'GodDamn' Ransomware Brings A Signed, Sealed, And Delivered Catastrophe To The Flock
I want everyone to take a breath. Not because this is fine. It is absolutely not fine. I want you to breathe so you have enough oxygen in your brain to fully appreciate how catastrophically, breathtakingly stupid this situation is.
Microsoft signed a malicious kernel driver. They put their official stamp of approval on it. They handed the wolf a shepherd's crook and a high-visibility vest, and now he is strolling right through the Electric Fence like he owns the pasture.
This is the "GodDamn" ransomware campaign, and yes, that is the actual name. I did not choose it, but I respect the honesty.
Here is the technical reality, stripped of the marketing language the modern vendors love so much. The wolves are using a technique called BYOVD, Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver. They introduce a legitimately signed, deeply trusted kernel-level component into the system. That component then murders your security software from the inside. Your endpoint protection collapses. Your monitoring goes dark. The flock stands there, chewing grass, completely unaware.
In the Old Days, we did not have this problem. You know why? Because we did not hand cryptographic trust certificates to every piece of software that filled out a form correctly. We were suspicious. We were appropriately paranoid. We verified things on magnetic tape and we liked it.
The Shepherds in your C-suite will ask, "But Victor, didn't Microsoft have a process for this?" Yes. They did. The process failed. Processes fail. That is why you build redundant fences, not why you stand next to one fence feeling confident.
The Lambs in your organization are already clicking on things. They do not need additional help from a signed kernel driver that disables the one tool standing between them and encrypted oblivion.
Remediation
I should not have to say these things, but here we are.
First: Audit your signed drivers. Right now. Not tomorrow. The Microsoft Vulnerable Driver Blocklist exists. Deploy it. Use it. Worship it.
Second: Enable Windows Defender Credential Guard and kernel-level attack surface reduction rules. This is not optional. It is the digital equivalent of a second fence.
Third: Implement layered monitoring. If your primary security tooling goes silent, that silence should trigger an alarm louder than a panicked ram at shearing time. Visibility gaps are not acceptable.
Fourth: Patch. Dip the entire flock. No exceptions. The Shepherds who defer patching cycles because it "disrupts productivity" can explain that productivity disruption to the ransomware negotiator.
The Sky Pasture will not save you. The tunnel will not save you. Discipline will save you.
Stay paranoid out there, it is the only rational response.
Original Report: https://www.darkreading.com/cyberattacks-data-breaches/goddamn-ransomware-byovd-smite-companies