Mimiktaz is a post exploitation tool that dumps passwords from memory (credentials theft) and exploit phase generally is the 2nd stage in attack life cycle as mostly said attacker exploit a vulnerability The collected credentials can then be used to access unauthorized information or perform lateral movement attacks.

EDR most probably helps you in detection and protection as it is works in monitoring and collects events,memory dumps...etc

EDR works by providing IOCs which is already provided by EDR vendor and you can also create custom IOCs and also TTPs and front line threat intelligence all those gives you capabilities in early detection exploit phase and knowing who is targeting your organization.

Mimikatz is not the only one. Actually, there are for example also AzorULT and Cobalt Strike described here - The main methods of infection

Besides having Microsoft Defender which detects this threat, also the newest versions of the Microsoft Operating Systems for endpoints and servers have new functionality to reduce the threat from Mimikatz. Making sure individual users do not have admin rights, implementing least privilege and multi-factor authentication also will help. Drop me a note here or on LinkedIn if additional discussion desired. 

Um, this is Mimi's cat stealing the gold ticket.

Protection against ransomware requires a multi-layered approach, with both preventative measures and recoverability capabilities. Due to the variety of attack methods, there is no single silver bullet that will provide comprehensive protection. As no protection is 100% effective, organizations must ensure they have recoverability capabilities in place for when they are compromised. Mimikatz malware is mainly used for Password stealing from your device, First we talk about protection that can be happen with couple of tools and awareness .

Preventative Measures

1) End Point Protection -AV product which does not require signature updates or endpoint device scanning, but uses Machine Learning (ML) techniques to identify malware.

2) Perimeter Protection - Sits inline between your company and the Internet, protecting your enterprise from cyberthreats, stopping intellectual property leaks, and ensuring compliance with corporate content and access policies. Product security capabilities provide defence–in– depth, protecting you from a broad range of threats including malicious URL requests, viruses, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), zero–day malware, adware, spyware, botnets, cross–site scripting, and much more.

3) Implementation of Privilege Identity Management with 256bit encryption Password vault. Look Out for an Unnecessary Amount of Requested Permissions

4) Recoverability - Offline Backups - This protection essentially involves maintaining an inaccessible, offline backup of data. I believe this offline copy is best offered in the Cloud, so therefore recommend a Managed Backup service for backups.

5) Download Apps Only from Official App Marketplaces.

There is not a single answer.

In our company, we use only company devices for workers at home and VPN appropriate clients to control the internet flows towards our company firewall.

A behavioral endpoint product is recommended. This product is likely to cooperate with your corporate signature-based antivirus.

Any good product could be used in that way. We chose well known Israel products, combined with our standard US products, at that time.

Wearing a mask while accessing your service is not a joke hardening tunneling protocols and uses the most updated one it's kind of like wearing masks.

Security is a multi-layered problem and as always the human end is the weak layer

Increasingly I believe the human layer-layer8 needs more attention. This requires getting the basics right. How are we allowing external devices into our networks? DO we own these devices? VPN Tunnels?

Or are creating a virtual working place and focus on IAM? 

This is BYOD on steroids and multiplies the attack zone. A line has to be drawn and a Trust Zone created. Traditional devices have native encryption so we allow them as trusted devices and use their native encryption. Then other policies are made. Does the employee have access to good internet(In Africa this is an issue) or do they have to go to a coffee shop or some such place? A good behavioral endpoint product will help. In some cases a company intranet. Microsoft teams are proving very accessible in Africa.

I like the potential for catching an unusual activity like that with our recently implemented endpoint detection tool, Cynet360.  It seems so far to have about the highest level of transparency into the endpoint with a 24x7x365 backing of monitoring.  

It's understood that internal tool probably shared by Internal Employee as RCA. The tool was used to reset associated Mail Address of account thereby Password Reset of Choice. In MFA of Identity related features, it's more secured on keeping it with associated Mobile Secure Pin or SoftCrypto Code in Future to avoid compromise at this moment is the lesson learned. 

The use of two factor authentication by Twitter

This is one of the Identity theft issue, which means some one hack your password or account and do activity which he she is not suppose to do. basic reason of hack of your identity or password is Social engineering. second reason is system has week privilege access management. If you have less control on admin id or privilege id then enter firm has to suffer along with the customer of that firm. For me the take away of this event is to protect privilege ID and you good PAM PIM tool with two factor and UBA included.  

Span of control, Solid RBAC, Privileged Access Management (PAM) 

You can use Palo Alto Cortex XDR networks to protect against this type of attack at the endpoint level.

EternalBlue exploits a vulnerability in Microsoft's implementation of the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. This vulnerability is denoted by entry CVE-2017-0144 in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) catalog. The vulnerability exists because the SMB version 1 (SMBv1) server in various versions of Microsoft Windows mishandles specially crafted packets from remote attackers, allowing them to execute arbitrary code on the target computer.

Ref:

https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/...

https://www.avast.com/c-eterna...

EternalBlue exploits a vulnerability in outdated versions of Microsoft Server Message Block.

So the only known mechanism to protect against EternalBlue is to download the latest Windows software update and install the patch.

Microsofts Support Forum has a full step-by-step guide to walk you through this process and ensure that your business is utilising the latest version.

Additionally, you should ensure that the following safeguards are in place:

• Anti-virus software - AI product like SentinelOne is needed, traditional anti virus is just not up tot he job anymore


• Secure offsite backup with “attack-loop” prevention


• Filter for .exe attachments in emails


• Encrypt sensitive data

PATCH PATCH PATCH - is the answer every time 

EternalBlue exploits officially named MS17-010 by Microsoft is a vulnerability that affects outdated versions of Microsoft Server Message Block (SMB). The quickest mechanism to protect against EternalBlue is through system PATCHING, i.e. download the latest version of Windows software update and install the patch.

