
#Disable windows defender powershell keygen

7z archive, named after the organization that was being targeted, that contained an executable also named after the targeted organization. deployed the final ransomware payload using the same paradigm: Dropping a.employed identical pre-deployment batch scripts to lay the groundwork for the ransomware deployment.installed persistence mechanisms for their tooling with the same names, and in the same ways.the attackers created their own administrator-level accounts on hijacked Domain Controller servers using the same usernames and complex passwords too specific to have been random chance.In the run-up to each ransomware attack, logs and records collected by Sophos MDR show very specific patterns of behavior: Many also target an organization’s Domain Controller servers as a way to take control of other machines on the network.īut these are broad strokes the behavioral details in this threat activity cluster are far more narrowly focused. For example, many of them deploy Cobalt Strike beacons as a form of remote access to the target’s network, or may perform brute-force attacks against Remote Desktop as a way to laterally move within a target’s network. Ransomware-deploying threat actors do have a tendency to reuse a lot of the same tools, techniques, and procedures Some ransomware groups have even created playbooks for their affiliates to follow. This threat activity cluster has already borne fruit, linking these attacks to a Cactus ransomware attack reported by Kroll.

The threat activity cluster indicates that this secretive group may actually be working with outside affiliates, and may be recruiting elsewhere.

In the parlance of the Managed Detection and Response (MDR) team, the peculiarly similar details constitute a threat activity cluster that Sophos can track. A collection of very specific behaviors, observed by Sophos X-Ops incident response analysts in the lead-up to four separate ransomware attacks in the first quarter of 2023, indicates an unexpected connection between the attacks.
