The 2017 NotPetya cyberattack remains one of the most devastating and costly breaches in history, inflicting over $1.4 billion in damages on pharmaceutical giant Merck. What made this attack especially alarming was its simplicity: a single overprivileged service account became the key that unlocked chaos across Merck’s global network.

In episode 74 of the Hybrid Identity Protection Podcast, host Sean Deuby sits down with Lance Peterman, CIDPRO, who was on the front lines during the breach. Lance shares a rare, firsthand account of how the attack unfolded, the critical identity vulnerabilities that were exploited, and the long road to recovery.