MITRE ATT&CK Technique
Lateral Movement T1021.007
Description

Adversaries may log into accessible cloud services within a compromised environment using [Valid Accounts](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1078) that are synchronized with or federated to on-premises user identities. The adversary may then perform management actions or access cloud-hosted resources as the logged-on user. Many enterprises federate centrally managed user identities to cloud services, allowing users to login with their domain credentials in order to access the cloud control plane. Similarly, adversaries may connect to available cloud services through the web console or through the cloud command line interface (CLI) (e.g., [Cloud API](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1059/009)), using commands such as <code>Connect-AZAccount</code> for Azure PowerShell, <code>Connect-MgGraph</code> for Microsoft Graph PowerShell, and <code>gcloud auth login</code> for the Google Cloud CLI. In some cases, adversaries may be able to authenticate to these services via [Application Access Token](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1550/001) instead of a username and password.

Supported Platforms
IaaS Identity Provider Office Suite SaaS
Created

April 29, 2026

Last Updated

April 29, 2026

STIX Data
{'created': '2023-02-21T19:38:13.371Z',
 'created_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
 'description': 'Adversaries may log into accessible cloud services within a '
                'compromised environment using [Valid '
                'Accounts](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1078) that are '
                'synchronized with or federated to on-premises user '
                'identities. The adversary may then perform management actions '
                'or access cloud-hosted resources as the logged-on user. \n'
                '\n'
                'Many enterprises federate centrally managed user identities '
                'to cloud services, allowing users to login with their domain '
                'credentials in order to access the cloud control plane. '
                'Similarly, adversaries may connect to available cloud '
                'services through the web console or through the cloud command '
                'line interface (CLI) (e.g., [Cloud '
                'API](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1059/009)), using '
                'commands such as <code>Connect-AZAccount</code> for Azure '
                'PowerShell, <code>Connect-MgGraph</code> for Microsoft Graph '
                'PowerShell, and <code>gcloud auth login</code> for the Google '
                'Cloud CLI.\n'
                '\n'
                'In some cases, adversaries may be able to authenticate to '
                'these services via [Application Access '
                'Token](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1550/001) instead '
                'of a username and password. ',
 'external_references': [{'external_id': 'T1021.007',
                          'source_name': 'mitre-attack',
                          'url': 'https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1021/007'}],
 'id': 'attack-pattern--8861073d-d1b8-4941-82ce-dce621d398f0',
 'kill_chain_phases': [{'kill_chain_name': 'mitre-attack',
                        'phase_name': 'lateral-movement'}],
 'modified': '2025-04-15T22:03:56.494Z',
 'name': 'Cloud Services',
 'object_marking_refs': ['marking-definition--fa42a846-8d90-4e51-bc29-71d5b4802168'],
 'revoked': False,
 'spec_version': '2.1',
 'type': 'attack-pattern',
 'x_mitre_attack_spec_version': '3.2.0',
 'x_mitre_deprecated': False,
 'x_mitre_detection': '',
 'x_mitre_domains': ['enterprise-attack'],
 'x_mitre_is_subtechnique': True,
 'x_mitre_modified_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
 'x_mitre_platforms': ['IaaS', 'Identity Provider', 'Office Suite', 'SaaS'],
 'x_mitre_version': '1.1'}
Quick Actions
Related Threat Actors (2)
Scattered Spider
High

Storm-0501
High