Incident Response Techniques For Ransomware Attacks

Explore the world of modern human-operated ransomware attacks, along with covering steps to properly investigate them and collecting and analyzing cyber threat intelligence using cutting-edge methods and tools Key FeaturesUnderstand modern human-operated cyber attacks, focusing on threat actor tactics, techniques, and proceduresCollect and analyze ransomware-related cyber threat intelligence from various sourcesUse forensic methods and tools to reconstruct ransomware attacks and prevent them in the early stagesBook Description Ransomware attacks have become the strongest and most persistent threat for many companies around the globe. Building an effective incident response plan to prevent a ransomware attack is crucial and may help you avoid heavy losses. Incident Response Techniques for Ransomware Attacks is designed to help you do just that. This book starts by discussing the history of ransomware, showing you how the threat landscape has changed over the years, while also covering the process of incident response in detail. You'll then learn how to collect and produce ransomware-related cyber threat intelligence and look at threat actor tactics, techniques, and procedures. Next, the book focuses on various forensic artifacts in order to reconstruct each stage of a human-operated ransomware attack life cycle. In the concluding chapters, you'll get to grips with various kill chains and discover a new one: the Unified Ransomware Kill Chain. By the end of this ransomware book, you'll be equipped with the skills you need to build an incident response strategy for all ransomware attacks. What you will learnUnderstand the modern ransomware threat landscapeExplore the incident response process in the context of ransomwareDiscover how to collect and produce ransomware-related cyber threat intelligenceUse forensic methods to collect relevant artifacts during incident responseInterpret collected data to understand threat actor tactics, techniques, and proceduresUnderstand how to reconstruct the ransomware attack kill chainWho this book is for This book is for security researchers, security analysts, or anyone in the incident response landscape who is responsible for building an incident response model for ransomware attacks. A basic understanding of cyber threats will be helpful to get the most out of this book.

Learn to identify security incidents and build a series of best practices to stop cyber attacks before they create serious consequences Key FeaturesDiscover Incident Response (IR), from its evolution to implementationUnderstand cybersecurity essentials and IR best practices through real-world phishing incident scenariosExplore the current challenges in IR through the perspectives of leading expertsBook Description Cybercriminals are always in search of new methods to infiltrate systems. Quickly responding to an incident will help organizations minimize losses, decrease vulnerabilities, and rebuild services and processes. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with most organizations gravitating towards remote working and cloud computing, this book uses frameworks such as MITRE ATT&CK® and the SANS IR model to assess security risks. The book begins by introducing you to the cybersecurity landscape and explaining why IR matters. You will understand the evolution of IR, current challenges, key metrics, and the composition of an IR team, along with an array of methods and tools used in an effective IR process. You will then learn how to apply these strategies, with discussions on incident alerting, handling, investigation, recovery, and reporting. Further, you will cover governing IR on multiple platforms and sharing cyber threat intelligence and the procedures involved in IR in the cloud. Finally, the book concludes with an “Ask the Experts” chapter wherein industry experts have provided their perspective on diverse topics in the IR sphere. By the end of this book, you should become proficient at building and applying IR strategies pre-emptively and confidently. What you will learnUnderstand IR and its significanceOrganize an IR teamExplore best practices for managing attack situations with your IR teamForm, organize, and operate a product security team to deal with product vulnerabilities and assess their severityOrganize all the entities involved in product security responseRespond to security vulnerabilities using tools developed by Keepnet Labs and BinalyzeAdapt all the above learnings for the cloudWho this book is for This book is aimed at first-time incident responders, cybersecurity enthusiasts who want to get into IR, and anyone who is responsible for maintaining business security. It will also interest CIOs, CISOs, and members of IR, SOC, and CSIRT teams. However, IR is not just about information technology or security teams, and anyone with a legal, HR, media, or other active business role would benefit from this book. The book assumes you have some admin experience. No prior DFIR experience is required. Some infosec knowledge will be a plus but isn’t mandatory.

