Incident Score: Analysis & Impact (CISTHEFBI1774844752)
The details regarding individual company incidents & reports gives you full view from every side.
Rankiteo Score Impact Analysis
Key Highlights From The Incident Analysis
- Timeline of Center for Internet Security's Ransomware and lateral movement inside company's environment.
- Overview of affected data sets, including SSNs and PHI, and why they materially increase incident severity.
- How Rankiteo’s incident engine converts technical details into a normalized incident score.
- How this cyber incident impacts Center for Internet Security Rankiteo cyber scoring and cyber rating.
- Rankiteo’s MITRE ATT&CK correlation analysis for this incident, with associated confidence level.
Full Incident Analysis Transcript
In this Rankiteo incident briefing, we review the Center for Internet Security breach identified under incident ID CISTHEFBI1774844752.
The analysis begins with a detailed overview of Center for Internet Security's information like the linkedin page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-center-for-internet-security, the number of followers: 149338, the industry type: Computer and Network Security and the number of employees: 498 employees
After the initial compromise, the video explains how Rankiteo's incident engine converts technical details into a normalized incident score. The incident score before the incident was 758 and after the incident was 650 with a difference of -108 which is could be a good indicator of the severity and impact of the incident.
In the next step of the video, we will analyze in more details the incident and the impact it had on Center for Internet Security and their customers.
A newly reported cybersecurity incident, "#StopRansomware Guide Update for Incident Response", has drawn attention.
CISA, alongside the FBI, NSA, and MS-ISAC, released an updated #StopRansomware Guide to standardize ransomware response protocols, outlining structured approaches for detection, containment, eradication, and recovery from ransomware attacks.
Impact assessments are still underway, so the full scope is not yet clear.
In response, teams activated the incident response plan, moved swiftly to contain the threat with measures like Isolate impacted systems by disconnecting networks at the switch level or physically unplugging devices, Take snapshots of cloud volumes for forensic review and Use out-of-band communication (e.g., phone calls) to avoid tipping off attackers, and began remediation that includes Capture system images, memory dumps, and malware samples for analysis, Disable ransomware binaries and remove associated registry entries and Disable remote access and reset passwords due to credential theft, while recovery efforts such as Prioritize restoration of critical systems (health, safety, revenue), Rebuild systems using clean images or infrastructure-as-code templates and Reconnect systems from offline backups while preventing reinfection continue, and stakeholders are being briefed through Engage internal stakeholders (IT, leadership, cyber insurers) and external agencies (CISA, FBI); follow incident response plans for breach disclosures.
The case underscores how teams are taking away lessons such as Ransomware incidents may signal deeper compromises; thorough investigation is necessary to prevent recurrence. Document lessons learned and share indicators of compromise with CISA or sector-specific ISACs, and recommending next steps like Follow structured incident response protocols for ransomware, Prioritize critical systems for restoration and Conduct forensic analysis to identify precursor malware and persistence mechanisms, with advisories going out to stakeholders covering Engage internal stakeholders (IT, leadership, cyber insurers) and external agencies (CISA, FBI, U.S. Secret Service).
Finally, we try to match the incident with the MITRE ATT&CK framework to see if there is any correlation between the incident and the MITRE ATT&CK framework.
The MITRE ATT&CK framework is a knowledge base of techniques and sub-techniques that are used to describe the tactics and procedures of cyber adversaries. It is a powerful tool for understanding the threat landscape and for developing effective defense strategies.
MITRE ATT&CK® Correlation Analysis
Rankiteo's analysis has identified several MITRE ATT&CK tactics and techniques associated with this incident, each with varying levels of confidence based on available evidence. Under the Initial Access tactic, the analysis identified Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190) with lower confidence (40%), supported by evidence indicating precursor malware (e.g., Bumblebee, QakBot, or Cobalt Strike) and Valid Accounts (T1078) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating unauthorized Active Directory accounts, suspicious VPN logins. Under the Execution tactic, the analysis identified User Execution: Malicious File (T1204.002) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating precursor malware (e.g., Bumblebee, QakBot, or Cobalt Strike) and Command and Scripting Interpreter: Windows Command Shell (T1059.003) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating misuse of built-in Windows tools (e.g., vssadmin.exe, PsExec). Under the Persistence tactic, the analysis identified Account Manipulation (T1098) with moderate to high confidence (80%), supported by evidence indicating unauthorized Active Directory accounts, rogue accounts and Create or Modify System Process: Windows Service (T1543.003) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating identify persistence mechanisms, such as backdoors. Under the Privilege Escalation tactic, the analysis identified Valid Accounts (T1078) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating unauthorized Active Directory accounts, suspicious VPN logins and Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068) with moderate confidence (50%), supported by evidence indicating precursor malware (e.g., Bumblebee, QakBot, or Cobalt Strike). Under the Defense Evasion tactic, the analysis identified Indicator Removal: Clear Windows Event Logs (T1070.001) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating powering down devices risks losing volatile memory evidence and Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify Tools (T1562.001) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating misuse of built-in Windows tools (e.g., vssadmin.exe). Under the Credential Access tactic, the analysis identified OS Credential Dumping (T1003) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating credential theft, requiring password resets and Credentials from Password Stores (T1555) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating unauthorized Active Directory accounts, suspicious VPN logins. Under the Discovery tactic, the analysis identified Account Discovery: Domain Account (T1087.002) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating unauthorized Active Directory accounts and Network Service Discovery (T1046) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating threat hunting for anomalous activity. Under the Lateral Movement tactic, the analysis identified Remote Services: Remote Desktop Protocol (T1021.001) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating disable remote access due to credential theft and Lateral Tool Transfer (T1570) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating precursor malware (e.g., Cobalt Strike). Under the Collection tactic, the analysis identified Data from Local System (T1005) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating signs of data exfiltration. Under the Command and Control tactic, the analysis identified Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols (T1071.001) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating precursor malware (e.g., Cobalt Strike). Under the Exfiltration tactic, the analysis identified Exfiltration Over C2 Channel (T1041) with moderate to high confidence (80%), supported by evidence indicating signs of data exfiltration, possible data exfiltration. Under the Impact tactic, the analysis identified Data Encrypted for Impact (T1486) with high confidence (90%), supported by evidence indicating ransomware data encryption, possible data encryption. These correlations help security teams understand the attack chain and develop appropriate defensive measures based on the observed tactics and techniques.
Sources & References
- Center for Internet Security Rankiteo Cyber Incident Details: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/the-center-for-internet-security/incident/CISTHEFBI1774844752
- Center for Internet Security CyberSecurity Rating page: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/the-center-for-internet-security
- Center for Internet Security Rankiteo Cyber Incident Blog Article: https://blog.rankiteo.com/cisthefbi1774844752-fbi-multi-state-information-sharing-and-analysis-center-cybersecurity-and-infrastructure-security-agency-ransomware-july-2021/
- Center for Internet Security CyberSecurity Score History: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/the-center-for-internet-security/history
- Center for Internet Security CyberSecurity Incident Source: https://www.cisa.gov/stopransomware/ive-been-hit-ransomware
- Rankiteo A.I CyberSecurity Rating methodology: https://www.rankiteo.com/Images/rankiteo_algo.pdf
- Rankiteo TPRM Scoring methodology: https://static.rankiteo.com/model/rankiteo_tprm_methodology.pdf