Fortifying File Systems with File Audit Agent: Ransomware Prevention Through Honeypot Monitoring

Ransomware remains a top concern for CISOs in MSSPs and SOCs, where early detection of mass deletions or encryptions can mean the difference between containment and catastrophe. File Audit Agent acts as a vigilant honeypot, monitoring SMB operations like deletes, reads, and renames to flag malicious activities and enable automated responses.

Capabilities include real-time tracking with user correlation, configurable thresholds for alerts, and SIEM integration via syslog. It runs as a Windows service with low overhead and supports automated containment like account disabling.

Value lies in preventing attacks like BEC through early warnings, ensuring compliance with PCI DSS and SOX via auditing, and providing user behavior analytics for policy enforcement.

For threat hunting, this platform enables proactive searches for ransomware precursors. Hunters can baseline normal file operations and hunt for spikes in rename events, correlating with user logs to identify encryption attempts. Using honeypot files, teams can simulate bait scenarios to lure and detect adversaries, then trace back via audit logs to uncover initial access vectors. It also supports hunting insider threats by analyzing delete patterns across shares, integrating with SIEM for cross-event correlation.

1. Contact Us: Implement at support@cyvectos.net.