Your organization deployed multi-factor authentication. Password attacks dropped to zero. Credential stuffing became irrelevant. You won the authentication war.

Then the attackers adapted.

Cybercriminals realized they don’t need to break down your front door when they can steal your house key after you’ve already unlocked it and walked inside. This approach bypasses MFA entirely because the authentication already happened—legitimately.

You’ll see it in your logs as successful sign-ins from legitimate user accounts. No failed password attempts. No MFA bypass alerts. Just normal-looking authentication events that aren’t normal at all.

When Hackers Get Through: Your Municipal Risk Management Reality

Your job isn’t fighting hackers. It’s protecting your community’s ability to function when hackers win.

Recent incidents across Canada prove a harsh reality: sophisticated attackers eventually breach even well-defended organizations. The City of Hamilton faced an $18.5 million ransom demand. BC’s government networks suffered “sophisticated cybersecurity incidents” from state-sponsored actors. These weren’t IT failures—they were organizational crises that tested every aspect of municipal leadership.