On March 22, 2024, The Hacker News reported on a massive malware campaign dubbed "Sign1" that compromised over 39,000 WordPress sites in the last six months, using malicious JavaScript injections to redirect users to scam sites. This article will focus on helping you plan and execute a cybersecurity fire drill simulation based on this incident.
Who Is This For?
This cybersecurity fire drill exercise is relevant for:
- Organizations using WordPress or similar content management systems
- Web development and security teams responsible for protecting public-facing websites
- Incident response teams that need to be prepared for large-scale malware campaigns
Simulation Start Points
Choosing an interesting starting point is crucial for an engaging simulation. Here are some ideas:
- A sharp increase in outbound traffic is detected from the company's WordPress server
- Multiple users report being redirected to suspicious sites after visiting the company blog
- The security team discovers unfamiliar JavaScript code injected into the site's HTML
- A threat intelligence feed warns about a new campaign targeting WordPress plugins used by the company
Cybersecurity Fire Drill Simulation Phases
Walk through each phase of the NIST Incident Response framework:
- Detection and Analysis
- Identify indicators of compromise and scope of the attack
- Analyze malicious JavaScript and redirects
- Determine which plugins or vulnerabilities were exploited
- Containment
- Isolate infected servers or take the compromised site offline
- Block malicious IPs and domains on firewalls and DNS
- Reset passwords and revoke access for any breached accounts
- Eradication
- Remove injected JavaScript and restore from clean backups
- Update all WordPress plugins and core to patched versions
- Implement stricter security measures (e.g. 2FA, IP restrictions)
- Recovery
- Thoroughly test the cleaned site before putting it back online
- Monitor closely for any signs of re-infection
- Communicate with affected users and stakeholders
- Post-Incident Activity
- Conduct a detailed retrospective and document lessons learned
- Refine the incident response plan based on gaps identified
- Implement additional security controls to prevent future incidents
Inject Ideas
Injects can make the simulation more challenging and realistic:
- The attackers launch a DDoS attack to distract the security team during remediation
- It's discovered that customer PII was exfiltrated through the malicious redirects
- A public disclosure of the breach forces the team to manage communications during the incident
- The latest WordPress security updates cause compatibility issues with a critical plugin
MITRE ATT&CK Techniques
Relevant MITRE ATT&CK techniques for this scenario may include:
- T1189 - Drive-by Compromise: The malicious JavaScript redirects were likely injected through a drive-by download attack
- T1059.007 - JavaScript: The attackers leveraged malicious JavaScript to redirect users and potentially steal data
- T1556.003 - Pluggable Authentication Modules: Compromising WordPress plugins is a common attack vector
- T1082 - System Information Discovery: The JavaScript may have probed for details about the victim's browser and system
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