Conference:  Defcon 31

Authors: Andréanne Bergeron Cybersecurity Researcher, GoSecure, Olivier Bilodeau Cybersecurity Research Director at GoSecure

2023-08-01

The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is a critical attack vector used by evil threat actors including in ransomware outbreaks. To study RDP attacks, we created PyRDP, an open-source RDP interception tool with unmatched capabilities which helped us collect more than 100 hours of video footage of attackers in action. To describe attackers’ behaviors, we characterized the various archetypes of threat actors in groups based on their traits through a Dungeon & Dragons analogy: 1) the Bards making obtuse search or watch unholy videos;2) the Rangers stealthily explore computers and perform reconnaissance; 3) the Thieves try to monetize the RDP access; 4)the Barbarians use a large array of tools to brute-force their way into more computers; and 5) the Wizardsuse their RDP access as a magic portal to cloak their origins. Throughout, we will reveal the attackers’ weaponry and show video recordings of interesting characters in action. This presentation demonstrates the tremendous capability in RDP interception for research benefitsand blue teams: extensive documentation of opportunistic attackers’ tradecraft. An engineer and a crime data scientist partner to deliver an epic story that includes luring, understanding and characterizing attackers which allows to collectively focus our attention on the more sophisticated threats.