Author: Bonnie Smyre

City of Atlanta 2018 Ransomware Hack: What We Know and What You Can Learn From It

What do we know?

While events are still unfolding, we’re piecing together facts pertaining to the March 22nd ransomware attack on the City of Atlanta. As an Atlanta-based company, my colleagues at Raxis and I have been keeping a close eye on the happenings since the attack. The City of Atlanta has so far successfully kept people informed without revealing information that may be critical in responding to the attack.It appears that the epicenter of the attack was Atlanta’s municipal court (including tickets, citations, and other information) and bill-payment systems. I examined the Municipal Court of Atlanta website as I researched this post late Monday and found that the site displayed an error message explaining that payments could temporarily be made at a different site. When I clicked through to that site, I was given two options: a link back to the original site where I had started and a link to an error message, both seen here. Whether these sites were directly affected by the attack or are disrupted as part of the aftermath, people using these sites are affected just the same. The ‘Online lookup tool’ on the same page leads to a webpage that times out. It is possible that this service was not affected by the ransomware attack directly, but access to this page may have been removed as a precautionary measure to prevent further attacks. Based on these observations, we can infer that the attack has effectively diverted Atlanta’s resources to understanding, containing, and recovering from the attack. A trusted source tells Raxis that Atlanta is still working to fully confirm that critical infrastructure systems, such as fire, water and the airport, have not been impacted. All systems that may have been impacted have been taken offline until their state of compromise can be determined.Employees have been directed not to turn on or login to their workstations, which is another proactive security measure implemented in immediate response to the attack. A source has informed Raxis directly that vendors have physically been locked out of city buildings since the attack took place. A direct source has also confirmed to Raxis that construction companies have been unable to obtain permits that had already been submitted for approval due to the attack.Raxis also noted Atlanta’s Outlook Web App (OWA) and GIS server were displaying application errors after the attack. The City of Atlanta appears to be working around the clock to fix these services, nonetheless, these issues speak to the severity of the attack and the breadth of Atlanta’s response to an active threat.

What can we speculate about the attack itself?

The city has not released details about the attack yet, but we can speculate. A Raxis source stated that the attackers were demanding three bitcoin per decrypt key. Internet sources shows that the attackers are asking $6,800 per system or $51,000 to unlock the entire Atlanta system. While the math does not quite add up (currently Bitcoin rates are $8,056.44), we can see that the costs are high but also possible for Atlanta to pay.Raxis has spoken to a trusted source who confirmed that it is believed that the attackers gained access to Atlanta systems using MS-RDP (Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol) and then installed SamSam ransomware which made the ransom demand. Our source stated that, as of close of business on Monday March 26th, Atlanta had not made a determination of whether to pay the ransom or to pursue other methods to recover business continuity.

RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol)

As noted above, a trusted Raxis source has informed us that the current belief is that attackers used MS-RDP as the entry point to Atlanta’s network. Raxis’ source, while not privy to the passwords that were harvested in the attack, believes that passwords likely were weak, which may have contributed to the success of the attack.While the focus currently is on the ransom demands, the full access that the attackers may have achieved in this type of attack likely may have allowed them to create back doors to Atlanta systems that they accessed, which would allow them to maintain a persistent presence for use in future attacks. Atlanta now finds itself in a position where it does not know whether a persistent threat is present on the internal network. It will need to maintain ongoing vigilance to determine the effectiveness of its response.Both the externally accessible MS-RDP service and the possible use of weak passwords are security issues that many companies deal with. This attack makes clear the importance of basic security housekeeping in protecting any network.

Patching & EternalBlue Rumors

While our sources do not point to patching issues such as EternalBlue being involved in this attack, there are multiple rumors circulating on the internet stating that EternalBlue was the entry point the attackers used. Even if EternalBlue was not a part of this attack, it has been used in other recent attacks, such as the RedisWannaMine cryptominer attacks.EternalBlue was one of several exploits released by ShadowBrokers in April 2017. Microsoft released a patch (MS17-010) the previous month on March 14th. EternalBlue was also used in the WannaCry and Petya/NonPetya attacks that made headlines in 2017. It exploits SMB 1.0 and affects several versions of Windows and Windows Server, including newer versions such as Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016. Using Shodan, a search engine that focuses on the configuration aspects of publicly exposed systems, Raxis confirmed that a system reported to be a part of Atlanta’s infrastructure still allowed SMB 1.0 as of Monday afternoon. As a career penetration tester, I know how easy this attack is to perform. In many cases, a successful exploit of EternalBlue leads to administrative rights on the system itself. An experienced hacker can often use other vulnerabilities, such as weak passwords and inappropriate delegation of administrative privileges, to gain further access on the network.

