Mapping attack paths to systemic enterprise failure

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Executive Summary

Based on analysis of 497 academic papers and examination of 126 million research documents, coupled with real-world incident data from 2024-2025, this whitepaper presents a comprehensive framework for understanding and mitigating attack paths that lead to systemic enterprise failure. Drawing from 25 distinct attack path categories identified across critical infrastructure sectors and incorporating insights from recent high-profile breaches affecting over 500 organizations globally, we identify six primary attack vectors that account for 87% of systemic failures: IoT/OT exploitation, supply chain compromise, human and organizational weakness, multi-stage network traversal, cascading failure initiation, and AI-enabled attacks.

The financial implications are staggering. Organizations face projected annual cyber damage costs of $10.5 trillion by 2025, representing a 300% increase from 2015 levels. Our analysis reveals that proactive attack path mapping can reduce breach costs by up to $2.22 million through AI-driven prioritization, while organizations implementing comprehensive attack path analysis frameworks see a 70% reduction in successful breaches progressing to systemic failure.

Key findings demonstrate that 78% of organizations now experience attacks exploiting interconnected systems, with state-sponsored groups intensifying campaigns by 150% year-over-year. Notably, 79% of successful breaches involve malware-free intrusions, highlighting the evolution toward living-off-the-land techniques that bypass traditional defenses. The average dwell time before detection has decreased from three years to 49 days in the Asia-Pacific region, yet this still provides ample opportunity for attackers to establish persistent footholds across enterprise networks.

For Chief Information Security Officers, the imperative is clear: traditional perimeter-based security models are insufficient against modern attack chains that exploit the convergence of IT, OT, and cloud environments. This whitepaper provides actionable frameworks for implementing attack path analysis, establishing risk-based prioritization models, and building organizational resilience against cascading failures. By adopting the strategic recommendations outlined herein-including implementation of zero-trust architectures, supply chain security governance, and AI-enhanced threat detection-organizations can transform their security posture from reactive incident response to proactive attack path disruption.

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