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.
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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.
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- 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.
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Pseudo-random access compressed archive for security log data
- Authors: Radley, Johannes Jurgens
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Computer security , Information storage and retrieval systems , Data compression (Computer science)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4723 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020019
- Description: We are surrounded by an increasing number of devices and applications that produce a huge quantity of machine generated data. Almost all the machine data contains some element of security information that can be used to discover, monitor and investigate security events.The work proposes a pseudo-random access compressed storage method for log data to be used with an information retrieval system that in turn provides the ability to search and correlate log data and the corresponding events. We explain the method for converting log files into distinct events and storing the events in a compressed file. This yields an entry identifier for each log entry that provides a pointer that can be used by indexing methods. The research also evaluates the compression performance penalties encountered by using this storage system, including decreased compression ratio, as well as increased compression and decompression times.
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- Authors: Radley, Johannes Jurgens
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Computer security , Information storage and retrieval systems , Data compression (Computer science)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4723 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020019
- Description: We are surrounded by an increasing number of devices and applications that produce a huge quantity of machine generated data. Almost all the machine data contains some element of security information that can be used to discover, monitor and investigate security events.The work proposes a pseudo-random access compressed storage method for log data to be used with an information retrieval system that in turn provides the ability to search and correlate log data and the corresponding events. We explain the method for converting log files into distinct events and storing the events in a compressed file. This yields an entry identifier for each log entry that provides a pointer that can be used by indexing methods. The research also evaluates the compression performance penalties encountered by using this storage system, including decreased compression ratio, as well as increased compression and decompression times.
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Towards a framework for building security operation centers
- Authors: Jacobs, Pierre Conrad
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Security systems industry , Systems engineering , Expert systems (Computer science) , COBIT (Information technology management standard) , Computer security
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4710 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017932
- Description: In this thesis a framework for Security Operation Centers (SOCs) is proposed. It was developed by utilising Systems Engineering best practices, combined with industry-accepted standards and frameworks, such as the TM Forum’s eTOM framework, CoBIT, ITIL, and ISO/IEC 27002:2005. This framework encompasses the design considerations, the operational considerations and the means to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of SOCs. The intent is to provide guidance to consumers on how to compare and measure the capabilities of SOCs provided by disparate service providers, and to provide service providers (internal and external) a framework to use when building and improving their offerings. The importance of providing a consistent, measureable and guaranteed service to customers is becoming more important, as there is an increased focus on holistic management of security. This has in turn resulted in an increased number of both internal and managed service provider solutions. While some frameworks exist for designing, building and operating specific security technologies used within SOCs, we did not find any comprehensive framework for designing, building and managing SOCs. Consequently, consumers of SOCs do not enjoy a constant experience from vendors, and may experience inconsistent services from geographically dispersed offerings provided by the same vendor.
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- Authors: Jacobs, Pierre Conrad
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Security systems industry , Systems engineering , Expert systems (Computer science) , COBIT (Information technology management standard) , Computer security
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4710 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017932
- Description: In this thesis a framework for Security Operation Centers (SOCs) is proposed. It was developed by utilising Systems Engineering best practices, combined with industry-accepted standards and frameworks, such as the TM Forum’s eTOM framework, CoBIT, ITIL, and ISO/IEC 27002:2005. This framework encompasses the design considerations, the operational considerations and the means to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of SOCs. The intent is to provide guidance to consumers on how to compare and measure the capabilities of SOCs provided by disparate service providers, and to provide service providers (internal and external) a framework to use when building and improving their offerings. The importance of providing a consistent, measureable and guaranteed service to customers is becoming more important, as there is an increased focus on holistic management of security. This has in turn resulted in an increased number of both internal and managed service provider solutions. While some frameworks exist for designing, building and operating specific security technologies used within SOCs, we did not find any comprehensive framework for designing, building and managing SOCs. Consequently, consumers of SOCs do not enjoy a constant experience from vendors, and may experience inconsistent services from geographically dispersed offerings provided by the same vendor.
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Log analysis aided by latent semantic mapping
- Authors: Buys, Stephanus
- Date: 2013 , 2013-04-14
- Subjects: Latent semantic indexing , Data mining , Computer networks -- Security measures , Computer hackers , Computer security
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4575 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002963 , Latent semantic indexing , Data mining , Computer networks -- Security measures , Computer hackers , Computer security
- Description: In an age of zero-day exploits and increased on-line attacks on computing infrastructure, operational security practitioners are becoming increasingly aware of the value of the information captured in log events. Analysis of these events is critical during incident response, forensic investigations related to network breaches, hacking attacks and data leaks. Such analysis has led to the discipline of Security Event Analysis, also known as Log Analysis. There are several challenges when dealing with events, foremost being the increased volumes at which events are often generated and stored. Furthermore, events are often captured as unstructured data, with very little consistency in the formats or contents of the events. In this environment, security analysts and implementers of Log Management (LM) or Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems face the daunting task of identifying, classifying and disambiguating massive volumes of events in order for security analysis and automation to proceed. Latent Semantic Mapping (LSM) is a proven paradigm shown to be an effective method of, among other things, enabling word clustering, document clustering, topic clustering and semantic inference. This research is an investigation into the practical application of LSM in the discipline of Security Event Analysis, showing the value of using LSM to assist practitioners in identifying types of events, classifying events as belonging to certain sources or technologies and disambiguating different events from each other. The culmination of this research presents adaptations to traditional natural language processing techniques that resulted in improved efficacy of LSM when dealing with Security Event Analysis. This research provides strong evidence supporting the wider adoption and use of LSM, as well as further investigation into Security Event Analysis assisted by LSM and other natural language or computer-learning processing techniques. , LaTeX with hyperref package , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
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- Authors: Buys, Stephanus
- Date: 2013 , 2013-04-14
- Subjects: Latent semantic indexing , Data mining , Computer networks -- Security measures , Computer hackers , Computer security
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4575 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002963 , Latent semantic indexing , Data mining , Computer networks -- Security measures , Computer hackers , Computer security
- Description: In an age of zero-day exploits and increased on-line attacks on computing infrastructure, operational security practitioners are becoming increasingly aware of the value of the information captured in log events. Analysis of these events is critical during incident response, forensic investigations related to network breaches, hacking attacks and data leaks. Such analysis has led to the discipline of Security Event Analysis, also known as Log Analysis. There are several challenges when dealing with events, foremost being the increased volumes at which events are often generated and stored. Furthermore, events are often captured as unstructured data, with very little consistency in the formats or contents of the events. In this environment, security analysts and implementers of Log Management (LM) or Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems face the daunting task of identifying, classifying and disambiguating massive volumes of events in order for security analysis and automation to proceed. Latent Semantic Mapping (LSM) is a proven paradigm shown to be an effective method of, among other things, enabling word clustering, document clustering, topic clustering and semantic inference. This research is an investigation into the practical application of LSM in the discipline of Security Event Analysis, showing the value of using LSM to assist practitioners in identifying types of events, classifying events as belonging to certain sources or technologies and disambiguating different events from each other. The culmination of this research presents adaptations to traditional natural language processing techniques that resulted in improved efficacy of LSM when dealing with Security Event Analysis. This research provides strong evidence supporting the wider adoption and use of LSM, as well as further investigation into Security Event Analysis assisted by LSM and other natural language or computer-learning processing techniques. , LaTeX with hyperref package , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
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