Heroes, a detailed look at the current cybersecurity landscape for August 27, 2025.
Date & Time: 2025-08-27T08:47:38
ESET Research has discovered PromptLock, identified as the first ransomware variant to leverage AI for its malicious operations. The malware uses an OpenAI model via Ollama to generate and execute malicious Lua scripts, representing a significant evolution in ransomware capabilities and a new challenge for detection and response.
CVE Details: n/a
Source: securityaffairs.com
Date & Time: 2025-08-27T10:00:32
Kaspersky's Q2 2025 report highlights a dynamic vulnerability landscape, with newly published exploits impacting a wide range of computer subsystems. The report covers threats from UEFI and drivers to operating systems, browsers, and web applications, indicating a broad and complex attack surface for defenders to monitor.
CVE Details: n/a
Source: kasperskycontenthub.com
Date & Time: 2025-08-26T19:07:48
A whistleblower has alleged that the company DOGE uploaded a live copy of the entire Social Security database to a vulnerable and insecure cloud server. This potential data exposure places the sensitive personal information of millions of Americans at significant risk of compromise and identity theft. The allegations are being reported across multiple technology and news outlets.
CVE Details: n/a
Source: whistleblower.org, techcrunch.com
Date & Time: 2025-08-27T09:28:00
The threat actor known as Blind Eagle has been linked to five separate activity clusters targeting entities primarily within the Colombian government between May 2024 and July 2025. The campaign utilizes a mix of Remote Access Trojans (RATs), phishing lures, and dynamic DNS infrastructure to establish and maintain persistence. This sustained operation highlights the group's continued focus on espionage in the region.
CVE Details: n/a
Source: thehackernews.com
Date & Time: 2025-08-26T18:00:00
Microsoft has released a new framework for assessing the security of AI models, aiming to integrate cybersecurity into the design and deployment of emerging AI technologies. This initiative is a proactive step to mitigate potential harmful outcomes by strengthening the security posture of AI systems against adversarial attacks.
Source: securityboulevard.com
Spotlight Rationale: The emergence of AI-driven ransomware like PromptLock, as reported by ESET, necessitates advanced endpoint protection that can detect and respond to novel, dynamically generated threats. SentinelOne's AI-powered behavioral analysis is specifically designed to counter such sophisticated attacks that may evade traditional signature-based defenses.
Threat Context: ESET warns of PromptLock, the first AI-driven ransomware
Platform Focus: SentinelOne Singularity Platform
SentinelOne's Singularity Platform utilizes patented behavioral AI and static AI models directly on the endpoint to provide autonomous threat prevention, detection, and response. Unlike legacy AV, it does not rely on signatures, making it effective against zero-day and polymorphic threats like the AI-generated scripts used by PromptLock. Its ability to automatically kill malicious processes, quarantine files, and roll back unauthorized changes provides a powerful defense against fast-acting ransomware.
Actionable Platform Guidance: Ensure SentinelOne agents are deployed in "Protect" mode with "Malicious Threat" and "Suspicious Threat" policies set to "Kill" and "Quarantine". Enable "Rollback" functionality to automatically restore files encrypted or modified by a ransomware attack. Utilize Storyline Active Response (STAR) custom detection rules to create behavioral rules that can flag unusual script execution, such as Lua scripts being generated or run by unexpected processes.
⚠️ Disclaimer: Test all detection logic in non-production environments before deployment.
1. Vendor Platform Configuration - SentinelOne
# SentinelOne Policy Configuration for AI-Driven Ransomware
# 1. Access your SentinelOne Management Console.
# 2. Navigate to 'Sentinels' -> 'Policy'.
# 3. Select or create the policy for your critical assets.
# 4. Under 'Engines', ensure 'Malicious Threats' and 'Suspicious Threats' are enabled.
# 5. For both 'Malicious Threats' and 'Suspicious Threats', set the policy mode to 'Protect'.
# 6. Set the automatic response for both to 'Kill' and 'Quarantine'.
# 7. Under 'Anti-Tampering', ensure it is enabled to protect the agent.
# 8. Under 'Rollback', ensure 'Windows VSS' is enabled for ransomware rollback.
# 9. Navigate to 'Sentinels' -> 'STAR' to create custom rules for detecting unusual Lua script execution.
# Example STAR Rule Logic:
# Rule Name: Suspicious Lua Script Execution
# Query: ProcessCmd includes ".lua" AND ParentProcessName not in ("legit_process1.exe", "legit_process2.exe")
# Action: Alert / Response Policy
# 10. Save and apply the policy to the relevant groups.2. YARA Rule for PromptLock Indicators
rule Suspicious_Lua_Execution_PromptLock_Indicator {
meta:
description = "Detects potential artifacts related to the AI-driven PromptLock ransomware, which reportedly uses Lua scripts generated via AI models."
author = "Threat Rundown"
date = "2025-08-27"
reference = "https://securityaffairs.com/?p=181595"
strings:
$s1 = "ollama" ascii wide
$s2 = "gpt-oss" ascii wide
$s3 = ".lua" ascii wide
$s4 = "os.execute" ascii wide
condition:
2 of ($s1, $s2, $s3, $s4)
}3. SIEM Query — Anomalous Script Process Execution
// Splunk SPL Query
index=* (sourcetype=sysmon OR sourcetype=wineventlog) EventCode=1
| stats values(ParentImage) as parent_processes, count by Image, CommandLine, ComputerName
| where match(CommandLine, "\.lua") AND NOT (parent_processes IN ("known_good_parent1.exe", "known_good_parent2.exe"))4. PowerShell Script — Find Recent Lua Files
# Searches for .lua files created in the last 24 hours on key directories
$TargetFolders = @("C:\Users\", "C:\Windows\Temp\", "C:\ProgramData\")
$Timeframe = (Get-Date).AddDays(-1)
Write-Host "Searching for .lua files created since $Timeframe..."
foreach ($folder in $TargetFolders) {
if (Test-Path $folder) {
Get-ChildItem -Path $folder -Filter *.lua -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Where-Object { $_.CreationTime -ge $Timeframe } | Select-Object FullName, CreationTime, LastWriteTime
}
}
Write-Host "Search complete."This rundown should provide a solid overview of the current threat landscape. Thank you to all our cyberheroes for your diligence and hard work. Stay vigilant!