Protect Your Organization from Devastating Ransomware and Cyber Extortion Attacks Ransomware and other cyber extortion crimes have reached epidemic proportions. The secrecy surrounding them has left many organizations unprepared to respond. Your actions in the minutes, hours, days, and months after an attack may determine whether you'll ever recover. You must be ready. With this book, you will be. Ransomware and Cyber Extortion is the ultimate practical guide to surviving ransomware, exposure extortion, denial-of-service, and other forms of cyber extortion. Drawing heavily on their own unpublished case library, cyber security experts Sherri Davidoff, Matt Durrin, and Karen Sprenger guide you through responding faster, minimizing damage, investigating more effectively, expediting recovery, and preventing it from happening in the first place. Proven checklists help your security teams act swiftly and effectively together, throughout the entire lifecycle--whatever the attack and whatever the source. Understand different forms of cyber extortion and how they evolved Quickly recognize indicators of compromise Minimize losses with faster triage and containment Identify threats, scope attacks, and locate "patient zero" Initiate and manage a ransom negotiation--and avoid costly mistakes Decide whether to pay, how to perform due diligence, and understand risks Know how to pay a ransom demand while avoiding common pitfalls Reduce risks of data loss and reinfection Build a stronger, holistic cybersecurity program that reduces your risk of getting hacked This guide offers immediate value to everyone involved in prevention, response, planning, or policy: CIOs, CISOs, incident responders, investigators, negotiators, executives, legislators, regulators, law enforcement professionals, and others. Register your book for convenient access to downloads, updates, and/or corrections as they become available. See inside book for details.

Build your organization's cyber defense system by effectively applying digital forensics, incident management, and investigation techniques to real-world cyber threats Key FeaturesCreate a solid incident response framework and manage cyber incidents effectivelyLearn to apply digital forensics tools and techniques to investigate cyber threatsExplore the real-world threat of ransomware and apply proper incident response techniques for investigation and recoveryBook Description An understanding of how digital forensics integrates with the overall response to cybersecurity incidents is key to securing your organization's infrastructure from attacks. This updated third edition will help you perform cutting-edge digital forensic activities and incident response with a new focus on responding to ransomware attacks. After covering the fundamentals of incident response that are critical to any information security team, you'll explore incident response frameworks. From understanding their importance to creating a swift and effective response to security incidents, the book will guide you using examples. Later, you'll cover digital forensic techniques, from acquiring evidence and examining volatile memory through to hard drive examination and network-based evidence. You'll be able to apply these techniques to the current threat of ransomware. As you progress, you'll discover the role that threat intelligence plays in the incident response process. You'll also learn how to prepare an incident response report that documents the findings of your analysis. Finally, in addition to various incident response activities, the book will address malware analysis and demonstrate how you can proactively use your digital forensic skills in threat hunting. By the end of this book, you'll be able to investigate and report unwanted security breaches and incidents in your organization. What you will learnCreate and deploy an incident response capability within your own organizationPerform proper evidence acquisition and handlingAnalyze the evidence collected and determine the root cause of a security incidentIntegrate digital forensic techniques and procedures into the overall incident response processUnderstand different techniques for threat huntingWrite incident reports that document the key findings of your analysisApply incident response practices to ransomware attacksLeverage cyber threat intelligence to augment digital forensics findingsWho this book is for This book is for cybersecurity and information security professionals who want to implement digital forensics and incident response in their organizations. You'll also find the book helpful if you're new to the concept of digital forensics and looking to get started with the fundamentals. A basic understanding of operating systems and some knowledge of networking fundamentals are required to get started with this book.

Know how to mitigate and handle ransomware attacks via the essential cybersecurity training in this book so you can stop attacks before they happen. Learn the types of ransomware, distribution methods, internal structure, families (variants), defense strategies, recovery methods, and legal issues related to reporting ransomware incidents to authorities and other affected parties. This book also teaches you how to develop a ransomware incident response plan to minimize ransomware damage and recover normal operations quickly. Ransomware is a category of malware that can encrypt your computer and mobile device files until you pay a ransom to unlock them. Ransomware attacks are considered the most prevalent cybersecurity threats today—the number of new ransomware variants has grown 30-fold since 2015 and they currently account for roughly 40% of all spam messages. Attacks have increased in occurrence from one every 40 seconds to one every 14 seconds. Government and private corporations are targets. Despite the security controls set by organizations to protect their digital assets, ransomware is still dominating the world of security and will continue to do so in the future. Ransomware Revealed discusses the steps to follow if a ransomware infection occurs, such as how to pay the ransom through anonymous payment methods, perform a backup and restore your affected files, and search online to find a decryption tool to unlock (decrypt) your files for free. Mitigation steps are discussed in depth for both endpoint devices and network systems. What You Will Learn Be aware of how ransomware infects your system Comprehend ransomware components in simple terms Recognize the different types of ransomware familiesIdentify the attack vectors employed by ransomware to infect computer systemsKnow how to prevent ransomware attacks from successfully comprising your system and network (i.e., mitigation strategies) Know what to do if a successful ransomware infection takes place Understand how to pay the ransom as well as the pros and cons of paying Set up a ransomware response plan to recover from such attacks Who This Book Is For Those who do not specialize in the cybersecurity field (but have adequate IT skills) and want to fully understand the anatomy of ransomware threats. Although most of the book's content will be understood by ordinary computer users, it will also prove useful for experienced IT users aiming to understand the ins and outs of ransomware threats without diving deep into the technical jargon of the internal structure of ransomware.

