Australian Cyber Security Centre. Observe any attempts at network connectivity, note these as Indicators of Compromise (IoCs). Penetration testing is a method for gaining assurance of the security of a system. Implementing automatic alerting within your monitoring practices is also necessary in order for anomalies in activity patterns to be flagged and reviewed, as well as potential vulnerabilities and events that need risk mitigation action to be taken. Determining the root cause of the incident is key. As Figure 2 demonstrates, after increasing rapidly from 2019 to 2020, known ransom payments appear to have stabilized around $200,000 in 2021, which is down slightly from levels seen in 2020. Ensure you are not changing any credentials that are required to restore your backup or may lock you out of systems needed during the recovery process. Disconnect the infected systems and devices from any network connection to reduce the risk of the infection spreading to other connected devices. October 2020. To serve as a ransomware incident response guide. The following diagram (Figure 6) once again highlights the three stages of a ransomware incident: the threat actor gains access to your network, takes control of your systems and connected devices, and then deploys the malware payload and infect your systems and connected devices with ransomware. Backups are readily available should you need to initiate your recovery process. They should be a stamp in time and assist you in understanding what led to an event or an incident. Phishers attempt to trick users into disclosing personal data, such as credit card numbers, online banking credentials, and other sensitive information, which they may then use to commit fraudulent acts). National Cyber Threat Assessment 2020. For more information on security controls, see Baseline security controls for small and medium organizations Footnote 11 ITSAP.10.035 Top measures to enhance cyber security for small and medium organizations Footnote 12. Was this webpagehelpful? You should have two or more backups stored offline and inaccessible by your networks and internet connection. DNS is used for both human-initiated actions (e.g. Use antivirus software at all times and make sure it's set up to automatically scan your emails and removable media (e.g., flash drives) for ransomware and other malware. Without identifying how they gained access and applying appropriate security measures to prevent it from happening again, threat actors may continue to exploit the vulnerability. Payment is often requested in the form of digital currency, such as bitcoin, because the transfer would be more difficult to trace. An official website of the United States government. Preserve the system(s) for further forensic investigation including log review, MFT analysis, deep malware scans, etc. Business Email Compromise Response Playbook, Compromised Credentials Response Playbook. ITSAP.00.200 How to protect Your organization from malicious macros. Hashing is used to verify the applications integrity, meaning the application is what it says it is. Your strategy should include several layers of defence with several mitigation measures or security controls at each layer. Application allow lists help to prevent malicious applications from being downloaded and infecting your server. Once all relevant data, equipment, and/or systems have been preserved replace or rebuild systems accordingly. January 2021. The user executes the file, not knowing that the file is ransomware. visiting a website) and machine-initiated actions (e.g. Provide clear direction to CIRT members on their roles and responsibilities in managing the incident. VirusTotal, Hybrid-Analysis, CISCO Talos, etc.). Using strong passwords is one step in protecting your systems and sensitive information, but it is not enough to prevent a threat actor from gaining access. Backups are available through your CSPs server and can be accessed from anywhere. The U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA . Create temporary administrator accounts to begin your recovery and monitor whether your original accounts are being leveraged by the threat actor. Canadian Centre for Cyber Security. For more information on macros, refer to ITSAP.00.200 How to protect your organization from malicious macros Footnote 15. With network segmentation, traffic is directed and flows through the different sections of the network. Securing PowerShell in the enterprise. Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA). October 2020. The document is divided into two sections: If you have been the victim of ransomware and need advice and guidance on how to recover, see section 2 How to Recover from Ransomware. Report the ransomware incident to law enforcement (e.g. You may have to alert third parties, such as clients and managed service providers. Even by ransomware standards, Conti is regarded as one of the most ruthless and damaging gangs in operation. An official website of the United States government, Effort Part of President Bidens Executive Order to Improve the Nations Cybersecurity, CISA Strongly Encourages Private Sector Partners to Review Playbooks to Improve Their Own Vulnerability and Incident Response Practices. By venkat. Ransomware incidents can devastate your organization by disrupting your businesses processes and critical functions reliant on network and system connectivity. Preserve any volatile data that may have been collected during the identification and containment phases. To reduce risk, CISA, FBI, and NSA and recommending the following mitigations: Filed Under: Advisory, Breach, Events, General, Products & Services, Vulnerabilities & Exploits, 3540 Toringdon WaySuite 200Charlotte, NC 