Digital Forensics Case Study: Anatomy of a Four-Month Ransomware Attack
A large enterprise client found itself in every executive's worst nightmare: a total server infrastructure shutdown caused by a devastating ransomware attack. Files across critical systems were encrypted, ransom notes were deployed, and business operations ground to a complete halt.
The Challenge: A Business Paralyzed by a Sophisticated Ransomware Attack
A large enterprise client found itself in every executive's worst nightmare: a total server infrastructure shutdown caused by a devastating ransomware attack. Files across critical systems were encrypted, ransom notes were deployed, and business operations ground to a complete halt.
Facing a sophisticated and methodical adversary, the client engaged AKATI Sekurity for an emergency digital forensic investigation. They needed immediate, definitive answers:
How did the attackers get in, and when?
How did they move through the network completely undetected?
What was the full extent of the compromise?
How could they contain the threat and safely recover?
The objective was clear: reconstruct the entire attack lifecycle and provide the actionable intelligence needed to regain control.
The Response: Emergency Forensics to Reconstruct the Attack Chain
AKATI Sekurity’s Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) team immediately began analyzing artifacts from impacted servers. By meticulously correlating disparate system logs, filesystem timestamps, and other digital evidence, we successfully unraveled a complex intrusion that had persisted for nearly four months.
Key Findings: Deconstructing a Patient and Methodical Intrusion
Our investigation revealed a multi-stage attack executed by a patient and skilled threat actor.
| Phase | Description |
|---|---|
| The "Patient Zero": A Four-Month-Old Breach via RDP | The investigation traced the initial point of entry back four months before the ransomware was deployed. Attackers used a pre-compromised domain account to access a public-facing server via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). The absence of brute-force attempts confirmed the credentials were stolen beforehand, highlighting a lapse in credential security rather than a software vulnerability. |
| Dormancy and Lateral Movement: Spreading Silently Across the Network | After gaining access, the attackers remained dormant for weeks before compromising a second server to establish a persistent foothold. This server became their pivot point for internal reconnaissance. Using stolen credentials, they moved laterally to domain controllers and other high-value systems, escalating privileges with a second compromised account just before the final attack. |
| The 'Fileless' Execution: Evading Defenses with In-Memory Attacks | The ransomware was deployed using a sophisticated "fileless" technique. The attackers leveraged obfuscated PowerShell scripts to execute the malicious payload directly in system memory, injecting it into trusted Windows processes. This advanced method is designed to evade traditional antivirus and security tools that scan for malicious files on disk. |
| Covering Their Tracks: Defeating Anti-Forensic Tactics | After encryption, the attackers attempted to erase their digital footprint by clearing security and audit logs on multiple critical servers. Our forensic team successfully identified these anti-forensic measures, providing definitive proof of the attacker's intent and sophistication. |
The Outcome: From Chaos to Clarity and Strategic Recovery
AKATI Sekurity’s investigation provided the client with a complete, end-to-end timeline of the four-month intrusion, transforming chaos and uncertainty into clarity. We delivered irrefutable proof of the initial compromise, the specific credentials used, the lateral movement paths, and the advanced fileless techniques employed.
This intelligence empowered the client to:
Confidently Contain the Breach: Understand the full scope of the compromise to ensure no backdoors remained.
Begin a Secure Recovery: Rebuild their infrastructure with the knowledge of how the attack occurred.
Harden Defenses: Implement targeted, high-priority recommendations based on the attacker's actual tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs).
The investigation provided not just answers, but the strategic roadmap for the client to build a more resilient and secure organization, prepared for the reality of modern, advanced threats.
