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:
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:
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.