When reports surfaced about a compromise in the identity infrastructure of a global SaaS platform, it didn’t take long to realize the stakes were higher than the average third-party incident. This wasn’t about a file leak or a vulnerability exploit—it was about the breach of authentication systems, credential stores, and trust boundaries.
Mastek didn’t wait for the official confirmation. We were ahead in this scenario as we were alerted by our current Threat Intelligence Provider, and also one of the initial ones to discover and identify the data breach based on dark web chatter and threat actor forums.
Our focus was simple: prepare, detect, contain, and help our clients recover—quickly and quietly.
Preparation: Laying the Groundwork Before the Fire Starts
Working with the Threat Intel Platform provider, our threat intel team flagged early indicators based on chatter in private forums and leaked credential datasets.
Thankfully, we had already prepared our ground.
- An inventory of third-party identity integrations across client environments
- FIDO2 –Phishing-resistant MFA as part of our default rollout to all end users
- We identified that we were not directly impacted by this breach.
Triaging & Analysis: Acting Before It Was Headline News
Based on preliminary data, we requested the full list of customer names impacted:
- Cross-referenced and Identified the list of our existing customers across the world impacted by the data breach.
- Created a Cyber Security and Threat Advisory report with mitigation options.
- Created communication channels to our account managers and sales teams about the potential data breach.
- Requested customers to create a service ticket in the SaaS portal to check on the authentic information.
- Went on one-on-one calls with the customer’s CISO, SOC heads and Security Teams to make them aware of the problem and potential data breaches.
Proposed Containment & Mitigation Measures - Helping Clients Stay Ahead of Adversaries
Immediate Security Measures
- Reset Passwords: Immediately reset passwords for all compromised LDAP user accounts, focusing particularly on privileged accounts (e.g., Tenant Admins). Enforce strong password policies and MFA.
- Update SASL Hashes: Regenerate SASL/MD5 hashes or migrate to a more secure authentication method.
Tenant Level Credential Rotation
- Contact the support teams immediately to rotate tenant-specific identifiers and discuss necessary remediation steps
- Regenerate Certificates and Secrets
- Regenerate and replace any SSO/SAML secrets or certificates associated with the compromised LDAP configuration
Historical Data Audit & Monitoring
- Review historical and real- time LDAP logs for suspicious authentication attempts.
- Investigate recent account activities to detect potential unauthorized access in the last 90 days
- Implement continuous monitoring to track unauthorized access and anomalous behaviour
Enhanced Security Protocols
- Immediate Credential Rotation: Rotate all SSO, LDAP, and associated credentials, ensuring strong password policies and enforcing Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).
- Incident Response & Forensics: Conduct a comprehensive investigation to identify potential unauthorized access and mitigate further risks.
- Threat Intelligence Monitoring: Continuously monitor the dark web and threat actor forums for discussions related to the leaked data.
- Engage with Vendor’s Security team: Report a security incident to the vendor for verification of a potential supply chain attack and seek patches or mitigations.
- Strengthen Access Control policies: Implement strict access policies, adopt the principle of least privilege, and enhance logging mechanisms to detect anomalies and prevent future breaches.
What We Learned — And What One Must Reflect On
This wasn’t just a crisis. But it was a critical test of response maturity. And it reinforced a few key principles:
- Trust is not a static state—especially in SaaS environments. If a vendor federates identity, their compromise is our exposure.
- IR processes aren’t just compliance checklists—they give us a clear, repeatable cadence when it matters the most. Check and validate them.
- Pre-incident relationships (with vendors, clients, and internal teams) make the difference between delay and decisiveness.
- Exposure validation (e.g., simulating how leaked credentials could be abused) is worth more than a thousand alerts.
Final Word: Responding Before It’s Official
By the time most headlines confirm a breach, the clock would have already run out on the silent exploitation.
In this case - our customers didn’t have to wait for a breach notice. Our customers had a partner with a plan, a process, and the readiness to move—because in cloud-era breaches, velocity isn't just a virtue; it's a survival trait. You would need one too.
Our team is always available for those conversations, including emergencies!
