A comparative study of CERBER, MAKTUB and LOCKY Ransomware using a Hybridised-Malware analysis
- Authors: Schmitt, Veronica
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Microsoft Windows (Computer file) , Data protection , Computer crimes -- Prevention , Computer security , Computer networks -- Security measures , Computers -- Access control , Malware (Computer software)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92313 , vital:30702
- Description: There has been a significant increase in the prevalence of Ransomware attacks in the preceding four years to date. This indicates that the battle has not yet been won defending against this class of malware. This research proposes that by identifying the similarities within the operational framework of Ransomware strains, a better overall understanding of their operation and function can be achieved. This, in turn, will aid in a quicker response to future attacks. With the average Ransomware attack taking two hours to be identified, it shows that there is not yet a clear understanding as to why these attacks are so successful. Research into Ransomware is limited by what is currently known on the topic. Due to the limitations of the research the decision was taken to only examined three samples of Ransomware from different families. This was decided due to the complexities and comprehensive nature of the research. The in depth nature of the research and the time constraints associated with it did not allow for proof of concept of this framework to be tested on more than three families, but the exploratory work was promising and should be further explored in future research. The aim of the research is to follow the Hybrid-Malware analysis framework which consists of both static and the dynamic analysis phases, in addition to the digital forensic examination of the infected system. This allows for signature-based findings, along with behavioural and forensic findings all in one. This information allows for a better understanding of how this malware is designed and how it infects and remains persistent on a system. The operating system which has been chosen is the Microsoft Window 7 operating system which is still utilised by a significant proportion of Windows users especially in the corporate environment. The experiment process was designed to enable the researcher the ability to collect information regarding the Ransomware and every aspect of its behaviour and communication on a target system. The results can be compared across the three strains to identify the commonalities. The initial hypothesis was that Ransomware variants are all much like an instant cake box consists of specific building blocks which remain the same with the flavouring of the cake mix being the unique feature.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Schmitt, Veronica
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Microsoft Windows (Computer file) , Data protection , Computer crimes -- Prevention , Computer security , Computer networks -- Security measures , Computers -- Access control , Malware (Computer software)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92313 , vital:30702
- Description: There has been a significant increase in the prevalence of Ransomware attacks in the preceding four years to date. This indicates that the battle has not yet been won defending against this class of malware. This research proposes that by identifying the similarities within the operational framework of Ransomware strains, a better overall understanding of their operation and function can be achieved. This, in turn, will aid in a quicker response to future attacks. With the average Ransomware attack taking two hours to be identified, it shows that there is not yet a clear understanding as to why these attacks are so successful. Research into Ransomware is limited by what is currently known on the topic. Due to the limitations of the research the decision was taken to only examined three samples of Ransomware from different families. This was decided due to the complexities and comprehensive nature of the research. The in depth nature of the research and the time constraints associated with it did not allow for proof of concept of this framework to be tested on more than three families, but the exploratory work was promising and should be further explored in future research. The aim of the research is to follow the Hybrid-Malware analysis framework which consists of both static and the dynamic analysis phases, in addition to the digital forensic examination of the infected system. This allows for signature-based findings, along with behavioural and forensic findings all in one. This information allows for a better understanding of how this malware is designed and how it infects and remains persistent on a system. The operating system which has been chosen is the Microsoft Window 7 operating system which is still utilised by a significant proportion of Windows users especially in the corporate environment. The experiment process was designed to enable the researcher the ability to collect information regarding the Ransomware and every aspect of its behaviour and communication on a target system. The results can be compared across the three strains to identify the commonalities. The initial hypothesis was that Ransomware variants are all much like an instant cake box consists of specific building blocks which remain the same with the flavouring of the cake mix being the unique feature.
- Full Text:
A multi-threading software countermeasure to mitigate side channel analysis in the time domain
- Authors: Frieslaar, Ibraheem
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Computer security , Data encryption (Computer science) , Noise generators (Electronics)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/71152 , vital:29790
- Description: This research is the first of its kind to investigate the utilisation of a multi-threading software-based countermeasure to mitigate Side Channel Analysis (SCA) attacks, with a particular focus on the AES-128 cryptographic algorithm. This investigation is novel, as there has not been a software-based countermeasure relying on multi-threading to our knowledge. The research has been tested on the Atmel microcontrollers, as well as a more fully featured system in the form of the popular Raspberry Pi that utilises the ARM7 processor. The main contributions of this research is the introduction of a multi-threading software based countermeasure used to mitigate SCA attacks on both an embedded device and a Raspberry Pi. These threads are comprised of various mathematical operations which are utilised to generate electromagnetic (EM) noise resulting in the obfuscation of the execution of the AES-128 algorithm. A novel EM noise generator known as the FRIES noise generator is implemented to obfuscate data captured in the EM field. FRIES comprises of hiding the execution of AES-128 algorithm within the EM noise generated by the 512 Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) from the libcrypto++ and OpenSSL libraries. In order to evaluate the proposed countermeasure, a novel attack methodology was developed where the entire secret AES-128 encryption key was recovered from a Raspberry Pi, which has not been achieved before. The FRIES noise generator was pitted against this new attack vector and other known noise generators. The results exhibited that the FRIES noise generator withstood this attack whilst other existing techniques still leaked out secret information. The visual location of the AES-128 encryption algorithm in the EM spectrum and key recovery was prevented. These results demonstrated that the proposed multi-threading software based countermeasure was able to be resistant to existing and new forms of attacks, thus verifying that a multi-threading software based countermeasure can serve to mitigate SCA attacks.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Frieslaar, Ibraheem
