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August 9, 2022

Cyber Tactics in the Russo-Ukrainian Conflict

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has led to fears of a full-scale cyberwar. Learn the cyber attack tactics used, hacking groups involved, and more!
Inside the SOC
Darktrace cyber analysts are world-class experts in threat intelligence, threat hunting and incident response, and provide 24/7 SOC support to thousands of Darktrace customers around the globe. Inside the SOC is exclusively authored by these experts, providing analysis of cyber incidents and threat trends, based on real-world experience in the field.
Written by
Rosa Jong
OSINT Analyst
Written by
Taisiia Garkava
Security Analyst
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09
Aug 2022

Introduction

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, cyber communities around the world have been witnessing what can be called a ‘renaissance of cyberwarfare' [1]. Rather than being financially motivated, threat actors are being guided by political convictions to defend allies or attack their enemies. This blog reviews some of the main threat actors involved in this conflict and their ongoing tactics, and advises on how organizations can best protect themselves. Darktrace’s preliminary assessments predicted that attacks would be observed globally with a focus on pro-Ukrainian nations such as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members and that identified Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) groups would develop new and complex malware deployed through increasingly sophisticated attack vectors. This blog will show that many of these assessments had unexpected outcomes.

Context for Conflict 

Cyber confrontation between Russia and Ukraine dates back to 2013, when Viktor Yanukovych, (former President of Ukraine) rejected an EU trade pact in favour of an agreement with Russia. This sparked mass protests leading to his overthrow, and shortly after, Russian troops annexed Crimea and initiated the beginning of Russian-Ukrainian ground and cyber warfare. Since then, Russian threat actors have been periodically targeting Ukrainian infrastructure. One of the most notable examples of this, an attack against their national power grid in December 2015, resulted in power outages for approximately 255,000 people in Ukraine and was later attributed to the Russian hacking group Sandworm [2 & 3]. 

Another well-known attack in June 2017 overwhelmed the websites of hundreds of Ukrainian organizations using the infamous NotPetya malware. This attack is still considered the most damaging cyberattack in history, with more than €10 billion euros in financial damage [4]. In February 2022, countries witnessed the next stage of cyberwar against Ukraine with both new and familiar actors deploying various techniques to target their rival’s critical infrastructure. 

Tactic 1: Ransomware

Although some sources suggest US ransomware incidents and expectations of ransom may have declined during the conflict, ransomware still remained a significant tactic deployed globally across this period [5] [6] [7]. A Ukrainian hacking group, Network Battalion 65 (NB65), used ransomware to attack the Russian state-owned television and radio broadcasting network VGTRK. NB65 managed to steal 900,000 emails and 4000 files, and later demanded a ransom which they promised to donate to the Ukrainian army. This attack was unique because the group used the previously leaked source code of Conti, another infamous hacker group that had pledged its support to the Russian government earlier in the conflict. NB65 modified the leaked code to make unique ransomware for each of its targets [5]. 

Against expectations, Darktrace’s customer base appeared to deviate from these ransom trends. Analysts have seen relatively unsophisticated ransomware attacks during the conflict period, with limited evidence to suggest they were connected to any APT activity. Between November 2021 and June 2022, there were 51 confirmed ransomware compromises across the Darktrace customer base. This represents an increase of 43.16% compared to the same period the year before, accounting for relative customer growth. Whilst this suggests an overall growth in ransom cases, many of these confirmed incidents were unattributed and did not appear to be targeting any particular verticals or regions. While there was an increase in the energy sector, this could not be explicitly linked to the conflict. 

The Darktrace DETECT family has a variety of models related to ransomware visibility:

Darktrace Detections for T1486 (Data Encrypted for Impact):

- Compromise / Ransomware / Ransom or Offensive Words Written to SMB

- Compromise / Ransomware / Suspicious SMB Activity

- Anomalous Connection / Sustained MIME Type Conversion

- Unusual Activity / Sustained Anomalous SMB Activity

- Compromise / Ransomware / Suspicious SMB File Extension

- Unusual Activity / Anomalous SMB Read & Write

- Unusual Activity / Anomalous SMB Read & Write from New Device

- SaaS / Resource / SaaS Resources with Additional Extensions

- Compromise / Ransomware / Possible Ransom Note Read

- [If RESPOND is enabled] Antigena / Network / External Threat / Antigena Ransomware Block

Tactic 2: Wipers

One of the largest groups of executables seen during the conflict were wipers. On the eve of the invasion, Ukrainian organizations were targeted by a new wiper malware given the name “HermeticWiper”. Hermetic refers to the name of the Cyprian company “Hermetica Digital Ltd.” which was used by attackers to request a code signing certificate [6]. Such a digital certificate is used to verify the ownership of the code and that it has not been altered. The 24-year-old owner of Hermetica Digital says he had no idea that his company was abused to retrieve a code signing certificate [7]. 

