The Cl0p Ransomware Attack on Saks Fifth Avenue

The Cl0p ransomware gang listed "Saks Fifth Avenue" on its dark web data leaks website and claims to have exfiltrated data, which Saks claims was merely “mock customer data does not include real customer or payment card information and is solely used to simulate customer orders for testing purposes.”

“The cyber security incident is among Clop's ongoing attacks against vulnerable GoAnywhere MFT servers belonging to established enterprises. Although the company states no real customer data is impacted, it did not address if corporate or employee data was stolen,” Bleeping Computer reported.

“The threat actor has not yet disclosed any additional information, such as what all data it stole from the luxury brand retailer's systems, or details about any ongoing ransom negotiations... BleepingComputer reached out to Saks to better understand the scope of this incident. A spokesperson confirmed the incident was linked to Fortra.”

Takeaway:

While there are few details available about the data breach aspect of the Saks attack, the notion that Cl0p may have only exfiltrated "fake data" stood out as a potential case where deception techniques proved masterful in undermining the attack. Instead, Saks indicated it was "mock data" used to "simulate customer orders for testing" that was stolen.

Nevertheless, if these details are accurate, it does suggest that data deception techniques can be really valuable in the case where operators like Cl0p are looking to first exfiltrate sensitive data before deploying the ransomware payload and then using the threat of exposing that stolen data to compel the victim to pay a hefty ransom demand.

While EPP/NGAV/EDR/XDR endpoint tools don't typically offer deception as a feature, organizations can opt to run endpoint solutions alongside those tools that are designed specifically to defeat ransomware that includes deception techniques to fool the attackers into exfiltrating mock data instead of the real thing. Were this the case with the Cl0p attack on Saks, it's readily apparent that the strategy would have put the company in a much better position to forego payment of the ransom and instead work to mitigate the attack by restoring infected systems from backups.

Better yet, if the anti-ransomware solution also captured the attacker's encryption keys, most if not all of the impacted systems could be easily restored through automated means, keeping operations running and saving the victim company a lot of trouble and lost revenue. Ransomware attacks can be defeated, but it requires a slightly different approach than has been traditionally offered by endpoint protection tools designed to combat attacks leveraging other forms of malware.

Organizations require a robust prevention and resilience strategy to defend against ransomware attacks, including endpoint protection solutions, patch management, data backups, access controls, employee awareness training, and organizational procedure and resilience testing into all ransomware readiness plans.

Halcyon.ai is the industry’s first dedicated, adaptive security platform that combines multiple advanced proprietary prevention engines along with AI models focused specifically on stopping ransomware – talk to a Halcyon expert today to find out more.