1. Outdated Software and Unpatched Systems
Risk: Running old operating systems or outdated packages means exposing your infrastructure to known vulnerabilities. How to Find It: Use scanners like Nessus or OpenVAS to identify unpatched software. Fix Tip: Automate patching schedules or move to managed hosting environments.
2. Misconfigured Firewalls and Open Ports
Risk: Open ports and permissive firewall rules expose services that shouldn’t be accessible from the outside—like internal dashboards or databases. How to Find It: Run a simple Nmap scan against your infrastructure. Review AWS Security Groups, Azure NSGs, or custom iptables rules. Fix Tip: Use least privilege principles. Only expose the ports and protocols absolutely necessary for your application. Close, log, or monitor everything else.
3. Excessive Admin Privileges
Risk: Admin accounts with full system access create a massive attack surface. One compromised credential can mean total control. How to Find It: Audit your user and role permissions in cloud consoles, Linux servers, or SaaS platforms. Fix Tip: Implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC). Use multi-factor authentication, and set expiration or rotation policies.
4. Unencrypted Data at Rest or in Transit
Risk: Data that's not encrypted is low-hanging fruit for attackers. This includes traffic between services and stored assets like logs, backups, or databases.
How to Find It: Check that TLS/SSL is enforced. Audit your storage systems —S3, disks, backups—for encryption settings. Fix Tip: Enforce HTTPS everywhere. Use at-rest encryption (AES-256 is standard) for all data layers, including logs and object storage.
5. Lack of Monitoring and Logging
Risk: If no one’s watching, breaches or anomalies can go unnoticed for weeks or months—especially if you don’t know what "normal" looks like. How to Find It: Review your logging tools and retention policies. Are you monitoring key services? Do you receive real-time alerts? Fix Tip: Implement centralized logging (e.g., ELK, Grafana Loki) and pair it with alerting tools like Prometheus or Datadog.
6. Insecure API Endpoints or Cron Jobs
Risk: APIs and scheduled scripts are attack vectors if left unauthenticated or poorly validated. A vulnerable endpoint or misconfigured cron job can expose internal data or escalate privileges. How to Find It: Review all public endpoints and background jobs. Are they authenticated? Is input sanitized? Fix Tip: Secure all APIs with OAuth, JWT, or API keys. Validate and sanitize all inputs. For cron jobs, use restrictive environments and logging.
7. Forgotten or Abandoned Infrastructure
Risk: Old subdomains, staging servers, and outdated containers often go unnoticed—and unmonitored. Attackers actively look for these weak spots. How to Find It: Use asset discovery tools like Shodan, Censys, or DNS sweeps. Regularly review your cloud provider’s resource inventory. Fix Tip: Regular environment cleanups, auto-deletion policies for old assets, and routine inventory audits.
Final Thoughts
Even robust architectures can hide critical issues. Regular audits help you stay secure, compliant, and high-performing. At DevHired, we specialize in discovering these hidden threats—and helping you resolve them quickly and professionally. For example, in our recent penetration testing engagement, we helped identify high-impact issues across their public-facing systems using OWASP guidelines and ethical hacking standards. We also offer full security policy documentation aligned with frameworks like NIST and ISO, helping clients improve audit-readiness and enterprise compliance.
Ready to uncover what’s hiding in your stack?