The best part of AI products like Sentinel one is they are monitoring for this type of exploit. It's not just anti virus software. There is also a SOC that reacts when a machine is compromised. The hacker would use the exploit to get onto the machine this would alert the SOC. As soon as the hacker executes the cypto code the connection is severed with the hacker, the code is frozen and reversed. The machine would be kept offline until the security is checked. You would then unfreeze the machine. All this is automatic. As support you would get 10 to 15 emails explaining what was done. You would log into the portal to verify and unfreeze the machine.

By far the most important thing to do to prevent attacks utilizing Eternalblue is to make sure that you’ve updated any older versions of Windows to apply the security patch MS17-10.

If, for some reason, that’s not possible, other mitigations include disabling SMBv1 and not exposing any vulnerable machines to internet access.

Ensuring you have a capable EDR security solution should go without saying, but if your organization is still behind the curve on that one, remember that passive EDR solutions are already behind-the-times and active EDR is required.

Please contact me on cybersec@global.co.za for more information on SentinelOne and Cyber Protection Services

“EternalBlue” exploit that targeted open server message block (SMB) ports and was used to great effect in the recent WannaCry ransomware attack.

Attacks leveraging the EternalBlue exploit generally follow this pattern:

1. A vulnerable system with an open, unpatched port is identified.

1. EternalBlue (or another exploit) is used to achieve remote code execution.

1. The DoublePulsar backdoor is uploaded. This allows remote control of the infected system and the upload of an additional payload.

1. An arbitrary payload is injected into the target system’s memory using the DoublePulsar backdoor. In the case of WannaCry, this payload was ransomware, but it could potentially be any payload, including malware that does a much more effective job at hiding on a system.

1. In the case of WannaCry, the payload also contained code that attempted to spread additional infections with the EternalBlue/DoublePulsar attack chain. This effectively made WannaCry a worm, a kind of malware that could spread without any kind of user intervention.

Though Microsoft published a patch for a number of the exploits contained in the Shadow Broker’s dump, unpatched systems still remain vulnerable to this kind of attack. It is important to note that a potential attacker could use any payload in the attack chain described above.

Basic tool to protect from EternalBlue

1) Second generation AV 

2) Cloud Backup

3) Cloud Second generation VPN and Firewall

You can use EDR solutions to track, monitor, and analyze data on endpoints to enhance the fortification of your environment. Generally, EDR tools do not replace traditional tools like antivirus and firewalls; they work beside them to provide enhanced security capabilities. It is becoming the preferred technology for enterprises to provide better security for their networks when compared with the traditional antivirus.

EDR solutions have many capabilities and advantages which are not offered by traditional antivirus programs. It comes loaded with different analytical tools that run in the background to ensure the monitoring and reporting of threats. However, all EDR solutions do not perform the same range of functions. Their scope and nature of activities differ depending on the type of EDR solutions that you choose.

Traditional antivirus programs are more simplistic and limited in scope compared to the modern EDR systems. Antivirus is generally a single program which serves basic purposes like scanning, detecting and removing viruses and different types of malware.

Antiviruses are more of a decentralized security system that falls short of providing adequate security to the ever-expanding digital networks. The IT network and perimeter of enterprises have witnessed even faster growth due to the mobile revolution.

Hello EDR can replace a normal AntiVirus and can offer even more, as they can effictively can respond to an attack, isolate the end device or restore destroyed data. After that you can analyse the attack. We're using SentinelOne for us and our customers and are more than happy, as we're protected against new and old ransomware

So this is what WIKI says about EDR.
EDR systems detect all endpoint threats and provide real-time response to the identified threats. ... EDR systems also collect high-quality forensic data which is needed for incident response and investigations. Overall, EDR security systems are much better equipped at handling cyber threats than traditional antivirus.

But INHO, it depends. It depends on the products you are looking at, it depends on the cost, it depends on what you are trying to cover or prevent from happening and it depends on the tools' capabilities. Some tools are better than others. Some a/v is better then EDR, Some EDR is better than a/v. It's a very active space with a HUGE amount of contenders all vying for your security dollars. You just have to ask them the right questions and bounce their answers against their competitors, your bosses, and your friends opinions to get out of it what you need, for the least cost and most coverage. Do some POCs, RFIs to see what fits for you and your environment and needs first before you decide. Then spend the next 3 yrs extracting every bit of juice out of the tool you can to make it purr like a kitten.

If you don't need it and you can get by on defender as a 80% solution then go with defender. If you need carbon black and mcafee do that. It comes down to your needs and what's good enough for you.

EDR is an add-on for Endpoint Protection. EDR is for detecting post-intrusion threats or persistent advanced threats. EDR enables identification and prevention of reconnaissance attack, lateral movement, command and control channel and data filtering. EDR can also analyze user behavior against a baseline.

Yes, EDR will replace traditional A/V with most solutions. Make sure to validate with your vendor but the reputable ones certainly cover A/V. You do not need to have both as this is unnecessary overhead. Any (reputable) EDR will have known bad MD5 already included.

EDR can replace antivirus, if you get the right EDR solution. A solution that comprises EPP and EDR into one is a replacement for traditional antivirus. EPP provides all the protection you would get from antivirus and more. Happy to discuss further if you have anymore questions

There is never 100% security and I'm warning of using too much end-point-protection on the client, as each one has a little bad impact of performance.
And when using two they will slow down each one.
To replace an Anti-Virus just use a good EDR, which replaces the AV and which does even more.

Yes, it is a good level of protection to have EDR alone, but for better protection I recommend having the two solutions together but with different manufacturers between EDR and AV