SamSam Ransomware

A trusted Raxis source has confirmed that SamSam (also known as Samas or SamsamCrypt) ransomware, first seen in late 2015, was used in the attack. Once the attackers infiltrated Atlanta’s systems using RDP, they appear to have deployed the SamSam ransomware that alerted Atlanta. Attacks of this type have been widespread, victimizing governments, the healthcare industry, and educational institutions, as well as businesses of all sizes. The attacks have been profitable because the ransoms have often been affordable, often making it more appealing to pay to decrypt the affected files, rather than take on the expense and administrative burden of adjusting operations to compensate for lost data. Even with backups in place, it can take days or even weeks to restore systems fully. It seems best not to pay an attacker who is holding your information at ransom, but, in many cases, restoring business operations in a timely manner takes precedence.

What now?

While our source tells us that the initial internal response efforts were disorganized, Atlanta now appears to be engaged with the Microsoft and Cisco experts that they’ve brought in. The current lack of details is a positive; like any active investigation, managing communications is paramount until as many facts as possible have been discovered.A trusted source tells Raxis that Atlanta has made it clear that brand management is a priority as its bid to become the second Amazon headquarters and the 2019 Super Bowl loom large.That said, Atlanta has demonstrated effective triage measures in response to the attack. As mentioned above, employees were told not to login to their workstations, decreasing the surface area for the attack. An airport spokesman told the Associated Press that the airport Wi-Fi network (as well as part of the webpage) had been taken down as a precaution.Atlanta has also been updating the public actively with news that is considered appropriate to release. Atlanta has leveraged their Twitter account, @cityofatlanta, to great effect, using it to post videos of press conferences with Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms as well as alerting constituents as city information services are restored to service.

Finally, what can your company do to not end up in this position?

Test, test, test. Working at Raxis I’ve seen penetration tests open customer’s eyes to issues they may not have known about or did not understand. While a penetration test may feel scary (you’re asking a hacker to enter your systems; the fear is understandable!), if you choose a good company, you should find that a penetration test is an indispensable tool to discover and prioritize your security tasks. The report you receive at the end of each test should do just that. To learn more about Raxis’ penetration testing services or just to find out more about the types of tests we recommend, see our site at https://raxis.com/pentest/. At Raxis, we’ve also worked with smaller companies that don’t need or can’t afford a full penetration test. We’ve recently launched a new service, the Baseline Security Assessment, that is meant to provide the benefit of security awareness for these companies that may not require the full depth of engagement that comes with our penetration testing services. Mature organizations that have mastered the art of managing a strategic security program that includes regular testing, vulnerability and patch management, as well as identity and access control, will benefit from the next step in security readiness. Investing in our Rapid Response Incident Response retainer is a strong measure of preparedness for when a security incident does occur. See Specialized Services to learn more about how Raxis can help you with this as well.If you have questions about where to start and what services could be right for you, fill out the contact form at https://raxis.com/company/contact, and we’ll be happy to discuss how we can help fortify your defenses to keep you open for business and out of the headlines.

March 27, 2018
Phishing Emails – Social Engineering [Part 1]

Gone are the days of Nigerian princes who left you their fortune. Today it’s much more difficult to separate the genuine emails from the malicious ones that are out to steal your information and your money. While many of us deal with the spam that ends up in our personal email inboxes, Raxis helps many companies avoid corporate and customer information leakage from phishing emails targeted at unsuspecting employees.

Identify

Knowing how to identify suspicious emails is the first step in protecting your information as well as that of your employer and customers. I’ve performed many phishing campaigns for our customers, and I’ve heard multiple stories of smart, conscientious employees falling for clever phishing campaigns. The fallout, including public relations pitfalls, can be large enough that IT budgets get redirected to secure the environment and regain customer trust.I always tell our customers that it doesn’t hurt anyone to take a little extra time to react to an email. When I run phishing campaigns for our customers, I like to send the email out at the start of the day or at the end of the lunch hour. At these times most of us don’t want to be bothered by a new email request. We have work to do, and we’re focusing on getting to it and accomplishing our goals for the day.I make sure the tasks in the phishing emails are quick, simple, and easy to finish:

“Just in time for the holidays, we’ve implemented web mail so that you can be home with your family and still answer emails! Your account will only activate if you log in at the following URL by the end of the day!”

