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👉 Case Study: From Phishing to Cloud Exploitation—How a Cryptomining Attack Was Defeated
🛡️ Defender XDR automatically responds by containing affected endpoints and disabling compromised accounts, effectively stopping the mining operation and preventing lateral movement. In this case study, the attack was disrupted by disabling the compromised user account, halting the cryptomining activity.
Attack Disruption: https://lnkd.in/euxcwpHE
You Should Know:
Detecting Cryptomining Activity
1. Check CPU/GPU Usage:
top htop nvidia-smi (for GPU monitoring)
2. Identify Suspicious Processes:
ps aux | grep -E 'minerd|cpuminer|xmrig'
3. Network Connections:
netstat -tulnp | grep ESTABLISHED lsof -i :3333 (common mining pool port)
Containment & Remediation
- Isolate the Host:
sudo iptables -A INPUT -s <malicious_IP> -j DROP
- Kill Malicious Processes:
sudo kill -9 $(pgrep minerd)
- Disable Compromised Accounts:
sudo usermod -L <compromised_user>
Windows Defender XDR Commands
- Scan for Threats:
Start-MpScan -ScanType FullScan
- Check Quarantined Items:
Get-MpThreatDetection | Where-Object {$_.ActionTaken -eq "Quarantine"}
Preventing Lateral Movement
- Restrict SSH Access:
sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config Set: PermitRootLogin no Set: AllowUsers trusted_user
- Enable MFA for Cloud Accounts:
gcloud auth enable-2fa
What Undercode Say
Cryptomining attacks exploit weak credentials and unpatched systems. Proactive monitoring with XDR/EDR, strict IAM policies, and network segmentation are critical. Automation in threat response (like Defender XDR) minimizes damage. Always audit cloud permissions and enforce least privilege access.
Expected Output:
- Suspicious process terminated.
- Compromised account locked.
- Mining traffic blocked at the firewall.
Relevant URLs:
References:
Reported By: Nett Microsoftsecurity – Hackers Feeds
Extra Hub: Undercode MoN
Basic Verification: Pass ✅