HermeticWiper consists of three components: a worm, decoy ransomware and the wiper malware. The custom worm designed for HermeticWiper was used to spread the malware across the network of its infected machines. ESET researchers discovered that the decoy ransomware and the wiper were released at the same time [8]. The decoy ransomware was used to make it look like the machine was hit by ransomware, when in reality the wiper was already permanently wiping data from the machines. In the attack’s initial stage, it bypasses Windows security features designed to prevent overwriting boot records by installing a separate driver. After wiping data from the machine, HermeticWiper prevents that data from being re-fragmented and overwrites the files to fragment it further. This is done to make it more challenging to reconstruct data for post-compromise forensics [9]. Overall, the function and purpose of HermeticWiper seems similar to that of NotPetya ransomware. 

HermeticWiper is not the only conflict-associated wiper malware which has been observed. In January 2022, Microsoft warned Ukrainian customers that they detected wiper intrusion activity against several European organizations. One example of this was the MBR (Master Boot Record) wiper. This type of wiper overwrites the MBR, the disk sector that instructs a computer on how to load its operating system, with a ransomware note. In reality, the note is a misdirection and the malware destroys the MBR and targeted files [10].  

One of the most notable groups that used wiper malware was Sandworm. Sandworm is an APT attributed to Russia’s foreign military intelligence agency, GRU. The group has been active since 2009 and has used a variety of TTPs within their attacks. They have a history of targeting Ukraine including attacks in 2015 on Ukraine’s energy distribution companies and in 2017 when they used the aforementioned NotPetya malware against several Ukrainian organizations [11]. Another Russian (or pro-Russian) group using wiper malware to target Ukraine is DEV-0586. This group targeted various Ukrainian organizations in January 2022 with Whispergate wiper malware. This type of wiper malware presents itself as ransomware by displaying a file instructing the victim to pay Bitcoin to have their files decrypted [12].  

Darktrace did not observe any confirmed cases of HermeticWiper nor other conflict-associated wipers (e.g IsaacWiper and CaddyWiper) within the customer base over this period. Despite this, Darktrace DETECT has a variety of models related to wipers and data destruction:

Darktrace Detections for T1485 (Data Destruction)- this is the main technique exploited during wiper attacks

- Unusual Activity / Anomalous SMB Delete Volume

- IaaS / Unusual Activity / Anomalous AWS Resources Deleted

- IaaS / Storage / S3 Bucket Delete

- SaaS / Resource / Mass Email Deletes from Rare Location

- SaaS / Resource / Anomalous SaaS Resources Deleted

- SaaS / Resource / Resource Permanent Delete

- [If RESPOND is enabled] Antigena / Network / Manual / Enforce Pattern of Life

- [If RESPOND is enabled] Antigena / SaaS / Antigena Unusual Activity Block

Tactic 3: Spear-Phishing

Another strategy that some threat actors employ is spear-phishing. Targeting can be done using email, social media, messaging, or other platforms.

The hacking group Armageddon (also known as Gamaredon) has been responsible for several spear-phishing attacks during the crisis, primarily targeting individuals involved in the Ukrainian Government [13]. Since the beginning of the war, the group has been sending out a large volume of emails containing an HTML file which, if opened, downloads and launches a RAR payload. Those who click the attached link download an HTA with a PowerShell script which obtains the final Armageddon payload. Using the same strategy, the group is also targeting governmental agencies in the European Union [14]. With high-value targets, the need to improve teaching around phishing identification to minimize the chance of being caught in an attacker's net is higher than ever. 

In comparison to the wider trends, Darktrace analysts again saw little-to-no evidence of conflict-associated phishing campaigns affecting customers. Those phishing attempts which did target customers were largely not conflict-related. In some cases, the conflict was used opportunistically, such as when one customer was targeted with a phishing email referencing Russian bank exclusions from the SWIFT payment system (Figures 1 and 2). The email was identified by Darktrace/Email as a probable attempt at financial extortion and inducement - in this case the company received a spoofed email from a major bank’s remittance department.  

