Introduction
In today’s world, cybersecurity threats are a growing problem for many companies as they must protect many data. To improve how to defend and counter the threats emerging in technology. Real-time cyber-attack simulation exercises allow organizations to test their defense systems and enhance coordination time and response strategies to emerging issues.
For the case study, there will be a simulation of a red team for a fictitious pharmaceutical company that researches drugs and manufactures new medicines. Due to the nature of the business, the company is deeply concerned about protecting its intellectual property, patient information, and innovative developments.
Intelligence Report
The CrowdStrike global threat intelligence report in 2023 will be used for the company in question and the threat simulation. This report provides detailed information about the current cyber threats that could potentially be dangerous for the company and offers possible strategic moves to address risks. The report identifies ransomware, supply chain, and government-sponsored attacks as the most dangerous threats to an organization’s operations.
Risk Register Entries
Ransomware
One of the main identified risks highlighted by the report is ransomware. They pose a severe threat to an organization as they can lead to the loss of important sensitive intellectual property data. Successful theft of information can significantly disrupt the company’s work, ultimately affecting the company’s financial stability and being marked by reputational risks.
This type of threat aims to extract economic benefits from victim organizations. The probability of this occurrence is high, with nine units in the safety report. Ransomware attacks are becoming more common and successful as attackers find new ways to infiltrate systems and remain anonymous. The company in question has limited IT environment tools that can significantly impair the chances of successfully squashing system breach attempts.
The impact of this risk is rated by the security report as 9, which indicates a high chance of the attack being successful. A successful attack on such programs can seriously impact an organization. The most severe damage in the event of a successful attack can be reputational risks and the leakage of significant developments of the company in the field of pharmaceuticals. The Resulting risk can be distinguished as 81 or High in connection with the indicated factors.
The Remediation Task for the organization should be to develop and implement a robust contingency plan and disaster recovery system. This task can be assigned to the IT department, which they must complete in an estimated period of 90 days. A backup and recovery plan can help avoid total leakage and loss of information necessary to the company.
Internal Security risk
Another significant highlighted risk is an internal security risk. They represent a severe problem for the company, as they can lead to disruption of everyday work and deterioration of corporate relations of employees. This, in turn, threatens to disrupt everyday work and a less adjusted pace of work, which the worst research indicators will indicate. This threat may come from employees or business associates accessing confidential company information and operations. Thus, this permission could significantly harm and create operational risks. In this case, the threats are to cause significant reputational damage to the organization for personal gain. The probability of this occurrence in the risk report is rated as six units, which makes its occurrence medium.
Internal threats are potential risks. However, the company has certain safeguards against such situations. These mechanisms include limited access control to the system and monitoring of employee behavior, which can ensure that uncertainty is detected early. In the event of a dangerous situation, the impact level is 8 points, which means that such an intervention can lead to the loss of important information and damage related to finances and reputation. The incident may entail certain legal proceedings and legal consequences in this case.
The resulting risk is 48 or Medium. The goal of corrective action to eliminate risk is to conduct regular training that can help identify potential annoyances in the interaction of employees. In this way, it will improve job satisfaction, reducing tension in the company.
Network Information Distribution via SMB
The next highlighted programmatic risk is the distribution of information over the network using SMB. In this case, the threat aims to access the company’s closed networks to extract personal data. APT41 uses data-reader exploits that target Windows Server Message Block (SMB) protocol vulnerabilities (Hiroaki & Lee, 2022). In this regard, attackers can move laterally to use specific algorithms, get into the registry of protected data, and take control of the environment. The probability of this incident is estimated at nine units since APT41 actively uses this technique to gain access to target networks.
Despite an organization’s existing vulnerability management protocols, some systems may be faulty and tampered with, making them easier to hack and decode. At the same time, if justified, the impact of this risk can qualify for 9 points, as it will ultimately lead to the complete subordination of the company’s network. In this case, many business operations will suffer, confidential data will be lost, and reputation will be damaged.
Thus, the overall risk score is 81 and is designated as Critical. The task of the patch, in this case, maybe to perform a full system scan for vulnerabilities to eliminate them. Additionally, one should disable SMBv1 on the network to reduce potential harm. This task must be assigned to the IT department and implemented within 20 days, as the danger is serious.
Conclusion
In conclusion, APT41 identified several vulnerabilities in the company’s system using risk modeling based on the Threat Intelligence Report. At the same time, some of them pose a high threat to the organization, which requires immediate intervention to eliminate them. Critical risks identified include using encrypted attachments in spear phishing emails and network distribution using SMB. Thanks to timely analysis, the organization identified vulnerabilities and implemented the strategic solutions proposed in the study. Thus, it is possible to demonstrate the importance of regular analysis and development of systems to counter critical cyber threats.
Reference
Hiroaki, H. & Lee, T. (2022). Hack the real box: APT41’s new subgroup Earth Longzhi. Trend Micro. Web.