{"id":58849,"date":"2020-02-04T12:12:23","date_gmt":"2020-02-04T20:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forescoutstage.wpengine.com\/?p=58849"},"modified":"2022-12-02T11:38:31","modified_gmt":"2022-12-02T19:38:31","slug":"ekans-windows-ransomware-gets-ics-and-ot-sharps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.forescout.com\/blog\/ekans-windows-ransomware-gets-ics-and-ot-sharps\/","title":{"rendered":"EKANS: Windows ransomware gets ICS and OT sharps"},"content":{"rendered":"

As cybercriminal sophistication continues to grow, tools and techniques used to exploit ICS and OT are extending to new targets like the Honeywell, Thingworx, and GE targets of EKANS<\/a>, a new Windows ransomware with ICS-specific targets.<\/p>\n

Attribution is challenging, but if it proves true that the technical advances are made by cybercriminals instead of state-sponsored threat actors, then the cybercriminal level-up is bad news for industrial and operational technology (OT) operators everywhere.<\/p>\n

Discovered by MalwareHunterTeam<\/a> and described by researcher Vitali Kremez in January in Bleeping Computer<\/a>, EKANS will “kill numerous processes related to SCADA systems, virtual machines, industrial control systems, remote management tools, network management software, and more.”<\/p>\n

The EKANS ransomware is similar to MegaCortex as researched and described by Accenture iDefense­ in August 2019. EKANS (previously called Snake) should not be confused with the Snake ransomware of the Russian APT Turla<\/a> group.<\/p>\n

What do we expect?<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the phenomenon of IT\/OT convergence continues, the consideration of OT system criticality will continue to influence and change the perception, appetite and response to classic, Windows-focused IT risk.<\/p>\n

Although EKANS itself may not be as much of a threat as MegaCortex, which covers a much broader attack surface, it could represent a major milestone for cybercriminals and foretell a more challenging future for ICS and OT operators who need to implement extensive, granular, risk-based controls—including device visibility and control solutions that address IoT and OT risk, NAC, and advanced network segmentation.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/ekans-ransomware-industrial-control-systems<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. https:\/\/twitter.com\/malwrhunterteam<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. https:\/\/www.bleepingcomputer.com\/news\/security\/snake-ransomware-is-the-next-threat-targeting-business-networks\/<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. https:\/\/attack.mitre.org\/groups\/G0010\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    As cybercriminal sophistication continues to grow, tools and techniques used to exploit ICS and OT are extending to new targets like the Honeywell, Thingworx, and GE targets of EKANS, a new Windows ransomware with ICS-specific targets. Attribution is challenging, but if it proves true that the technical advances are made by cybercriminals instead of state-sponsored […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":60243,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[540],"tags":[],"coauthors":[525],"class_list":["post-58849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-and-cyber-alerts"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEKANS: Windows ransomware gets ICS and OT sharps - Forescout<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.forescout.com\/blog\/ekans-windows-ransomware-gets-ics-and-ot-sharps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EKANS: Windows ransomware gets ICS and OT sharps - Forescout\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As cybercriminal sophistication continues to grow, tools and techniques used to exploit ICS and OT are extending to new targets like the Honeywell, Thingworx, and GE targets of EKANS, a new Windows ransomware with ICS-specific targets. Attribution is challenging, but if it proves true that the technical advances are made by cybercriminals instead of state-sponsored […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.forescout.com\/blog\/ekans-windows-ransomware-gets-ics-and-ot-sharps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Forescout\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ForescoutTechnologies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-04T20:12:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-02T19:38:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.forescout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/EKANS_Windows_ransomware_gets_ICS_and_OT_sharps-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1050\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Wolf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Forescout\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Forescout\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.forescout.com\/blog\/ekans-windows-ransomware-gets-ics-and-ot-sharps\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.forescout.com\/blog\/ekans-windows-ransomware-gets-ics-and-ot-sharps\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"David Wolf\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.forescout.com\/#\/schema\/person\/dd2167ebf47714fbb333419d556a208d\"},\"headline\":\"EKANS: Windows ransomware gets ICS and OT sharps\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-04T20:12:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-02T19:38:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.forescout.com\/blog\/ekans-windows-ransomware-gets-ics-and-ot-sharps\/\"},\"wordCount\":273,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.forescout.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.forescout.com\/blog\/ekans-windows-ransomware-gets-ics-and-ot-sharps\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.forescout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/EKANS_Windows_ransomware_gets_ICS_and_OT_sharps-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Research & Cyber Alerts\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.forescout.com\/blog\/ekans-windows-ransomware-gets-ics-and-ot-sharps\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.forescout.com\/blog\/ekans-windows-ransomware-gets-ics-and-ot-sharps\/\",\"name\":\"EKANS: Windows ransomware gets ICS and OT sharps - 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