Figure 1- Screencap of targeted phishing email sent to Darktrace customer
Figure 2- Attached file contains soliciting reference to SWIFT, a money payment system which select Russian banks were removed from because of the conflict [15]

 Although the conflict was used as a reference in some examples, in most of Darktrace’s observed phishing cases during the conflict period there was little-to-no evidence to suggest that the company being targeted nor the threat actor behind the phishing attempt was associated with or attributable to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

However, Darktrace/Email has several model categories which pick up phishing related threats:

Sample of Darktrace for Email Detections for T1566 (Phishing)- this is the overarching technique exploited during spear-phishing events

Model Categories:

- Inducement

- Internal / External User Spoofing

- Internal / External Domain Spoofing

- Fake Support

- Link to Rare Domains

- Link to File Storage

- Redirect Links

- Anomalous / Malicious Attachments

- Compromised Known Sender

Specific models can be located on the Email Console

 

Tactic 4: Distributed-Denial-of-Service (DDoS)

Another tactic employed by both pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian threat actors was DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks. Both pro-Russia and pro-Ukraine actors were seen targeting critical infrastructure, information resources, and governmental platforms with mass DDoS attacks. The Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, called on an IT Army of underground Ukrainian hackers and volunteers to protect Ukraine's critical infrastructure and conduct DDoS attacks against Russia [16]. As of 1 August 2022, more than two hundred thousand people are subscribed to the group's official Telegram channel, where potential DDoS targets are announced [17].

Darktrace observed similar pro-Ukraine DDoS behaviors within a variety of customer environments. These DDoS campaigns appeared to involve low-volume individual support combined with crowd-sourced DDoS activity. They were hosted on a range of public-sourced DDoS sites and seemed to share sentiments of groups such as the IT Army of Ukraine (Figure 3).

Figure 3- Example DDoS outsource domain with unusual TLD 

From the Russian side, one of the prominent newly emerged groups, Killnet, is striking back, launching several massive DDoS attacks against the critical infrastructure of countries that provide weaponry to Ukraine [18 & 19]. Today, the number of supporters of Killnet has grown to eighty-four thousand on their Telegram channel. The group has already launched a number of mass attacks on several NATO states, including Germany, Poland, Italy, Lithuania and Norway. This shows the conflict has attracted new and fast-growing groups with large backing and the capacity to undertake widespread attacks. 

DETECT has several models to identify anomalous DoS/DDoS activity:

Darktrace Detection for T1498 (Network Denial of Service)- this is the main technique exploited during DDoS attacks

- Device / Anomaly Indicators / Denial of Service Activity Indicator

- Anomalous Server Activity / Possible Denial of Service Activity

- [If RESPOND is enabled] Antigena / Network / External Threat / Antigena Suspicious Activity Block

What did Darktrace observe?

Darktrace’s cross-fleet detections were largely contrary to expectations. Analysts did not see large-scale complex conflict-linked attacks utilizing either conflict-associated ransomware, malware, or other TTPs. Instead, cyber incidents observed were largely opportunistic, using malware that could be purchased through Malware-as-a-Service models and other widely available toolkits, (rather than APT or conflict-attributable attacks). Overall, this is not to say there have been no repercussions from the conflict or that opportunistic attacks will cease, but evidence suggests that there were fewer wider cyber consequences beyond the initial APT-based attacks seen in the public forum. 

Another trend expected since the beginning of the conflict was targeted responses to sanction announcements focusing on NATO businesses and governments. Analysts, however, saw the limited reactive actions, with little-to-no direct impact from sanction announcements. Although cyber-attacks on some NATO organizations did take place, they were not as widespread or impactful as expected. Lastly, it was thought that exposure to new and sophisticated exploits would increase and be used to weaken NATO nations - especially corporations in critical industries. However, analysts observed relatively common exploits deployed indiscriminately and opportunistically. Overall, with the wider industry expecting chaos, Darktrace analysts did not see the crisis taken advantage of to target wider businesses outside of Ukraine. Based on this comparison between expectations and reality, the conflict has demonstrated the danger of  falling prey to confirmation bias and the need to remain vigilant and expect the unexpected. It may be possible to say that cyberwar is ‘cold’ right now, however the element of surprise is always present, and it is better to be prepared to protect yourself and your organization.    

What to Expect from the Future

As cyberattacks continue to become less monetarily and physically costly, it is to be expected that they will increase in frequency. Even after a political ceasefire is established, hacking groups can harbour resentment and continue their attacks, though possibly on a smaller scale.  

Additionally, the longer this conflict continues, the more sophisticated hacking groups’s attacks may become. In one of their publications, Killnet shared with subscribers that they had created ‘network weaponry’ powerful enough to simultaneously take down five European countries (Figure 4) [20]. Whether or not this claim is true, it is vital to be prepared. The European Union and the United States have supported Ukraine since the start of the invasion, and the EU has also stated that it is considering providing further assistance to help Ukraine in cyberspace [21].

