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A human-operated ransomware attack example highlighting C2 usage. The attacker begins with the initial access stage, followed by execution, the initial C2 connection, persistence, a beaconing C2 connection, a post-exploitation C2 connection that continues throughout the attack, leading to lateral movement, and the final impact stage.

Stopping C2 communications in human-operated ransomware through network protection

Command-and-control (C2) servers are an essential part of ransomware, commodity, and nation-state attacks. They are used to control infected devices and perform malicious activities like downloading and launching payloads, controlling botnets, or commanding post-exploitation penetration frameworks to breach an organization ... continue reading
Security
This diagram shows the linear progression of earlier Raspberry Robin infections.

Raspberry Robin worm part of larger ecosystem facilitating pre-ransomware activity

Microsoft has discovered recent activity indicating that the Raspberry Robin worm is part of a complex and interconnected malware ecosystem, with links to other malware families and alternate infection methods beyond its original USB drive spread. These infections lead to ... continue reading
Security
DEV-0832 (Vice Society) opportunistic ransomware campaigns impacting US education sector

DEV-0832 (Vice Society) opportunistic ransomware campaigns impacting US education sector

In recent months, Microsoft has detected active ransomware and extortion campaigns impacting the global education sector, particularly in the US, by a threat actor we track as DEV-0832, also known as Vice Society. Shifting ransomware payloads over time from BlackCat, ... continue reading
Security
Timeline of events for a recent ransomware incident.

Defenders beware: A case for post-ransomware investigations

Ransomware is one of the most pervasive threats that Microsoft Detection and Response Team (DART) responds to today. The groups behind these attacks continue to add sophistication to their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) as most network security postures increase ... continue reading
Security
New “Prestige” ransomware impacts organizations in Ukraine and Poland

New “Prestige” ransomware impacts organizations in Ukraine and Poland

The Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) has identified evidence of a novel ransomware campaign targeting organizations in the transportation and related logistics industries in Ukraine and Poland utilizing a previously unidentified ransomware payload. We observed this new ransomware, which labels ... continue reading
Security
Table showing the AV-Comparatives test cases and the corresponding results for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (rows) in the following areas (columns): LSASS dumping was possible, Extracting credentials (offline) from respective minidump file was possible, Prevention by AV module, and Detection by EDR module.

Detecting and preventing LSASS credential dumping attacks

Obtaining user operating system (OS) credentials from a targeted device is among threat actors’ primary goals when launching attacks because these credentials serve as a gateway to various objectives they can achieve in their target organization’s environment, such as lateral ... continue reading
Security
Diagram of the attacks using Exchange vulnerabilities CVE-2022-41040 and CVE-2022-41082

Analyzing attacks using the Exchange vulnerabilities CVE-2022-41040 and CVE-2022-41082

October 1, 2022 update – Added information about Exploit:Script/ExchgProxyRequest.A, Microsoft Defender AV’s robust detection for exploit behavior related to this threat. We also removed a section on MFA as a mitigation, which was included in a prior version of this ... continue reading
Security
Attack chain diagram of ZINC campaign showing steps and related activities

ZINC weaponizing open-source software

In recent months, Microsoft has detected a wide range of social engineering campaigns using weaponized legitimate open-source software by an actor we track as ZINC. Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) observed activity targeting employees in organizations across multiple industries including ... continue reading
Security
Two graphs showing that 39 percent of incidents were detected by Microsoft Defender for Cloud, while 23 percent were detected by Microsoft Sentinel.

Secure your endpoints with Transparity and Microsoft

This blog post is part of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association guest blog series. Learn more about MISA.  Endpoint protection platforms (EPPs) are dead and no longer sufficient to protect your organization, right? Wrong. When it comes to cybersecurity, the ... continue reading
Security
An organizational chart of the different threat actors that worked together in attacking the Albanian government. The top level mentions Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security as the sponsor organization. A table on the left side lists down the threat actor group names and their corresponding aliases.

Microsoft investigates Iranian attacks against the Albanian government

Shortly after the destructive cyberattacks against the Albanian government in mid-July, the Microsoft Detection and Response Team (DART) was engaged by the Albanian government to lead an investigation into the attacks. At the time of the attacks and our engagement ... continue reading