Learn everything you need to know to respond to advanced cybersecurity incidents through threat hunting using threat intelligence Key Features • Understand best practices for detecting, containing, and recovering from modern cyber threats • Get practical experience embracing incident response using intelligence-based threat hunting techniques • Implement and orchestrate different incident response, monitoring, intelligence, and investigation platforms Book Description With constantly evolving cyber threats, developing a cybersecurity incident response capability to identify and contain threats is indispensable for any organization regardless of its size. This book covers theoretical concepts and a variety of real-life scenarios that will help you to apply these concepts within your organization. Starting with the basics of incident response, the book introduces you to professional practices and advanced concepts for integrating threat hunting and threat intelligence procedures in the identification, contention, and eradication stages of the incident response cycle. As you progress through the chapters, you'll cover the different aspects of developing an incident response program. You'll learn the implementation and use of platforms such as TheHive and ELK and tools for evidence collection such as Velociraptor and KAPE before getting to grips with the integration of frameworks such as Cyber Kill Chain and MITRE ATT&CK for analysis and investigation. You'll also explore methodologies and tools for cyber threat hunting with Sigma and YARA rules. By the end of this book, you'll have learned everything you need to respond to cybersecurity incidents using threat intelligence. What you will learn • Explore the fundamentals of incident response and incident management • Find out how to develop incident response capabilities • Understand the development of incident response plans and playbooks • Align incident response procedures with business continuity • Identify incident response requirements and orchestrate people, processes, and technologies • Discover methodologies and tools to integrate cyber threat intelligence and threat hunting into incident response Who this book is for If you are an information security professional or anyone who wants to learn the principles of incident management, first response, threat hunting, and threat intelligence using a variety of platforms and tools, this book is for you. Although not necessary, basic knowledge of Linux, Windows internals, and network protocols will be helpful.

Avoid becoming the next ransomware victim by taking practical steps today Colonial Pipeline. CWT Global. Brenntag. Travelex. The list of ransomware victims is long, distinguished, and sophisticated. And it's growing longer every day. In Ransomware Protection Playbook, computer security veteran and expert penetration tester Roger A. Grimes delivers an actionable blueprint for organizations seeking a robust defense against one of the most insidious and destructive IT threats currently in the wild. You'll learn about concrete steps you can take now to protect yourself or your organization from ransomware attacks. In addition to walking you through the necessary technical preventative measures, this critical book will show you how to: Quickly detect an attack, limit the damage, and decide whether to pay the ransom Implement a pre-set game plan in the event of a game-changing security breach to help limit the reputational and financial damage Lay down a secure foundation of cybersecurity insurance and legal protection to mitigate the disruption to your life and business A must-read for cyber and information security professionals, privacy leaders, risk managers, and CTOs, Ransomware Protection Playbook is an irreplaceable and timely resource for anyone concerned about the security of their, or their organization's, data.

This book provides use case scenarios of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and real-time domains to supplement cyber security operations and proactively predict attacks and preempt cyber incidents. The authors discuss cybersecurity incident planning, starting from a draft response plan, to assigning responsibilities, to use of external experts, to equipping organization teams to address incidents, to preparing communication strategy and cyber insurance. They also discuss classifications and methods to detect cybersecurity incidents, how to organize the incident response team, how to conduct situational awareness, how to contain and eradicate incidents, and how to cleanup and recover. The book shares real-world experiences and knowledge from authors from academia and industry.