Endpoint Detection and Response | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Picture a cybersecurity landscape where defenses are impenetrable, and threats are nothing more than mere disturbances deflected by a strong shield. Sadly, this image of fortitude remains a pipe dream despite its comforting nature. In the security world, preparedness is not just a luxury but a necessity. In this context, Mike Tyson's famous adage, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face," lends itself to our arena - cyber defenses must be battle-tested to stand a chance. Tyson's words capture the paradox of readiness in cybersecurity: too often, untested cyber defenses can create a false sense of security, leading to dire consequences when real threats land a blow. This is where Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS), a proactive tool in any organization's cybersecurity arsenal, comes into play. When Cybersecurity Meets the Punch - The Assumption Problem Assumptions are the hidden icebergs in cybersecurity's vast ocean. Although we might believ

The threat actor known as UAC-0050 is leveraging phishing attacks to distribute Remcos RAT using new strategies to evade detection from security software. "The group's weapon of choice is Remcos RAT, a notorious malware for remote surveillance and control, which has been at the forefront of its espionage arsenal," Uptycs security researchers Karthickkumar Kathiresan and Shilpesh Trivedi  said  in a Wednesday report. "However, in their latest operational twist, the UAC-0050 group has integrated a pipe method for  interprocess communication , showcasing their advanced adaptability." UAC-0050, active since 2020, has a  history  of targeting Ukrainian and Polish entities via social engineering campaigns that impersonate legitimate organizations to trick recipients into opening malicious attachments. In February 2023, the Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) attributed the adversary to a phishing campaign designed to deliver Remcos RAT. Over t

Identities now transcend human boundaries. Within each line of code and every API call lies a non-human identity. These entities act as programmatic access keys, enabling authentication and facilitating interactions among systems and services, which are essential for every API call, database query, or storage account access. As we depend on multi-factor authentication and passwords to safeguard human identities, a pressing question arises: How do we guarantee the security and integrity of these non-human counterparts? How do we authenticate, authorize, and regulate access for entities devoid of life but crucial for the functioning of critical systems? Let's break it down. The challenge Imagine a cloud-native application as a bustling metropolis of tiny neighborhoods known as microservices, all neatly packed into containers. These microservices function akin to diligent worker bees, each diligently performing its designated task, be it processing data, verifying credentials, or

A new collection of eight process injection techniques, collectively dubbed  PoolParty , could be exploited to achieve code execution in Windows systems while evading endpoint detection and response (EDR) systems. SafeBreach researcher Alon Leviev  said  the methods are "capable of working across all processes without any limitations, making them more flexible than existing process injection techniques." The  findings  were first presented at the  Black Hat Europe 2023  conference last week. Process injection refers to an  evasion technique  used to run arbitrary code in a target process. A wide range of process injection techniques exists, such as dynamic link library (DLL) injection, portable executable injection, thread execution hijacking, process hollowing, and process doppelgänging. PoolParty is so named because it's rooted in a component called Windows user-mode thread pool, leveraging it to insert any type of work item into a target process on the system. I

Managed Detection and Response (MDR) has emerged as a crucial solution for organizations looking to bolster their security measures. MDR allows businesses to outsource the management of Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) products deployed across their network domain. With real-time threat-hunting capabilities, MDR services detect and mitigate malicious activities on individual endpoints while promptly alerting the service provider's Security Operations Center (SOC) for further investigation. By leveraging the expertise of security specialists, MDR services relieve organizations of the complexities and criticality associated with security operations. Types of MDR Solutions: MDR services come in various forms, tailored to an organization's technology environment and risk requirements.  These include: Bring-Your-Own Security Stack / Hybrid Solution: MDR solutions that integrate with existing security products deployed within an environment. Full Vendor-Supplied MDR Sta

Stopping new and evasive threats is one of the greatest challenges in cybersecurity. This is among the biggest reasons why  attacks increased dramatically in the past year  yet again, despite the estimated $172 billion spent on global cybersecurity in 2022. Armed with cloud-based tools and backed by sophisticated affiliate networks, threat actors can develop new and evasive malware more quickly than organizations can update their protections.  Relying on malware signatures and blocklists against these rapidly changing attacks has become futile. As a result, the SOC toolkit now largely revolves around threat detection and investigation. If an attacker can bypass your initial blocks, you expect your tools to pick them up at some point in the attack chain. Every organization's digital architecture is now seeded with security controls that log anything potentially malicious. Security analysts pore through these logs and determine what to investigate further. Does this work? Let'

Threat actors are employing a previously undocumented "defense evasion tool" dubbed AuKill that's designed to disable endpoint detection and response (EDR) software by means of a Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver ( BYOVD ) attack. "The AuKill tool abuses an outdated version of the  driver  used by version 16.32 of the Microsoft utility,  Process Explorer , to disable EDR processes before deploying either a backdoor or ransomware on the target system," Sophos researcher Andreas Klopsch  said  in a report published last week. Incidents analyzed by the cybersecurity firm show the use of AuKill since the start of 2023 to deploy various ransomware strains such as Medusa Locker and LockBit. Six different versions of the malware have been identified to date. The oldest AuKill sample features a November 2022 compilation timestamp. The  BYOVD technique  relies on threat actors misusing a legitimate, but out-of-date and exploitable, driver signed by Microsoft (or usin

Endpoint devices like desktops, laptops, and mobile phones enable users to connect to enterprise networks and use their resources for their day-to-day work. However, they also expand the attack surface and make the organisation vulnerable to malicious cyberattacks and data breaches. Why Modern Organisations Need EDR According to the 2020 global  risk report  by Ponemon Institute, smartphones, laptops, mobile devices, and desktops are some of the most vulnerable entry points that allow threat actors to compromise enterprise networks. Security teams must assess and address the security risks created by these devices before they can damage the organisation. And for this, they require Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR). EDR solutions provide real-time visibility into endpoints and detect threats like malware and ransomware. By continuously monitoring endpoints, they enable security teams to uncover malicious activities, investigate threats, and initiate appropriate responses to pr

Many organizations regard Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) as their main protection against breaches. EDR, as a category, emerged in 2012 and was rapidly acknowledged as the best answer to the numerous threats that legacy AV unsuccessfully struggled to overcome – exploits, zero-day malware and fileless attacks are prominent examples. While there is no dispute on EDR's efficiency against a significant portion of today's advanced threats, a new breed of "next-generation EDR" solutions are now available ( learn more here ) which on top of featuring all EDR capabilities, go beyond this to protect against prominent attack vectors that EDR does not cover such as those involving users and networks. "Many people unknowingly mix two different things – endpoint protection and breach protection," explained Eyal Gruner, co-Founder of Cynet (a next-generation EDR solution). "It's perfectly true that many attacks start at the endpoint and involve mali