Rushing does not immediately manage – it slowly floods your protection in the stages. As a ship that is lined with water, the attack begins quietly, under the surface, with thin warning signs that are easy to miss. As long as the encryption begins, too late to stop the flood.
Each stage of ransom attack offers a small window to discover and stop the threat until it is too late. The problem is that most organizations do not observe the signs of the early warning – allowing the attackers to quietly disable backups, escalation of privileges and evading the detection until the encryption closes.
As long as a non -extortion note appears, your opportunities have gone.
Let’s unpack the steps of the ransomware attack as to remain stable among the constant compromise (IOC), and why the constant check of your protection is necessary to stay sustainable.
Three stages of ransom attack – and how to detect it
The ransomware attacks do not occur instantly. The attackers follow the structured approach, carefully planning and implementing their companies at three different stages:
1
Before starting encryption, attackers take measures to maximize damage and elimination. They are:
- Remove Shadow Copies and Backup to prevent recovery.
- Enter malicious software into reliable processes to set persistence.
- Create Mutexes to provide a continuous program.
These early -stage activities are known as Compromise indicators (poppy) – are critical warning signs. When detecting a security group, the attack may be broken before the encryption.
2. Encrypt: Closure of you
After the attackers have control, they initiate the encryption process. Some ransomware options work quickly, blocking the systems within minutes, while others use a more hidden approach – they go unnoticed until the encryption is complete.
As long as encryption is detected, often too late. Security tools must be able to detect and respond to redemption activities before files are blocked.
3.
With encrypted files, attackers deliver their ultimatum – often through the redemption left on the work starts or built into encrypted folders. They require payment, usually in cryptocurrency, and monitor the victims of the teams and control (C2).
At this stage, the organization faces a difficult solution: pay ransom or try recovery, often for a great price.
If you do not actively monitor the IOC at all three stages, you leave your organization vulnerable. When renamed the ransom attack, continuous ransom check helps security commands confirm that their detection and response systems effectively detect indicators before encryption can capture.
COMPRONMISTS (IOC): What to pay attention to
If you find out the removal of a copy of the shadows, injection of processes or cessation of security, you may already be at the previous area – but detecting these poppies is a critical step to prevent the attack deployment.
Here are the key poppies that need to follow:
1. Removal Shadow Copy: Exception Recovery options
The attackers erase the Shadow Copies copies to prevent file recovery. These pictures store the previous versions of the files and allow recovery through tools such as system recovery and previous versions.
💡 How does it work: Ransomware performs commands like:
PowerShell
VSSadmin.exe Delete Shadows
By wiping these backups, the attackers provide complete locking data, increasing the pressure on the victims to pay ransom.
2. Create Mutex: Prevention of multiple infections
A Mutex (an object of mutual shutdown) This is a synchronization mechanism that allows only one process or thread to access a common resource at the same time. In ransoms they can be used:
✔ Prevent multiple instances of malware.
✔ Elimination from detection by reducing excess infections and decreasing resources.
💡 Defensive trick: Some safety tools prevent mutexes related to the famous deformations of the ransomware, deceiving malicious software, thinking that it is already active – causing it yourself. Your extortion verification tool can be used to evaluate whether this response is launched by incorporating Mutex into the revenue attack chain.
3. The Injection process: hiding inside trusted applications
Redemption often enter the malicious code into legitimate system processes To avoid detecting and bypassing security control.
🚩 General Decree Methods:
- Injection Dll – loads the malicious code to the launch process.
- Reflective download Dll – Introduces the DLL without writing on the disk, bypassing antivirus scan.
- APC injection – uses Asynchronous procedures cause calls To perform harmful useful loads within the trusted process.
Working inside the trusted app, the redemption can work unnoticed by encryption of the files without causing the alarm.
4. Serving Service: Disable Security Defense
To ensure continuous encryption and prevent data recovery attempts during the attack, ransom tries Constate security services For example:
✔ Antivirus and EDR (detection of final points and reaction)
✔ Backup agents
✔ Database systems
💡 How does it work: Attackers use administrative commands or API to disable services such as Windows Defender and Backup Solutions. For example:
PowerShell
Taskkill /f /im msmpeng.exe # stops Windows Defender
This allows the required program to encrypt the files freely, enhancing the damage, complicating the recovery of its data. Leaving the victims with fewer options other than payment of redemption.
Poppy, such as the Shadow Copy removal or the process of process, can be invisible to traditional security tools – but SoC, equipped with a reliable detection, may notice these red flags before encryption.
As a continuous verification check keeps you a step forward
How do you know that the character of the mock is thin and intentionally hard to discover where you know that your XDR is effectively stuffing them in the bud? You hope so but security leaders use Checking continuous ransom program To get much more confidence than that. By safely imitating the full chain of destruction of redemptions – from the initial access and escalation of privileges to encryption attempts – such tools as Front Confirm whether you can manage safety, including EDR and XDR solutions, call the necessary alerts and answers. If key poppies such as Shadow Copy removal and the process are unnoticed, then it is a decisive flag to push security teams to detect the detection and work processes.
Instead of hoping, your protection will work as it should, a constant check -in check allows you to find out if these attacks were used and stopped attacks before they events.
Why is the annual testing insufficient
Here’s the reality: Protection testing once a year leaves you for the remaining 364 days. The ransom program is constantly developing, and the same indicators of the compromise (IOC) used in the attack. Can you say with confidence that your EDR reveals every ioc that it should? The last thing you need to emphasize is how threats constantly grow into what your safety instruments do not recognize and are not ready to handle.
This is why the continuous check -in check is necessary. With the automated process, you can constantly check the defense to make sure they resist the latest threats.
Some believe that continuous check -up check is too expensive or time -consuming. But automated safety testing can easily integrate into your safety work process – without adding unnecessary overhead. Not only does it reduce the load on the IT COMMAND, but also guarantees that your protection will always be aligned with the latest attack methods.
Strong ransom protection
A well-equipped system of detection and response-wash the first line of defense. But without a regular check, even the best XDR can fight to detect and respond to ransom in time. Constant security check strengthens the detection capabilities, helps increase the SoC team and ensure that security control is effectively responding and blocking threats. The result? A more confident, a sustainable security team that is ready to process ransom before it becomes a crisis.
🚨 Don’t wait for the attack to check your defense. To find out more about check -in check, visit the Pentera ‘webinarLessons of the past, actions for the future: Construction resistance to redemption‘. 🚨
