An east-west attack, also known as a lateral attack, refers to the techniques that threat actors use to progressively manoeuvre through and gain further access to valuable data and assets.
Following the initial compromise of a host, the first step in an east-west attack is to perform internal reconnaissance of the network. This gives the attacker an idea of their location within the network, and its overall structure. To solidify their presence and maintain persistence, the attacker will usually try to compromise additional hosts and escalate their privileges, with the aim of gaining control of their target.