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Protecting Against Credential-Harvesting Ransomware.

Ransomware tactics are evolving, and recent attacks show they’re not just targeting data encryption anymore. The Qilin ransomware attack, which exploited compromised VPN credentials and browser-stored data, illustrates a new kind of threat facing remote access systems. If your organization is relying solely on VPNs for security, you could be leaving your network wide open to these emerging vulnerabilities.

The Qilin Ransomware Attack: A New Breed of Threat

In July 2024, the Qilin ransomware group exploited VPN credentials that lacked multi-factor authentication (MFA) to gain access to a network. Once inside, they silently waited for 18 days before launching a targeted attack that included a credential-harvesting PowerShell script, stealing data stored in Google Chrome. This allowed them to steal sensitive login information before encrypting files and demanding a ransom.

According to The Hacker News article on the Qilin ransomware attack, this incident shows how threat actors are expanding their toolkit, no longer relying on just encryption but also stealing credentials to further exploit victims or sell on the dark web.

This attack revealed two significant weaknesses:

1

Compromised VPN Credentials:

Without MFA, attackers easily gained access using stolen VPN credentials.

2

Local Endpoint Vulnerabilities:

The attackers used local scripts to extract browser-stored data, exposing user credentials to further exploitation.

This proves that traditional VPNs, while securing network traffic, can leave dangerous gaps when it comes to protecting endpoints and sensitive data stored locally.

Why Traditional VPNs Aren’t Enough

VPNs are critical for securing communications between remote users and corporate networks, but they fall short in several ways:

1

Compromised Credentials:

In the Qilin attack, stolen VPN credentials provided attackers unrestricted access to the network.

2

Vulnerable Endpoints:

Without additional security measures, local vulnerabilities, such as browser-stored credentials, can be easily exploited.

Simply relying on VPNs—especially without MFA or additional layers of endpoint security—leaves organizations exposed to increasingly sophisticated attacks like Qilin.

How Beam Secures Remote Access Beyond VPNs

Beam, a secure remote access solution, is built to address the very gaps that the Qilin ransomware exploited. It combines secure VPN tunneling with hypervisor-based endpoint protection, ensuring your network is shielded from these types of attacks.

1

Always-On VPN Enforcement:

Beam enforces continuous VPN protection, preventing users from disabling or misconfiguring VPN settings. This ensures that all network traffic is securely tunneled through VPNs, minimizing the risk of the type of unauthorized access that was seen in the Qilin attack.

2

Hypervisor-Based Isolation:

Beam runs beneath the user’s operating system through a type 1 hypervisor. This isolates network traffic and shields sensitive data from local attacks, such as the credential-harvesting PowerShell script used in the Qilin attack. With Beam, malware that targets endpoint vulnerabilities would be blocked from accessing critical network paths and sensitive data.

3

Protection Against Browser-Based Attacks:

In the Qilin attack, attackers targeted credentials stored in Google Chrome. Beam reduces this risk by ensuring that all data flows through encrypted VPN tunnels, even at the local level. By enforcing strong security protocols and isolation, it helps protect against browser-based credential theft.

4

Transparent and Seamless Operation:

Once Beam is installed, it operates in the background without user intervention. This ensures secure connections are maintained at all times, reducing the likelihood of users accidentally disabling VPNs or leaving the network exposed.

5

Multi-VPN and High-Security Support:

Beam supports a wide variety of VPN protocols, including Cisco, Aruba and WireGuard, providing flexibility for different security needs. For high-security environments, Beam’s NSA CSfC-compliant double tunnel option adds extra layers of protection, making it much harder for attackers to gain access through compromised credentials.

Is your current VPN solution enough to protect your organization from the next wave of attacks?

Contact us to learn more about Beam today

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