Penetration Testing to Prevent Ransomware Attacks

Ransomware is a goldmine for cybercriminals. It often takes just one click to trigger devastating consequences.

Ransomware payments in 2023 hit a record $1.1 billion. The average ransom payment skyrocketed to a staggering $2 million per incident in that year, a fivefold increase from the previous year.

Even worse, this is compounded by the widespread nature of these attacks, with over 72% of businesses globally falling victim in 2023.

But the financial burden extends far beyond the ransom itself. Nearly all companies often struggle to fully recover their data even after paying, with a mere 4% managing to retrieve all their information. This leads to downtime, loss of productivity, and additional data recovery expenses, pushing the average totalcost of a ransomware attack to a hefty $4.73 million per incident.

Understanding the Ransomware Attack

Ransomware is a type of malicious software (malware) that encrypts a victim's files, making them inaccessible. The threat actor then demands a ransom payment, usually in cryptocurrency, in exchange for the decryption key to unlock the files.

The most common ways ransomware enters systems include:

• Phishing emails: These deceptive emails trick users into clicking on malicious links or downloading infected attachments.
• Malicious attachments: These files, often disguised as legitimate documents or software, contain the ransomware code.
• Drive-by downloads: These occur when visiting compromised websites or clicking on malicious advertisements, leading to automatic and often unnoticed downloads of ransomware.
• Exploiting unpatched vulnerabilities: Ransomware can take advantage of security weaknesses in software or operating systems that haven't been updated with the latest security patches.

The financial impact of these types of ransomware attacks on businesses worldwide is quite substantial. The Healthcare industry, which holds critical patient data, has been the most targeted sector in 2023. Financial institutions, managing sensitive financial information, continue to face an increasing risk because of the potential for significant losses and regulatory penalties.

Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that ransomware will cost its victims around $265 billion annually by 2031, with attacks occurring every 2 seconds. This underscores the urgent need for businesses to consolidate their cybersecurity measures against ransomware and proactively protect themselves against the ever-evolving cyber threats.

How to Prevent Ransomware Attacks: A Multi-Layered Approach

As threat actors become more creative with AI technology, they employ increasingly sophisticated methods such as targeted social engineering attacks, supply chain compromises, and zero-day exploits to slip past your systems undetected.

So, it’s important for organizations to consider implementing a range of security measures to harden their defenses and develop ransomware attack prevention strategies.

• Attack Surface Management (ASM) Tools: These tools continuously monitor an organization's digital footprint, identifying and prioritizing vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malicious actors.
• EDR/XDR solutions: Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) and Extended Detection and Response (XDR) solutions provide real-time visibility and threat detection capabilities, helping you identify and contain ransomware infections before they spread.
• Zero Trust Approach / Least Privilege: Implementing a zero trust model and enforcing the principle of least privilege can limit the impact of a ransomware attack by restricting lateral movement and minimizing access to sensitive data.
• Security Awareness Training: Regular training can educate employees on how to recognize and avoid phishing emails, social engineering tactics, and other common attack vectors used to deliver ransomware.
• Backup and Recovery Systems: Maintaining secure, offline backups is critical for ensuring that data can be restored in the event of a ransomware attack.

Security leaders know to expect major uncertainties in the ransomware landscape moving forward. But with maximum security top of mind for every leader, how can ransomware attacks be prevented? Let's explore one important area: how penetration testing can help with ransomware prevention.

How Penetration Testing Prevents Ransomware Attacks

Penetration testing for ransomware prevention is a proactive cybersecurity practice conducted by experienced engineers who simulate real-world attacks to identify and address weaknesses before threat actors can exploit them.

Here are some ways security researchers simulate ransomware attacks using safe measures and run exploits in an isolated environment to expose vulnerabilities and demonstrate the risk.

• External-Facing Systems: Security engineers attempt to infiltrate external-facing systems such as websites, email servers, and VPN gateways, simulating techniques like phishing emails, social engineering, and exploiting software vulnerabilities to demonstrate potential risks.
• Internal Networks: Once inside the network, security engineers move laterally to simulate how ransomware would spread, targeting file shares, Active Directory, and other critical internal systems. This tests the effectiveness of network segmentation and access controls.
• Backup and Recovery Processes: Security engineers should also evaluate the integrity and accessibility of backups, testing the organization's ability to restore data in the event of a ransomware attack. They may also simulate attempts to encrypt or delete backups in an isolated environment, further challenging the recovery process.
• Employee Susceptibility to Phishing: Exercises, such as social engineering tests (where participants are aware), are carried out to increase employee awareness and assess susceptibility to phishing emails and other social engineering tactics commonly used to deliver ransomware.

These practices provide an excellent way to ensure your incident response team is well-equipped to minimize the amount of damage in the event of a real attack. They can also reveal deficiencies related to how a company keeps its servers updated or applies patches.

Preventing ransomware with proactive security measures can also in the process expose a range of issues, from a lack of logging and monitoring to potential time lapses in protection if an incident were to occur.

Types of Penetration Tests to Prevent Ransomware Attacks

There are different types of penetration tests that help identify where lapses in protection exist without putting sensitive information at risk.

• Targeted Ransomware Assessments: These assessments zero in on the most likely attack vectors and vulnerabilities exploited by ransomware groups, including external-facing systems, internal networks, and backup processes.
• Red Team Exercises: These exercises simulate a real-world ransomware attack, with ethical hackers (the "red team") attempting to breach defenses and compromise systems.
• Combination Approach: Combining different types of penetration tests provides a comprehensive ransomware security assessment of an organization's resilience against ransomware.

How Can Siemba Help

Siemba provides a penetration testing as a service (PTaaS) platform with an advanced vulnerability detection engine, which is exceedingly helpful for evaluating an organization's resilience against devastating ransomware threats. You will also receive daily reports that offer insights into your security posture and any identified vulnerabilities, helping you stay informed and responsive.

And with our on-demand offensive security solutions, our experienced security engineers can safely mimic the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) often employed by threat actors to exploit vulnerabilities in various areas.

Get in touch with our security team today to learn how we can help protect your organization with ransomware protection strategies and ransomware vulnerability testing.