New Cloud Ransomware Threat: Simulating Attacks, Detection & Prevention

This article explores a novel cloud ransomware attack targeting Amazon S3 buckets. Attackers leverage S3's server-side encryption (SSE-C) to encrypt objects using the `CopyObject` operation, leaving a ransom note. The author developed an S3 ransomware simulator to test environment vulnerabilities and provides a CloudTrail-based detection and response mechanism, along with preventative measures such as restricting SSE-C usage, CopyObject actions, and utilizing object versioning. The article highlights the importance of enhanced security monitoring and response mechanisms in cloud environments.