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Computer security , Data encryption (Computer science) , Noise generators (Electronics)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/71152 , vital:29790
- Description: This research is the first of its kind to investigate the utilisation of a multi-threading software-based countermeasure to mitigate Side Channel Analysis (SCA) attacks, with a particular focus on the AES-128 cryptographic algorithm. This investigation is novel, as there has not been a software-based countermeasure relying on multi-threading to our knowledge. The research has been tested on the Atmel microcontrollers, as well as a more fully featured system in the form of the popular Raspberry Pi that utilises the ARM7 processor. The main contributions of this research is the introduction of a multi-threading software based countermeasure used to mitigate SCA attacks on both an embedded device and a Raspberry Pi. These threads are comprised of various mathematical operations which are utilised to generate electromagnetic (EM) noise resulting in the obfuscation of the execution of the AES-128 algorithm. A novel EM noise generator known as the FRIES noise generator is implemented to obfuscate data captured in the EM field. FRIES comprises of hiding the execution of AES-128 algorithm within the EM noise generated by the 512 Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) from the libcrypto++ and OpenSSL libraries. In order to evaluate the proposed countermeasure, a novel attack methodology was developed where the entire secret AES-128 encryption key was recovered from a Raspberry Pi, which has not been achieved before. The FRIES noise generator was pitted against this new attack vector and other known noise generators. The results exhibited that the FRIES noise generator withstood this attack whilst other existing techniques still leaked out secret information. The visual location of the AES-128 encryption algorithm in the EM spectrum and key recovery was prevented. These results demonstrated that the proposed multi-threading software based countermeasure was able to be resistant to existing and new forms of attacks, thus verifying that a multi-threading software based countermeasure can serve to mitigate SCA attacks.
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A study of malicious software on the macOS operating system
- Authors: Regensberg, Mark Alan
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Malware (Computer software) , Computer security , Computer viruses , Mac OS
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92302 , vital:30701
- Description: Much of the published malware research begins with a common refrain: the cost, quantum and complexity of threats are increasing, and research and practice should prioritise efforts to automate and reduce times to detect and prevent malware, while improving the consistency of categories and taxonomies applied to modern malware. Existing work related to malware targeting Apple's macOS platform has not been spared this approach, although limited research has been conducted on the true nature of threats faced by users of the operating system. While macOS focused research available consistently notes an increase in macOS users, devices and ultimately in threats, an opportunity exists to understand the real nature of threats faced by macOS users and suggest potential avenues for future work. This research provides a view of the current state of macOS malware by analysing and exploring a dataset of malware detections on macOS endpoints captured over a period of eleven months by an anti-malware software vendor. The dataset is augmented with malware information provided by the widely used Virus. Total service, as well as the application of prior automated malware categorisation work, AVClass to categorise and SSDeep to cluster and report on observed data. With Windows and Android platforms frequently in the spotlight as targets for highly disruptive malware like botnets, ransomware and cryptominers, research and intuition seem to suggest the threat of malware on this increasingly popular platform should be growing and evolving accordingly. Findings suggests that the direction and nature of growth and evolution may not be entirely as clear as industry reports suggest. Adware and Potentially Unwanted Applications (PUAs) make up the vast majority of the detected threats, with remote access trojans (RATs), ransomware and cryptocurrency miners comprising a relatively small proportion of the detected malware. This provides a number of avenues for potential future work to compare and contrast with research on other platforms, as well as identification of key factors that may influence its growth in the future.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Regensberg, Mark Alan
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Malware (Computer software) , Computer security , Computer viruses , Mac OS
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92302 , vital:30701
- Description: Much of the published malware research begins with a common refrain: the cost, quantum and complexity of threats are increasing, and research and practice should prioritise efforts to automate and reduce times to detect and prevent malware, while improving the consistency of categories and taxonomies applied to modern malware. Existing work related to malware targeting Apple's macOS platform has not been spared this approach, although limited research has been conducted on the true nature of threats faced by users of the operating system. While macOS focused research available consistently notes an increase in macOS users, devices and ultimately in threats, an opportunity exists to understand the real nature of threats faced by macOS users and suggest potential avenues for future work. This research provides a view of the current state of macOS malware by analysing and exploring a dataset of malware detections on macOS endpoints captured over a period of eleven months by an anti-malware software vendor. The dataset is augmented with malware information provided by the widely used Virus. Total service, as well as the application of prior automated malware categorisation work, AVClass to categorise and SSDeep to cluster and report on observed data. With Windows and Android platforms frequently in the spotlight as targets for highly disruptive malware like botnets, ransomware and cryptominers, research and intuition seem to suggest the threat of malware on this increasingly popular platform should be growing and evolving accordingly. Findings suggests that the direction and nature of growth and evolution may not be entirely as clear as industry reports suggest. Adware and Potentially Unwanted Applications (PUAs) make up the vast majority of the detected threats, with remote access trojans (RATs), ransomware and cryptocurrency miners comprising a relatively small proportion of the detected malware. This provides a number of avenues for potential future work to compare and contrast with research on other platforms, as well as identification of key factors that may influence its growth in the future.
- Full Text:
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