Detecting knowledge theft with Wazuh, the open-source XDR


Information theft is the act of stealing knowledge saved in enterprise databases, endpoints, and servers. The stolen knowledge can embrace credentials, bank card numbers, private identifiable info, medical information, software program code, and proprietary applied sciences. Information theft happens each inside and out of doors a corporation.

Malicious actors can steal knowledge from organizations or people to promote it to different malicious actors. Information theft is a significant danger for a lot of organizations as a result of it may end up in identification theft, fame harm, and monetary loss.

Frequent causes of knowledge theft

Menace actors steal knowledge from organizations utilizing numerous strategies. The frequent causes of knowledge theft are as follows:

  • Software program vulnerabilities and misconfigurations: Poorly written software program or outdated software program can have vulnerabilities that malicious actors can exploit to steal knowledge. Misconfiguration happens when safety settings will not be correctly outlined in the course of the configuration course of.

    Misconfigurations can embrace default passwords, usernames, and insecure protocols, ports, and companies. Malicious actors can steal delicate info from a corporation’s servers that aren’t adequately configured.

  • Malware downloads: A company’s worker can unintentionally obtain malware to their machine by visiting a compromised web site. This malware can permit a malicious actor to steal knowledge from the contaminated machine.
  • Insider risk: Workers can pose a critical risk to a corporation since they’ve licensed entry to the group’s delicate knowledge. A disgruntled worker can steal or promote such knowledge for monetary acquire. Insider threats can come from present or former staff, contractors, and companions who’ve entry to delicate knowledge of a corporation.

Penalties of knowledge theft to organizations

Organizations which can be knowledge theft victims can undergo the next penalties:

  • Lack of clients: Prospects of a corporation can undergo monetary loss or delicate knowledge publicity as a consequence of knowledge theft. This often discourages the purchasers or customers from persevering with enterprise with the affected group.
  • Lawsuits from clients: Prospects whose knowledge has been mishandled by a corporation can take authorized motion in opposition to such organizations.
  • Excessive restoration prices: Organizations spend some huge cash patching techniques and recovering knowledge after affected by knowledge theft.
  • Regulatory fines: Relying on the business, a corporation can face hefty fines from regulatory our bodies for non-compliant with their safety mandates.
  • Disruption to enterprise operations: A company can expertise disruption to their enterprise operations following a knowledge theft on their mission-critical techniques.

How Wazuh detects knowledge theft

Wazuh is a free and open supply enterprise-ready safety resolution that gives unified SIEM and XDR safety throughout a number of workloads.

It offers a centralized view for risk detection and safety monitoring throughout virtualized, on-premises, cloud-based, and containerized environments.

Wazuh presents a number of capabilities organizations can implement to stop, detect and reply to safety threats. The sections beneath spotlight a number of Wazuh capabilities that supply safety in opposition to knowledge theft.

File integrity monitoring

The File Integrity Monitoring (FIM) module displays an endpoint’s information and directories. It triggers an alert when there’s a file creation, modification, or deletion.

The Wazuh FIM module shops the cryptographic checksum and different attributes of information and Home windows registry keys to detect when there’s a change in these values. Monitoring of information, directories, and Home windows registries is completed periodically or in close to real-time.

Malicious actors use malware to steal knowledge from endpoints. This malware creates or downloads malicious information on the contaminated endpoints. The Wazuh FIM module detects when these information are created or downloaded on the contaminated endpoints.

For instance, on this weblog put up, the Wazuh FIM module detects information created and downloaded by STRRAT malware. Determine 3 beneath reveals the detection of STRRAT malware with the Wazuh FIM module.

Wazuh FIM module detects STRRAT malware
Fig. 1. Wazuh FIM module detects STRRAT malware.

Vulnerability detection

Vulnerability detection is the method of figuring out safety weaknesses within the working system and purposes put in on monitored endpoints. Wazuh makes use of the Vulnerability Detector module to detect vulnerabilities on monitored endpoints.

Wazuh builds a worldwide vulnerability database from publicly obtainable Frequent Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) repositories. Wazuh then makes use of this database to cross-correlate the applying stock knowledge collected from monitored endpoints to detect weak software program.

The Wazuh Vulnerability Detector module can uncover unpatched vulnerabilities on endpoints that malicious actors can exploit to steal knowledge.

Wazuh dashboard showing the vulnerability report of a monitored endpoint.
Fig. 2. Wazuh dashboard exhibiting the vulnerability report of a monitored endpoint.

Safety Configuration Evaluation (SCA)

Safety configuration evaluation is the method of scanning monitored endpoints to find misconfigurations that may expose such endpoints to cyber assaults.

SCA repeatedly improves system configuration posture by adopting requirements such because the Middle of Web Safety (CIS), NIST, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, and lots of extra.

Wazuh SCA module performs common scans on monitored endpoints to find delicate knowledge exposures or misconfigurations. These scans assess the configuration of the endpoint or purposes on the endpoint utilizing coverage information that include guidelines to be examined in opposition to the precise configuration of the endpoint.

Wazuh SCA can uncover pointless companies, default credentials, insecure protocols, and ports on monitored endpoints that malicious actors can exploit to steal knowledge.

SCA scan result shows that netcat is running on a macOS endpoint.
Fig. 3. SCA scan end result reveals that netcat is operating on a macOS endpoint.

Log knowledge evaluation

Log knowledge evaluation is the method of reviewing logs generated from units to detect cyber threats and establish safety bugs and dangers.

Wazuh collects safety logs generated from a number of endpoints and makes use of decoders and guidelines to analyze them.

Disgruntled staff or malicious actors can use USB drives to steal delicate knowledge from a corporation’s endpoint. Wazuh collects and analyzes the occasion logs generated when a USB drive is inserted into an endpoint.

On this weblog put up, Wazuh detects unauthorized and licensed USB drives utilizing a relentless database (CDB) checklist of licensed USB drives.

Unauthorized USB drive event​​​​​​​
Fig. 4. Unauthorized USB drive occasion

Conclusion

Organizations face the danger of knowledge theft in the event that they fail to implement efficient safety controls. The affect of knowledge theft may be extremely devastating to organizations. Therefore, organizations can leverage numerous capabilities of Wazuh to detect knowledge theft successfully.

Wazuh is a free and open supply XDR resolution with a number of modules for cyber risk detection and response.

Wazuh integrates seamlessly with third-party options and applied sciences. Wazuh additionally has an ever-growing group the place customers are supported. To study extra about Wazuh, please try our documentation and weblog posts.

Sponsored and written by Wazuh

Related Articles

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest Articles