28277-4650, Spear phishing containing malicious links or attachments. This document is an UNCLASSIFIED publication that has been issued under the authority of the Head of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre). Stolen or weak remote desktop protocol (RDP) credentials. ITSP.40.065 Implementation Guidance: Email Domain Protection. Feel free to connect with us about topics and questions you would like to see covered. You should also consider data residency, which refers to the geographical location where your data is stored. When ransomware infects a device, it either locks the screen or encrypts the files, preventing access to the information and systems on your devices. Ransomware is one of the most common types of malware and can be one of the most damaging cyber attacks to your organization. Demisto is now Cortex XSOAR. A differential backup only creates a copy of data that has changed since your last full backup. - Former director of #CISA Chris Krebs on disrupting #ransomware at the Rubrik #DataSecuritySummit! Read more here #CyberSecurity #Rubrik Supply chain attacks allow threat actors to infiltrate a service supply organization and force an update to connected customers, infecting their systems and devices with ransomware. These action items are described within each stage as follows: Your recovery plan should complement your incident response and backup plans. To decrease the risk of ransomware being spread through Office attachments, you should set your user defaults to disable macros and ensure users are not able to re-enable disabled macros. Once your recovery efforts are in place, please refer to section 1 How to Defend Against Ransomware advice on how to improve your cyber security environment. Observe any files created or modified by the malware, note these as IoCs. It shows how Windows Defender ATP can help catch a specific Cerber variant and, at the same time, catch ransomware behavior generically. ITSAP.40.002 Tips for backing up your information. According to CISA, the playbooks apply to information . Ensure your organization has multiple backups stored offline and conducts the backup process frequently, to guarantee data is as close to real time as possible. The Learning Hub offers a comprehensive event management course that can be tailored to our organizations business and IT needs. Reinstall the operating system to rid your devices of the infection. Alternate format: Ransomware playbook (ITSM.00.099) (PDF,2.21MB). App consent grant. You should implement a schedule to test your backups on a regular basis (e.g. November 2020. Building on lessons learned from previous incidents and incorporating industry best practices, CISA intends for thesetwoplaybooksto strengthen cybersecurity response practices and operational procedures not only for the federal government, but alsoforpublic and private sector entities. These are the systems you need to restore immediately to have business continuity in the event of an unplanned outage or incident. Once you have completed the steps identified in Table 2, and you are positive that both your backups and your devices are clear of any malware or viruses, you should begin your recovery process, as outlined in subsections 3.1.2.1 to 3.1.2.4. Oversee the creation and assignment of user and administrator accounts with secure access in mind. Ransomware has become more sophisticated and often employs a combination of attack vectors, such as sending a phishing email to your organization along with brute force attacks, where the threat actor uses extensive login attempts or password guessing to access your systems and networks. To recover successfully and avoid reinfection, you will need to identify how the threat actor was able to enter your network, systems, and devices and address the vulnerability immediately. If you do engage professional cyber security assistance, ensure you clearly identify the service expectations, roles, and responsibilities. If so, disable this account (or accounts if multiple are in use) until the investigation is complete. Scan your hardware, software, and operating system for vulnerabilities and apply patches and updates to mitigate the risk of the vulnerabilities being exploited by a threat actor. The following is a list of cyber security controls that can be implemented at the forefront of your cyber security environment. Susceptible to data loss in the event of a natural disaster or power surge. Each package is customizable and includes template exercise objectives, scenarios, and discussion questions as well as a collection of references and resources. Written by nGuard /September 29, 2021 Conti Ransomware CISA Alert & Attack Playbook Share On September 22nd, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released an alertregarding a spike in the use of Conti ransomware. Protecting your network, connected systems and devices against cyber threats can seem like a daunting task. Triage the systems impacted by the ransomware for restoration and recovery. For example, threat actors may use wiper malware, which alters or permanently deletes your files once you pay the ransom. Other malware distribution networks (ZLoader). For example, logging that should be turned on and roles . Threat actors see this action as additional assurance to receive payment from your organization. Ultimately, the decision to pay the ransom is your organizations to make, but it is important for your organization to be fully aware of the risks associated with paying the ransom. This important step, set in motion by President Bidens Cyber Executive Order, will enable more comprehensive analysis and mitigation of vulnerabilities and incidents across the civilian enterprise. By adhering to the