A Hack that Made the News
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In May 2017, there was a ransomware attack that spread rapidly called the WannaCry, which took over the infected computers encrypting all the contents of their hard drives leading to a demanded payment in bitcoin decrypt them. A particular root was taken by malware in the computers in the facilities run by the NHS of the United Kingdom. There is an escalation in Ransomware, an increasingly sophisticated threat where no one seems to be immune. Therefore, Ransomware infects it, victims, through phishing emails that the hackers carefully crafted to trick the victim into opening an attachment or clicking on a file with malicious files in either form of word documents, zip, PDF or JavaScript. (Arntz, 2020) It, therefore, takes only one person who opens a phishing email infecting the whole organization.
The use of the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), an increasingly popular mechanism used by attackers. The protocol was previously was created for IT administrators to ably access a user’s machine to configure it remotely or use it and runs over port 3389. Once hackers are in as administrators, the ransomware encryption operation is initiated and disabled the endpoint security running on the machine, making the victims pay for the ransom due to the windows back up failing to exist. Attackers also used the Drive-By downloads from a compromised website to deliver the Ransomware since they take advantage of legitimate websites’ software vulnerabilities. The authorities were now to gather intelligence to patch the holes in their security, “should we have a policy about a matter that puts us at grave risk every day?” (Cameron, 2017).
Nmap and Metasploit are vital tools used by Ransomware. Networks are mapped, and ports scanned and used a raw IP packet to determine the hosts available on the network and provide information on the operating systems. The vulnerability is exploited by the tools, especially the Metasploit, which is considered a collection of the hacking tools and frameworks.
Reference
Arntz, Pieter (10 July 2020). “Threat spotlight: WastedLocker, customized ransomware.” Malwarebytes Labs. Retrieved 27 July 2020
Cameron, Dell (13 May 2017). “Today’s Massive Ransomware Attack Was Mostly Preventable; Here’s How to Avoid It.” Gizmodo. Retrieved 13 May 2017.