Definition
Post-exploitation refers to the phase of a cyberattack that occurs after an attacker has successfully gained initial access to a target system. This phase involves actions taken to maintain access, escalate privileges, move laterally within the network, and achieve the attacker's ultimate objectives. In practice, attackers might install backdoors, create new user accounts, or deploy malware to persist on the compromised network. Understanding post-exploitation is critical for cybersecurity professionals to develop effective defense strategies and incident response plans. For instance, an attacker might use stolen credentials from one compromised machine to access sensitive data on another server. This differs from exploitation, which is the act of gaining initial access, as post-exploitation focuses on what happens *after* that breach. Knowledge of post-exploitation techniques is relevant for certifications like CompTIA Security+ and CySA+.