Ransomware Detection With Decoy Files Before Data Encryption
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ransomware detection methods require scanning files after an attack has begun, exposing data to encryption and increasing the risk of permanent loss, and fail to detect attacks early enough to prevent widespread encryption.
Innovation Solution
A ransomware detection system generates decoy files based on existing file characteristics, places them in sensitive locations, and monitors for changes to detect attacks early, initiating mitigation processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If files are scanned after an attack has begun to detect ransomware, then detection can be performed, but data is exposed to encryption and may be permanently lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by placing decoy files in the file system before a ransomware attack occurs. These decoy files are monitored continuously, allowing the system to detect ransomware activity at its earliest stages, before real files are encrypted. This proactive monitoring enables mitigation actions to be taken while minimizing data loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The decoy files serve as intermediaries between the monitoring system and the actual data files. By monitoring changes to decoy files rather than directly monitoring all real files, the system can detect ransomware activity indirectly, enabling earlier detection and response while protecting the actual data from exposure during the detection process.
2Reliability
If files are cycled through to scan for ransomware, then detection can be performed, but periods occur where files are not scanned and attacks go unnoticed
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements continuous monitoring of decoy files through file system watchers or similar mechanisms that track file changes in real-time. This continuous surveillance eliminates gaps in detection coverage, ensuring that ransomware activity is detected immediately when it occurs, rather than during periodic scan intervals.
Solution Approach 2:
The decoy files automatically serve the detection function through their placement in the file system. Any ransomware that encrypts the decoy file immediately triggers a detection event, requiring no active scanning process. The decoy files essentially detect the attack themselves by being modified, eliminating the need for continuous active scanning cycles.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and software for the operation of a ransomware detection system. The ransomware detection system generates a decoy file based on characteristics of an existing file in a file system. The decoy file is effectively indistinguishable from the existing file from the perspective of the ransomware but contains simulated data rather than authentic data. The ransomware detection system identifies a location in the file system and deploys the decoy file to the location. The decoy is then monitored to detect changes by comparing a ground truth for the decoy file to the current state of the decoy file. The decoy file is checked for changes at a rate associated with the identified location. Where a change is detected, an alert is sent to a ransomware mitigation process, which initiates ransomware mitigation.