Protecting Against the Five Stages Of a Ransomware Attack

 It also found that it doesn't pay to-pay ransom demands. 80% of ransomware victims were hit again by ransomware, while 68% said that the ransomware attack occurred in less than one month. Threat actors demanded a larger ransom amount.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), published a joint report in February that noted, "The market for ransomware has become increasingly professional in 2021." It also stated that the evolution of ransomware strains last year "demonstrates...threat actors’ growing technological sophistication."

Targeting individuals with spam emails laced with malware that results in ransom demands of hundreds of dollars is long gone. These ransomware operations are RansomOps. Our report RansomOps : Inside Complex Ransomware Operations and the Ransomware Economy examines these "low" and "slow" attacks that try to stay under the radar while they penetrate as much of the target network before a ransom demand can be issued.

It is important to be aware of the nature and evolution of ransomware attacks so that organizations can avoid being victimized.

FIVE STAGES OF RANSOMWARE ATTACK

RansomOps attacks can occur in many stages. Gartner describes as: ingress and compromise, burrowing/tunneling and command and control. These five stages are what we'll be looking at and how to stop them.

• Initial Ingress The attack begins with ingress (i.e. the initial point of attack). This could be a compromised website, a compromised API endpoint or a rogue actor with stolen credentials. These vulnerabilities can be identified and insecure IT practices are highlighted by penetration testing. Penetration testing should also include penetration tests based upon OWASP guidelines.
• Compromise This is when the Dropper downloads onto a computer and starts the infection stage. Endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools are able to detect malicious activity and stop it from spreading. EDR can be defined as "an array modern, integrated endpoint security instruments that detect, contain and investigate invasive cybersecurity threats high within the cyber kill chain."
• Burrowing/Tunneling Once inside, attackers "burrow down", "tunnel-up" from on prem resources and then move laterally through the network in order to gain access to the environment before releasing the ransomware payload. This can be stopped by using endpoint control such as firewalls and network segmentation, and combined with strong vulnerability and patch management.

• Command & Control: The installation process uses command and control channels, (C2) to download additional malware tools and eventually the ransomware paymentload. An Extended Response and Detection (XDR) solution can detect and block this activity. This solution leverages AI to identify potentially malicious chains and behavior that could lead to a RansomOps attack. Some combinations of behavior can be extremely rare or offer an attacker a distinct advantage. Your team should also be able to distinguish between benign and malicious use of legitimate tools - for example, "living off land binaries" executions that use legitimate tools for malign purposes.

• Encryption The attacker will then detonate ransomware, encrypt assets on the network and hold them hostage until the victim pays. RansomOps smugglers also use double-extortion schemes to ensure payment. Some ransomware gangs use double extortion to get sensitive information from their targets before they launch the encryption program. In order to stop attackers publishing victims' data online, the threat actor demands that victims pay additional extortion. Cybereason CEO LiorDiv explained the different levels of extortion companies face if their data is compromised.

RANSOMWARE PREVENTION

WannaCry infected over 7000 computers within the hour and more than one hundred million IP addresses within the next two days. Although we know that the ransomware was stopped, the virus was amateur-in nature and could not have been prevented. You have two options when it comes to dealing with ransomware. Either you respond to it or you can prevent it from happening.

Many organizations use data backups to protect themselves against ransomware attacks. However, as we have discussed, this only covers a portion of the damage. Although it is a smart decision to back up data and systems, it doesn't solve the problem with double extortion.

A ransomware prevention plan that is effective includes actions such as:

• Security Hygiene Best Practices: These include timely patch management, assuring operating system software is regularly updated, creating a security awareness program, and deploying the best-in class security solutions to the network.
• Multi-Layer Prevention Capabilities Implemented: Enterprise endpoints should have NGAV as a standard to prevent ransomware attacks leveraging both custom and known TTPs.
• Deploying Endpoint & Extended Detection & Response (EDR / XDR: Point solutions to detect malicious activity such as a RansomOps attacks across the environment provide the visibility needed to stop ransomware attacks prior data exfiltration or deliver the ransomware payload.
• Key Players for Assuring Security: Responders Should be Available at All Hours of the Day. Critical mitigation efforts may be delayed due to weekend/holiday breaks. It is important to have clear instructions for on-call duties in case of security emergencies that occur outside normal business hours.
• Conducting Periodic Top Exercises: These cross-functional drills should involve key decision-makers from Legal, Human Resources, IT Support, as well as other departments, to ensure smooth incident response.
• Ensuring Clear and Consistent Isolation Practices: This will prevent further intrusions into the network, or the spread ransomware to other devices. Teams should have the ability to disconnect a host, lock down compromised accounts, block malicious domains, and so forth. These procedures should be tested with either scheduled or unscheduled drills at minimum once per quarter to ensure that all personnel and procedures work as expected.
• Evaluating Managed Security Services Provider Option: In the event that your security organization is experiencing staffing shortages or skill shortages, you can establish pre-agreed responses with your MSPs to ensure they can immediately take action after an agreed-upon plan.
• Protecting Critical Accounts during Weekend and Holiday Periods. An attacker will usually take the following route to spread ransomware across a network: escalate privileges to the administrator domain-level, and then deploy it. It is important that teams create highly secured, emergency-only accounts in their active directory. These accounts can only be used when operational accounts are temporarily disabled or rendered inaccessible by ransomware attacks. You should also take similar precautions regarding VPN access, limiting its availability during weekends and holidays depending on your business needs. Our 2021 study Organizations at risk: Ransomware attackers don't take holidays provides more information about weekend and holiday ransomware threats.

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