Many organizations believe an initial hack and a breach follow one another closely.

In practice, the first intrusion happens long before anyone notices it. 

According to IBM’s last Cost of a Data Breach Report, 71% of breaches aren't discovered for months, and the average dwell time is 241 days. 

This "silent window" is where the real damage occurs. During this period, attackers collect and authenticate with valid credentials and behave like legitimate users. They map identity structures, observe admin patterns ("recon"), and time their actions for maximum operational impact. 

“The critical question isn’t whether someone logged in -- it’s whether the person behind those commands is genuinely present. Once credentials are compromised, every system they can unlock is vulnerable to misuse.”
- Dr. Ymir Vigfusson, Co-founder and CTO

Attackers sell secrets and access in underground bazaars to cybercriminals and even nation state actors. That is why incidents at manufacturing, logistics, and energy companies escalate into prolonged shutdowns: the attacker has already studied how to cause meaningful disruption to determine how much they can charge. 

Accepting this reality changes how we think about core systems.

Just like we put important documents in a safe, which presumes thieves may enter the building, organizations must secure domain controllers, databases, jump boxes, and OT workstations by assuming adversaries may already have authenticated access.

Keystrike's Core Protector provides continuous verification of physical human presence on critical systems. It does not rely on credentials, devices, or behavioral models. It verifies the one signal attackers cannot fake: physical input at the keyboard.

If attackers can already issue commands, the remaining question -- the one that determines whether the next action leads to recovery or shutdown -- is simple:

"Is a real person physically typing these commands?"

Keystrike answers that question.

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References:

• IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report, 2025

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