guidance provided in this document, your organization will not only reduce the time it takes to recover from an attack, but it can also reduce the likelihood of an attack occurring or minimize the impact of an infection. Determine which devices and systems are infected with the ransomware. The range of average payment amounts shown in the graph goes from approximately $25,000 to just over $300,000. Backups are stored on a cloud platform, often maintained by a cloud service provider (CSP). You may also receive a message on your lock screen indicating your device is locked and inaccessible until the ransom is paid. contact@cyber.gc.ca Investigate, remediate (contain, eradicate), and communicate in parallel! If this is defended by basic security protocols like firewalls, anti-virus and anti-malware software, your overall protection is significantly enhanced. Available scenarios cover a broad array of physical security and cybersecurity topics, such as natural disasters, pandemics, civil disturbances, industrial control systems, election security, ransomware, vehicle ramming, insider threats, active assailants, and unmanned aerial systems. running an update). If your organization has been hit with ransomware, there are immediate steps you can take to minimize the impact of the infection. Backups are encrypted in the cloud for additional security, but data loss and cyber attacks (including ransomware) can still occur. Malicious actors then demand ransom in exchange for decryption. on Amazon.com. In the first stage of a ransomware incident, there are some preventative mitigation measures that can be put in place to protect your organization. Once the ransomware variant is identified, perform research to determine Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs) associated with this variant and/or threat-actor. Ensure you have multiple copies of your backup stored offline and if possible, in the cloud through a CSP. The physical security Situation Manuals (SitMans) cover topics such as active shooters, vehicle ramming, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), unmanned aircraft systems (UASs), and many more. The following section provides more detailed guidance on the various security controls your organization can implement. Keep all computers fully patched with security updates. Note where the malware was located on the infected system, note this as an IoC. When an application is launched, it is compared against the allow list. Conduct a tabletop exercise to ensure all required participants are aware of their role and required actions in the event of a ransomware attack. As with most cybercrimes, ransomware is financially motivated. How did the threat actor gain access to your network and deploy the ransomware? Backups should be secured prior to any incident. ITSAP.40.003 Developing your incident response plan. There are several approaches you can take to enhance the protection of your networks and devices. Ransomware is a type of malware that denies a user's access to a system or data until a sum of money is paid. They will deploy the malware payload and infect your systems and connected devices with ransomware. Harvest additional Indicators from the Report (s). Canadian Centre for Cyber Security. According to research by Gartner, ransomware is the highest priority (78 percent) and most important . Remove unnecessary applications and apply controls. Implement any temporary network rules, procedures and segmentation required to contain the malware. Canadian Centre for Cyber Security. Canadian Centre for Cyber Security. Include employees with various qualifications and have cross-functional support from other business lines. Prepare emergency documentation, such as a contact list for all employees, clients, service providers and suppliers, to ensure you can react quickly and efficiently in the event of a ransomware incident. Your monitoring system should generate logs that can be reviewed by IT specialists and management when necessary. What further steps or actions would have been helpful in preventing the incident? Your organization should implement an offline backup process. Figure 6 shows the same methodology a threat actor uses to conduct a ransomware attack but highlights where security controls can be implemented to mitigate and attempt to prevent the ransomware attack from occurring. monthly). Threat actors may also use this opportunity to install a backdoor to your devices. Consult the Cyber Centre Learning Hub for advice and guidance on cyber security event management training. To manage access to your systems and data, apply the principle of least privilege: only provide employees with access to the functions and privileges necessary to complete their tasks. When an incident occurs, and especially when it compromises your systems and data, it is imperative you inform key stakeholders, clients, and your staff members. Compromised and malicious applications. Ransom payments are likely reaching a market equilibrium, where threat actors are becoming better at tailoring their demands to what their victims are most likely to pay given the growth of recovery cost and the risk of reputational damage from public data leaks. StopRansomware.gov is the U.S. Government's official one-stop location for resources to tackle ransomware more effectively. CISA Shares Incident Detection, Response Playbook for Cyber Activity The joint DHS CISA alert highlights the best practice methods for incident detection and remediation of malicious cyber. cyber attack, significant power outage, or natural disaster) to help you identify key participants and stakeholders, address the significant risks, develop mitigation strategies, and identify the recovery time and