Ransomware Defense-in-Depth: Infrastructure Hardening
Ransomware groups have transitioned from scattershot email campaigns to targeted corporate intrusions, exploiting open remote ports, unpatched VPN appliances, or compromised vendor accounts. Once inside, they move laterally to locate and delete database backups before encrypting primary systems.
To protect against these threats, organizations should implement a defense-in-depth strategy.
Key Hardening Measures
1. Network Segmentation
Avoid using a flat internal network design. Group systems into separate VLANs and restrict communication between them using firewall rules. This limits an attacker's ability to move laterally if a single node is compromised.
2. Immutable Backups
Maintain offsite, read-only backups that cannot be modified or deleted, even with administrator credentials. Test backup restoration procedures regularly.
3. Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
Deploy EDR tools across all company servers and workstations to monitor processes and detect malicious activities in real time.