Well, maybe your IT department wouldn’t be quite so excited, but you get the idea.Phishers know common systems that most businesses use, and it’s often easy to find sample login pages online. Several free and paid tools exist that help companies perform phishing tests… and that help phishers steal your data as well. For this article, I spent about ten minutes finding email addresses and creating an email and website to steal credentials from my fellow Raxis employees. Just ten minutes, then I sit back and see if anyone responds.Step one was to find email addresses. Sound difficult? You’d be surprised. Search engines such as Google or Bing are a huge help, and social media sites, such as LinkedIn, provide employee names even when they’re not your connections.Manually searching for email addresses was taking too long, so I logged into my Kali Linux box and fired up theHarvester. In less than a minute, I had the full list of Raxis email addresses pulled from various search engines. There are also free tools that allow attackers to discover the format of a company’s emails, such as “[email protected],” so that I can create my own mailing list if I know some employee names.Now that I have a list of email addresses, I need those folks to give me their login information. There are tons of great tools that make it easy for users to set up a phishing campaign in minutes, such as the open source Social-Engineer Toolkit. This time I use Rapid7’s Metasploit Pro phishing tool.I start with a simple email. In some cases, I research the company’s culture and target a campaign at specific employees, but most of the time I can good results by setting up a generic campaign that does not require me to know a lot about the company. In this case, I pick an Outlook Web App (OWA) site and hope that employees find it familiar enough to fall for my story without looking too closely. Using the phishing tool, I add a number of features that make the email look legitimate, such as using a fake raxis.com email address and including the recipient’s name. Think about it: if I found your email address, I likely know your name, but it still looks official to add it to the email.If the recipient clicks the link in the email, they are taken to a page that appears to be a legitimate OWA webpage. If they enter their login information and click submit, they move onto an error page that I built. It tells the recipient that there was an error, and all they need to do to resolve it is click on a handy link that can do the fix for them while they continue with their work. Unfortunately for anyone who clicks on the link, a malicious file meant to open a remote session to the user’s computer will be downloaded, effectively giving me background access to that machine and potentially the network where it is located.

React

This is scary stuff, but the real question is: “What can I do about it?”First, there are some clues in the email itself. When I hover over the link, I see that the URL starts with “http://” instead of “https://.” A real OWA webpage would almost certainly use an encrypted “https” connection. The site also doesn’t have the company name in the domain: it’s just an IP address. That’s a big red flag as well. However, many phishers know that vigilant employees will look for these issues, and configure the malicious website to use an encrypted connection, and register a domain name that might trick employees if they don’t look closely, such as “https://rax1s.com” or “https://raxls.com.” Make sure you look closely at the link!If you find an email strange or unexpected in any way, ask about it. Most companies are concerned with phishing and would much prefer that you ask IT if an email is real rather than clicking on the link. Some companies have phone numbers, email addresses or websites that allow you to report a suspicious email. If not, give your IT helpdesk a call or forward the email to them asking them to check. Have you ever received an email from IT notifying you that you may have received a phishing email and asking you to delete it? Someone likely reported it in time for IT to nip it in the bud, thwarting the attacker.What if you clicked on the link in the email and then became suspicious of the website? This is dangerous, as webpages are far more likely than emails to host malicious files that may not be caught by company controls. Immediately report the email and the fact that you clicked on the link to your IT department. They will likely be grateful that you told them quickly so that they can check for and mitigate any threat. Never enter credentials or other private information on a suspicious website until you get the official go ahead. In past customer phishing campaigns, I have listed my phone number on the website saying that they can call to confirm that the site is legitimate. Never trust the email or the webpage! Contact your IT department in ways that you know internally before trusting the site. If you call the phisher during a phishing campaign, they will definitely confirm that you should enter your credentials on the site!

Next Steps If You Fall for the PHISH

So what happens next if you entered your credentials, or even clicked on the malicious link on the error page?

Step 1: Report the Phish and Your Actions

First of all, I’ll repeat it again, contact your IT department. They may have a process, and they need to get started as soon as possible. The sooner you tell them, they more able they will be to contain the threat.

Step 2: Change Your Password

Next change your password. Change your password on every system, company or personal, that uses that password. Attackers love to try credentials in any place that they have access. They might login to your email account and delete the email that IT sends telling you what to do next, or they might email a customer to scam them from your account. Changing your password as quickly as possible helps contain the threat. Here’s another handy post written by one of my colleagues with tips about creating a strong password: https://raxis.com/the-weakest-link-in-the-password-hash/

Step 3: Reboot Your Computer

Finally, reboot your computer. If you clicked on the malicious link in the error page that I created, a reboot would break my remote session to your computer. This doesn’t always work, but it also doesn’t hurt. Let your IT department know exactly what saw and what you did. In a case like this, they will want to look at your computer and make sure they remove any threat. That may seem like a lot of work, but it also sounds a lot better than someone watching you through your computer’s webcam or using your computer to attack other machines on the network. Once they have access, the attacker likely no longer needs your password even for extended access. It’s always best to report the issue to be sure.

Want to learn more? Take a look at the next part of our Social Engineering discussion.

March 23, 2018