effort. The information presented is intended to inform you and your organization of the risks, impacts, and preventative actions associated with ransomware incidents. Ransomware attacks are among the most significant cyber-threats facing organizations today. When segmenting your network, you divide your networks into smaller sections or zones. Revise your incident response plan based on these lessons learned to ensure your organization has the most robust response and recovery plans possible. Isolation will temporarily remove the threat actors access to you infrastructure, allowing you to gain control and further your incident investigation, response, and recovery. Maze intrusion operations will mostly have similar patterns of attack frameworks, tools and techniques across victims. It is not a comprehensive list of incident response requirements but does provide a structured approach and action items your organization can implement. To ensure your response is effective, your organization should run through specific scenarios (e.g. Automate and orchestrate your Security Operations with Cortex XSOAR's ever-growing Content Repository. - c. June 2020. The impact of ransomware can be devastating to organizations. Baseline security controls for small and medium organizations. For systems not restorable from backup, rebuild the machines from a known good image or from bare metal. The Maze ransomware, previously known in the community as "ChaCha ransomware", was discovered on May the 29th 2019 by Jerome Segura [1]. Decommission and delete user accounts when someone leaves the organization. Recommendation: The recommended approach to backing up your information is to have multiple backups in multiple locations. CISA offers a range of no-cost cyber hygiene services to help organizations assess, identify, and reduce their exposure to threats, including ransomware. This will often be Legal, Compliance, Public Relations, and Executive Leadership. In the second stage of a ransomware incident, under the takes control section of this diagram, there are some mitigation measures you can implement to enhance the protection of your systems and networks and prevent ransomware from spreading across your network and connected devices. Consider implementing technical security measures to protect your organizations domains from email spoofing, preventing the delivery of malicious messages sent on behalf of your domain, and identify the infrastructure used by threat actors. Pull Requests are always welcome and highly appreciated! This playbook refers to a real-world infection involving Cerber ransomware, one of the most active ransomware families. Each increment is saved as an incremental volume. When developing your recovery response, you should consider many variables and clearly identify and document what is to be recovered, by whom, when, and where. CTEP documentation allows users to leverage pre-built templates to develop a full understanding of roles and responsibilities for exercise planners, facilitators / evaluators, and participants. Note that your organization is always legally responsible for protecting its data. It is a serious and evolving threat to Canadians. CTEPs also provide scenario and module questions to discuss pre-incident information and intelligence sharing, incident response, and post-incident recovery. Document the known details to ensure your CIRT has an initial understanding of what has occurred. The provision mandates critical providers notify CISA within 72 hours of a major cyberattack or 24 hours of a . If rebuilding or replacing physical systems, preserve physical hard disks, solid state drives, or forensically sound images of those storage drives. Implement network segmentation and filter traffic. Hashing generates a value from a string of text and is unique to every application. The playbook stems from an executive order issued in May. Figure 1 depicts the methodology a threat actor generally takes to gain access to your network, systems, and connected devices. The steps in this playbook should be followed sequentially where appropriate. The following list of items provides details on several security controls you can implement to effectively enhance your cyber security posture. As described in subsection 2.1.3, having reliable backups that are secured and stored offline can significantly enhance your ability to recover from a ransomware attack. The core CSIRT may be activated often to investigate security events that may or may not result in an incident. Ensure pre-authorizations to contract assistance are established and communicated to key incident response contacts. Organizations should read and implement the recommended mitigations and continue to be vigilant against this ongoing ransomware threat. Exposed services, such as Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and content management systems, allow access to your devices. Every month one of our experts will provide advice and insights based on their extensive experience in the infosec industry. Your disaster recovery plan focuses on how the organization recovers and resumes critical business functions after an incident. There are various types of backups you can implement to protect your organizations information. Threat actors can also use your compromised network to spread the ransomware to other connected systems and devices. Your organization may have regulatory and policy requirements to ensure data is stored in Canada. This will enable you to determine the extent of the damage, such as what accounts were compromised and what data was exfiltrated, which will inform your approach to control the attack, prepare, and implement a proper response, and execute a successful