Threat actors are continuously enhancing their techniques and increasing sophistication to evade cyber defenses. Consequently, multi-stage ransomware and malware attacks, characterized by heavy obfuscation are becoming increasingly prevalent. The Europol Threat Assessment released in July underscores the growing prevalence of multi-layered extortion models, which are found across the entire spectrum of cybercrime threats.
This report represents a broader trend affecting organizations worldwide: these attacks are becoming increasingly complex, employing a combination of techniques to infiltrate organizations and execute malicious payloads with devastating efficiency.
Modern ransomware and malware attacks often begin with seemingly harmless phishing emails or by exploiting vulnerabilities within an organization’s systems. Once inside, these threat actors utilize a range of methods to circumvent security protocols before deploying their payloads. The complexity and obfuscation of these multi-stage attacks makes them particularly challenging to detect and mitigate. This evolution in cybercriminal tactics highlights the critical need for organizations to adopt comprehensive cybersecurity defenses that prioritize visibility.
What do these complex attacks look like?
Multi-stage attacks are sophisticated operations designed to evade detection and inflict maximum damage, overwhelming traditional security defenses. Typically initiated with an innocuous-looking executable file, these attacks often exploit system vulnerabilities or human error through phishing tactics.
Once activated, the malicious file connects to a remote command-and-control server to fetch additional components or instructions for subsequent attack phases. To further obscure their activities, attackers frequently leverage legitimate system files, such as dynamic-link libraries (DLLs), to blend seamlessly into normal system processes. This abuse of trust hinders security teams from identifying malicious behavior.
As the attack progresses, adversaries employ advanced techniques like Process Doppelgänging and Process Hollowing to maintain persistence and evade detection. Process Doppelgänging disguises malicious code as a legitimate process within an organization’s systems, while Process Hollowing creates a new process in a suspended state and then injects it with malicious code. These methods enable attackers to execute their payloads without being detected, significantly challenging security teams in identifying and mitigating these threats.
Financial and Operational Costs
Multi-stage attacks present significant challenges for organizations due to their ability to evade detection, and their prolonged dwell time within a network. This extended time that an attack goes unnoticed grants attackers many opportunities to exfiltrate sensitive data and deploy destructive payloads. The resulting damage includes larger financial losses, extended operational disruptions, and reputational damage.
Traditional security measures often fall short in the face of these sophisticated threats, as adversaries employ legitimate tools and advanced evasion techniques to bypass defenses. Addressing and mitigating these complex attacks across multiple attack stages requires a considerable time and resource commitment. Even if security teams can address one part of the attack, other components may remain active and undetected, leading to persistent vulnerabilities.
Visibility Across the Entire IT Environment
In today’s landscape of sophisticated cyber threats, organizations must adopt a robust, multi-layered security strategy. This approach should provide comprehensive visibility across the entire IT environment, including networks, endpoints, and cloud infrastructure.
To ensure attackers cannot bypass a single defense mechanism, organizations should deploy a variety of security tools that work together seamlessly. Starting with Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions, which are essential for closely monitoring endpoint activities and enabling early identification of threats. Coupling EDR with up-to-date threat intelligence feeds, which offer insights into the latest attack techniques and indicators of compromise, enhances an organization’s preparedness and ability to detect threats. Maintaining a diligent patch management process is also crucial. Promptly addressing vulnerabilities reduces potential entry points for attacks, thereby strengthening the overall security posture.
Comprehensive visibility across the IT environment is vital. Implementing network segmentation, which involves dividing the network into smaller, isolated segments, helps contain breaches and limit the impact of potential attacks, especially in the case of multi-stage intrusions. Regular security assessments, including frequent vulnerability scans and penetration testing, are also indispensable for continually identifying and rectifying security gaps.
Implementing a multi-layered defense facilitates a rapid and effective response, minimizing organizational damage and reducing the risk of data exfiltration. By enhancing visibility and detection capabilities, security teams can focus on genuine threats rather than being sidetracked by false positives. This efficient approach fortifies the organization’s defenses and ensures resilient operations, allowing them to navigate the complexities of modern cyber threats more effectively.
About the Author
Gabrielle Hempel, Customer Solutions Engineer at Exabeam, is renowned for her expertise in Cloud Engineering, Vulnerability Management, and Network Detection and Response (NDR). With an MS in Cybersecurity and Global Affairs from NYU, she has contributed significantly to the field, including a distinguished thesis on Critical Infrastructure Security. Named an ‘Emerging Leader’ by the National Security Innovation Network in 2022, Gabrielle is also a prominent speaker at industry-leading conferences like BlackHat and DefCon. Gabrielle can be reached via LinkedIn at and at our company website https://exabeam.com/.
Source: www.cyberdefensemagazine.com