perimeter. Finally, it is essential to consolidate a corporate security culture through regular training and practical simulations, ensuring that everyone – from the operational level to top management – is prepared and aware of their role in preventing attacks based on the theft or manipulation of digital identities.

At a time when the threat is dynamic and the security perimeter is fragmented into thousands of digital identities, corporate defense must constantly evolve. Protecting identity does not only mean adopting advanced technologies but implementing a comprehensive strategy that involves rigorous governance, continuous awareness, and intelligent use of resources such as AI and adaptive authentication.