recovery. Frequently targeting hospitals, emergency medical networks and other organisations, its average ransom payment is $849,581. Below, we provide a checklist (Table 2) for your organization to follow when taking immediate action, ideally within the first few hours, against a ransomware attack. For more information on the implementation and use of password managers, see ITSAP.30.025 Password Managers Security Footnote 18. What things did not go well during the investigation? Also will have similar operations as other Ransomware families like Ryuk, DoppelPaymer. Use security products or services that block access to known ransomware sites on the internet. Password spray. Incidents may start as events, or as a lower impact/severity and then increase as more information is gathered. Password vaults ensure a higher level of protection as the passwords are cycled and synched with your systems. This guide can serve as a step-by-step ransomware response playbook. Ransomware is considered a cybercrime and may be investigated by law enforcement. Add IoCs (such as hash value) to endpoint protection. Information is often stolen by cyber threat actors concurrently with the ransomware attack. Great article! Installing anti-phishing software is another option for enhancing your organizations cyber security. The playbook also shows that Conti operators aim to exploit vulnerabilities in unpatched . Report the ransomware attack to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and the Cyber Centre online via My Cyber Portal. Develop an incident response policy that establishes the authorities, roles, and responsibilities for your organization. You could then have a secondary backup in the Cloud with your CSP. It can have devastating impacts on your business, often halting your ability to produce products and services. Your policy may add an additional layer of protection and may also provide your organization with incident response expertise in the event of a ransomware attack. During your BIA, you should also assess the data you collect and the applications you use to determine their criticality and choose priorities for immediate recovery. Implement endpoint detection and response tools. Rather than paying a percentage of the earning from a successful attack, they pay a wage to the individuals who deploy the ransomware. The following diagram (Figure 1) provides a visual representation of how ransomware can infect your networks and devices, highlighting the three main access vectors commonly used in ransomware incidents: brute force (password guessing), exploiting vulnerabilities in your software, and executing phishing attacks. Determine the members of the Cybersecurity Incident Response Team (CSIRT). Common vulnerabilities in external assets. Ensure you test your backups and restore processes on a regularly scheduled basis and adjust any issues immediately to ensure your backup files are ready for your organization to recover quickly in the event of a ransomware incident. Safely wipe your infected devices to remove any malware, bugs, or viruses. Investigate malware to determine if its running under a user context. Consider creating separate accounts for non-administrative functions (e.g. Perimeter defences to protect the boundary between two network security zones through which your traffic is routed. Canadian Centre for Cyber Security. They may threaten to leak this data if you do not pay the ransom, or they may say they will decrypt your data and restore your access to it if you pay the ransom. Ransomware incidents have become more sophisticated, targeted, and complex. If data-exfiltration and extortion were determined to be part of this attack, work with legal counsel to determine next steps. Develop a communications plan to inform key stakeholders. A few IPs they are known to use for their C2 operations are: It is recommended you block these IPs in your firewall to prevent any type of inbound or outbound connection and then be alerted if there is any connection attempts. It can be used to fully control Microsoft Windows systems and has many benefits for organizations Footnote 14. The developers receive a portion of the ransom paid by the victim. Ensure you enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) at all access points into your network and consider using single sign-on (SSO) access where possible to enhance the security of your devices and connected networks. The theft of organizational information, including intellectual property and customer and client data, can have both short- and long-term financial consequences for victims, including impacts to global competitiveness, reputational damage, and identity theft. Your organizations logging and alerting system should not permit modifications to be made to your logs once they have been received from the system. If your organization is using Windows, you may want to consider constraining your scripting environments. Assemblyline. Your organization should adopt a defence in depth (multi-layer) strategy to protect its devices, systems, and networks from not only ransomware, but other types of malware and cyber attacks. Russia Linked to Nearly 75% of Late 2021 Ransomware Attacks, Per Analysis . Malicious code will execute commands using your account privileges. Playbook for a Ransomware Attack. The Vulnerability Response Playbook applies toanyvulnerability that is observed to be used by adversaries to gain unauthorized entry into computing resources. It is a powerful and important part of the system administration toolkit. Application allow lists help prevent malicious applications from being downloaded and infecting your server.
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cisa ransomware playbook