Detection: Common Ransomware Notes

Updated Date: 2024-10-17 ID: ada0f478-84a8-4641-a3f1-d82362d6bd71 Author: David Dorsey, Splunk Type: Hunting Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic detects the creation of files with names commonly associated with ransomware notes. It leverages file-system activity data from the Endpoint Filesystem data model, typically populated by endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools or Sysmon logs. This activity is significant because ransomware notes indicate a potential ransomware attack, which can lead to data encryption and extortion. If confirmed malicious, this activity could result in significant data loss, operational disruption, and financial impact due to ransom demands.

Search

1
2| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(Filesystem.user) as user values(Filesystem.dest) as dest values(Filesystem.file_path) as file_path from datamodel=Endpoint.Filesystem by Filesystem.file_name 
3| `drop_dm_object_name(Filesystem)` 
4| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
5| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
6| `ransomware_notes` 
7| `common_ransomware_notes_filter`

Data Source

Name	Platform	Sourcetype	Source
Sysmon EventID 11	Windows	`'xmlwineventlog'`	`'XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational'`

Macros Used

Name	Value
ransomware_notes	`lookup ransomware_notes_lookup ransomware_notes as file_name OUTPUT status as "Known Ransomware Notes"
common_ransomware_notes_filter	`search *`

common_ransomware_notes_filter is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.

Annotations

- MITRE ATT&CK

+ Kill Chain Phases

+ NIST

+ CIS

- Threat Actors

ID	Technique	Tactic
T1485	Data Destruction	Impact

KillChainPhase.ACTIONS_ON_OBJECTIVES

NistCategory.DE_AE

Cis18Value.CIS_10

APT38

LAPSUS$

Lazarus Group

Sandworm Team

Default Configuration

This detection is configured by default in Splunk Enterprise Security to run with the following settings:

Setting	Value
Disabled	true
Cron Schedule	`0 * * * *`
Earliest Time	`-70m@m`
Latest Time	`-10m@m`
Schedule Window	`auto`
Creates Risk Event	False

This configuration file applies to all detections of type hunting.

Implementation

You must be ingesting data that records file-system activity from your hosts to populate the Endpoint Filesystem data-model node. This is typically populated via endpoint detection-and-response product, such as Carbon Black, or via other endpoint data sources, such as Sysmon. The data used for this search is typically generated via logs that report file-system reads and writes.

Known False Positives

It's possible that a legitimate file could be created with the same name used by ransomware note files.

Associated Analytic Story

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message	Risk Score	Impact	Confidence
A file - $file_name$ was written to disk on endpoint $dest$ by user $user$, this is indicative of a known ransomware note file and should be reviewed immediately.	90	90	100

The Risk Score is calculated by the following formula: Risk Score = (Impact * Confidence/100). Initial Confidence and Impact is set by the analytic author.

Detection Testing

Test Type	Status	Dataset	Source	Sourcetype
Validation	✅ Passing	N/A	N/A	N/A
Unit	✅ Passing	Dataset	`XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational`	`XmlWinEventLog`
Integration	✅ Passing	Dataset	`XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational`	`XmlWinEventLog`

Replay any dataset to Splunk Enterprise by using our replay.py tool or the UI. Alternatively you can replay a dataset into a Splunk Attack Range

Source: GitHub | Version: 6