Windows Defender ATP – Page 4 – Computer Security Articles

Detecting and mitigating elevation-of-privilege exploit for CVE-2017-0005

March 27, 2017 admin Advanced persistent threats, Antimalware research for IT pros and enthusiasts, Coreinfo, Creators Update, CVE-2017-005, Device Guard, EoP, PALETTE, Product features and announcements, SMEP, virtualization-based security, Windows 10, Windows 10 Creators Update, Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection, Windows Defender ATP, zero-day exploits, ZIRCONIUM

Credit to Author: msft-mmpc| Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2017 15:00:01 +0000

On March 14, 2017, Microsoft released security bulletin MS17-013 to address CVE-2017-0005, a vulnerability in the Windows Win32k component that could potentially allow elevation of privileges. A report from a trusted partner identified a zero-day exploit for this vulnerability. The exploit targeted older versions of Windows and allowed attackers to elevate process privileges on these platforms. In this article, we…

Microsoft Security

Uncovering cross-process injection with Windows Defender ATP

March 8, 2017 admin Advanced persistent threats, Antimalware research for IT pros and enthusiasts, APTs, bitcoin, CoinMiner, Creators Update, cross-process injection, Exploits, Fynloski RAT, Gatak, GOLD activity group, in-memory attacks, post-breach detection, public preview, Windows 10, Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection, Windows Defender ATP, zero-day exploits

Credit to Author: msft-mmpc| Date: Thu, 09 Mar 2017 06:16:01 +0000

Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (Windows Defender ATP) is a post-breach solution that alerts security operations (SecOps) personnel about hostile activity. As the nature of attacks evolve, Windows Defender ATP must advance so that it continues to help SecOps personnel uncover and address the attacks. With increasing security investments from Microsoft—read how Windows 10 continues to raise…

Microsoft Security

Ransomware: a declining nuisance or an evolving menace?

February 14, 2017 admin Antimalware research for IT pros and enthusiasts, Cerber, CornCrypt, Critorni, Dereilock, Donoff, exploit kit, Locky, Meadgive, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft SmartScreen, Nemucod, Neutrino, ransomware, Samas, spam, spora, Telecrypt, Troldesh, Windows 10, Windows 10 Creators Update, Windows Defender, Windows Defender ATP, Zcryptor

Credit to Author: msft-mmpc| Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2017 21:56:15 +0000

The volume of ransomware encounters is on a downward trend. Are we seeing the beginning of the end of this vicious threat? Unfortunately, a look at the attack vectors, the number of unique families released into the wild, and the improvements in malware code reveals otherwise. Ransomware was arguably the biggest security story of 2016….

Microsoft Security

Averting ransomware epidemics in corporate networks with Windows Defender ATP

January 30, 2017 admin Advanced persistent threats, Antimalware research for IT pros and enthusiasts, Creators Update, ransomware, Windows 10, Windows Defender, Windows Defender ATP

Microsoft security researchers continue to observe ransomware campaigns blanketing the market and indiscriminately hitting potential targets. Unsurprisingly, these campaigns also continue to use email and the web as primary delivery mechanisms. Also, it appears that most corporate victims are simply caught by the wide nets cast by ransomware operators. Unlike cyberespionage groups, ransomware operators do…

Microsoft Security

Detecting threat actors in recent German industrial attacks with Windows Defender ATP

January 25, 2017 admin Advanced persistent threats, advanced threat protection, BARIUM, LEAD, Uncategorized, Windows 10 Creators Update, Windows Defender ATP, Winnti

When a Germany-based industrial conglomerate disclosed in December 2016 that it was breached early that year, the breach was revealed to be a professionally run industrial espionage attack. According to the German press, the intruders used the Winnti family of malware as their main implant, giving them persistent access to the conglomerate’s network as early…

Microsoft Security

Hardening Windows 10 with zero-day exploit mitigations

January 23, 2017 admin Advanced persistent threats, cyberattack defense, Exploits, Microsoft Edge, STRONTIUM APT, Uncategorized, Windows 10, Windows Defender ATP, Zero day exploit

Cyberattacks involving zero-day exploits happen from time to time, affecting different platforms and applications. Over the years, Microsoft security teams have been working extremely hard to address these attacks. While delivering innovative solutions like Windows Defender Application Guard, which provides a safe virtualized layer for the Microsoft Edge browser, and Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection,…

Microsoft Security

Exploit kits remain a cybercrime staple against outdated software – 2016 threat landscape review series

January 23, 2017 admin Angler Exploit Kit, Antimalware research for IT pros and enthusiasts, Axpergle exploit kit, exploit kits, Exploits, Meadgive exploit kit, Microsoft Edge, ransomware, RIG exploit kit, steganography, sundown exploit kit, Windows 10, Windows Defender, Windows Defender ATP, zero-day exploit kit

Despite the disruption of Axpergle (Angler), which dominated the landscape in early 2016, exploit kits as a whole continued to be a threat to PCs running unpatched software. Some of the most prominent threats, from malvertising to ransomware, used exploit kits to infect millions of computers worldwide in 2016. The prevalence of exploit kits as an…

Microsoft Security

Twin zero-day attacks: PROMETHIUM and NEODYMIUM target individuals in Europe

January 23, 2017 admin Advanced persistent threats, Antimalware research for IT pros and enthusiasts, APT, Exploits, NEODYMIUM, PROMETHIUM, Targeted attack, Windows 10, Windows Defender, Windows Defender ATP, Zero day exploit

Targeted attacks are typically carried out against individuals to obtain intellectual property and other valuable data from target organizations. These individuals are either directly in possession of the targeted information or are able to connect to networks where the information resides. Microsoft researchers have encountered twin threat activity groups that appear to target individuals for…