August 6, 2024 at 05:18PM
A study by Elastic Security reveals that reputation-based security controls are less effective at safeguarding organizations against unsafe web applications and content than commonly believed. Attackers have developed techniques like reputation hijacking, reputation seeding, and maliciously signed malware tools to bypass these mechanisms. The study recommends using behavior analysis tools to enhance security.
The meeting notes indicate that reputation-based security controls may be less effective in protecting organizations against unsafe web applications and content than commonly assumed. Researchers at Elastic Security have identified several techniques used by attackers to bypass these mechanisms, including the use of digitally signed malware tools, reputation hijacking, reputation tampering, specially crafted LNK files, and EV SSL certificates.
The study specifically highlighted how attackers bypass mechanisms like Microsoft Windows Smart App Control and SmartScreen technologies, which are reputation-based systems designed to block or allow applications and content based on their trustworthiness. It was discovered that attackers have found ways to circumvent these protections, such as using EV SSL certificates to sign their malware and exploiting weaknesses in how Windows handles shortcut files (LNK) to bypass SmartScreen. Reputation hijacking, reputation seeding, and other tactics were also identified as methods used to bypass reputation-based filtering mechanisms.
In response to these findings, Elastic Security recommends that organizations enhance their security posture by implementing behavior analysis tools to monitor for common attack tactics like credential access, enumeration, in-memory evasion, persistence, and lateral movement.