Free Privileged Account Discovery Tool: Identify & secure credentials to stop lateral movement. Download Free

BeyondTrust
  • Products
    Privileged Password Management
    Discover, manage, audit, and monitor privileged accounts
    Password Safe DevOps Secrets Safe
    Endpoint Privilege Management
    Manage privileges on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Unix endpoints
    Windows and Mac Unix and Linux Active Directory Bridge
    Secure Remote Access
    Centrally manage and secure remote access for service desks and vendors
    Remote Support Privileged Remote Access
    BeyondInsight Analytics
    See All Solutions
  • Resources

    Universal Privilege Management

    Our innovative Universal Privilege Management approach secures every user, asset, and session across your entire enterprise.

    Watch Video

    Learn

    Case Studies
    Competitor Comparisons
    Datasheets
    Glossary
    Product Demos
    Whitepapers

    Attend

    Events
    Go Beyond
    Training
    Webinars

    Support

    Changelog
    Professional Services
    Technical Documentation
  • Blog
  • Partners
  • Contact
  • Support
  • Services
  • Training
  • Events
  • Company

Go Go PowerWare Rangers

October 20, 2017

  • Blog
  • Archive

In the tech world recently there have been discussions regarding a new type of ransomware, which has been dubbed “PowerWare”. It has been named this way due to the fact that instead of using an exploit to download malicious software to run on the users’ machine and encrypt their files, exploits are instead used to invoke PowerShell to do the damage.

The mechanism is very similar to previous malware attempts delivered via exploited documents – a good example being a malicious macro in a Microsoft Word document that spawns cmd.exe, which in turn opens two instances of PowerShell; one to download a malicious script, and the other to run the script once the download is complete.

You can appreciate why this has been done; it’s much easier for malware to execute when PowerShell is viewed as a piece of legitimate software that is needed day to day to run scripts or cmdlets in your environment. The difficulty is finding a way to ensure that this cannot access your users’ files.

Many implementations would use heuristics in order to detect malicious behaviour; others may block PowerShell or cmd in certain circumstances, such as when it is a child process of a potentially malicious source, e.g. Microsoft Word, or Adobe Reader. However this is limited by trying to block list all possible attack types; any gaps would allow attacks to work out a way around the restrictions.

Using Defendpoint, you can proactively defend against this type of malware. In the PowerWare scenario, the user either downloads the malicious document via the web browser, or receives the document via a phishing email. Defendpoint automatically isolates the document in a secure Sandbox. The Sandbox is isolated from the user environment, so it is straight forward to apply strict application allow listing; only the browser, plugins and content viewers should run. This can not only prevent the attacker from launching PowerShell, but prevents any malicious applications or scripts dropped to disk from executing as well.

The unique context of the Sandbox allows Defendpoint to block web-based threats that exploit tools such as PowerShell, without limiting the user's ability to launch them. As Defendpoint is completely proactive, it is just as effective against any other future attacks, as well as current known ones, that makes use of malicious content in this manner.

Gareth Remblance

Stay Up To Date

Get the latest news, ideas, and tactics from BeyondTrust. You may unsubscribe at any time.

I agree to receive product related communications from BeyondTrust as detailed in the Privacy Policy, and I may manage my preferences or withdraw my consent at any time.

You May Also Be Interested In:

Webcasts | February 25, 2021

Customer Tips & Tricks: Remote Support for Android

Webcasts | February 09, 2021

Customer Webinar: Remote Support 21.1 Released!

Webcasts | February 24, 2021

Your PAM 2021 Blueprint: Securing Privileged Accounts for On-Premises and Cloud Assets

BeyondTrust Logo
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Keep up with BeyondTrust

I agree to receive product related communications from BeyondTrust as detailed in the Privacy Policy, and I may manage my preferences or withdraw my consent at any time.

Customer Support
Contact Sales

Products

  • Endpoint Privilege Management
  • Password Management
  • Privileged Remote Access
  • DevOps Secrets Safe
  • Remote Support

Resources

  • Blog
  • Case Studies
  • Competitor Comparisons
  • Datasheets
  • Glossary
  • Videos
  • Webcasts
  • Whitepapers

About

  • Company
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Events
  • Leadership Team
  • Partner Program
  • Press

Languages

  • English
  • German
  • French
  • Spanish
  • Korean
  • Portuguese
  • Japanese
  • Privacy
  • Security
  • Manage Cookies
  • WEEE Compliance

Copyright © 1999 — 2020 BeyondTrust Corporation. All rights reserved. Other trademarks identified on this page are owned by their respective owners. BeyondTrust Corporation is not a chartered bank or trust company, or depository institution. It is not authorized to accept deposits or trust accounts and is not licensed or regulated by any state or federal banking authority.