Figure 4- Snapshot of Killnet Telegram announcement

How to Protect Against these Attacks

In the face of wider conflict and cybersecurity tensions, it is crucial that organizations evaluate their security stack and practise the following: 

·       Know what your critical assets are and what software is running on them. 

·       Keep your software up to date. Prioritize patching critical and high vulnerabilities that allow remote code execution. 

·       Enforce Multifactor Authentication (MFA) to the greatest extent possible. 

·       Require the use of a password manager to generate strong and unique passwords for each separate account. 

·       Backup all the essential files on the cloud and external drives and regularly maintain them. 

·       Train your employees to recognize phishing emails, suspicious websites, infected links or other abnormalities to prevent successful compromise of email accounts. 

In order to prevent an organization from suffering damage due to one of the attacks mentioned above, a full-circle approach is needed. This defence starts with a thorough understanding of the attack surface to provide timely mitigation. This can be supported by Darktrace products: 

·       As shown throughout this blog, Darktrace DETECT and Darktrace/Email have several models relating to conflict-associated TTPs and attacks. These help to quickly alert security teams and provide visibility of anomalous behaviors.

·       Darktrace PREVENT/ASM helps to identify vulnerable external-facing assets. By patching and securing these devices, the risk of exploit is drastically reduced.

·       Darktrace RESPOND and RESPOND/Email can make targeted actions to a range of threats such as blocking incoming DDoS connections or locking malicious email links.

Thanks to the Darktrace Threat Intelligence Unit for their contributions to this blog.

Appendices 

Reference List

[1] https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/vladimir-putins-ukraine-invasion-is-the-worlds-first-full-scale-cyberwar/ 

[2] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-cybersecurity-idUSKCN0VY30K

[3] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-cybersecurity-sandworm-idUSKBN0UM00N20160108

[4 & 11] https://www.wired.com/story/notpetya-cyberattack-ukraine-russia-code-crashed-the-world/ 

[5] https://www.scmagazine.com/analysis/ransomware/despite-hopes-for-decline-ransomware-attacks-increased-during-russia-ukraine-conflict

[6] https://ransomware.org/blog/has-the-ukraine-conflict-disrupted-ransomware-attacks/

[7] https://www.cfr.org/blog/financial-incentives-may-explain-perceived-lack-ransomware-russias-latest-assault-ukraine

[8] https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hackers-use-contis-leaked-ransomware-to-attack-russian-companies/ 

[9] https://voi.id/en/technology/138937/hermetica-owner-from-cyprus-didnt-know-his-server-was-used-in-malicious-malware-attack-in-ukraine 

[10] https://www.reuters.com/article/ukraine-crisis-cyber-cyprus-idCAKBN2KT2QI 

[11] https://www.eset.com/int/about/newsroom/press-releases/research/eset-research-ukraine-hit-by-destructive-attacks-before-and-during-the-russian-invasion-with-hermet/ 

[12] https://blog.malwarebytes.com/threat-intelligence/2022/03/hermeticwiper-a-detailed-analysis-of-the-destructive-malware-that-targeted-ukraine/ 

[13] https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2022/01/15/destructive-malware-targeting-ukrainian-organizations/ 

[15] https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ncas/alerts/aa22-057a 

[16] https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0047/ 

[17] https://cyware.com/news/ukraine-cert-warns-of-increasing-attacks-by-armageddon-group-850081f8 

[18] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60521822

[19] https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/04/11/russia-cyberwarfare-us-ukraine-volunteer-hackers-it-army/

[20] https://t.me/itarmyofukraine2022

[21] https://www.csoonline.com/article/3664859/russian-ddos-attack-on-lithuania-was-planned-on-telegram-flashpoint-says.html

[19 & 20] https://flashpoint.io/blog/killnet-kaliningrad-and-lithuanias-transport-standoff-with-russia/ 

[21] https://presidence-francaise.consilium.europa.eu/en/news/member-states-united-in-supporting-ukraine-and-strengthening-the-eu-s-telecommunications-and-cybersecurity-resilience/ 

Inside the SOC
Darktrace cyber analysts are world-class experts in threat intelligence, threat hunting and incident response, and provide 24/7 SOC support to thousands of Darktrace customers around the globe. Inside the SOC is exclusively authored by these experts, providing analysis of cyber incidents and threat trends, based on real-world experience in the field.
Written by
Rosa Jong
OSINT Analyst
Written by
Taisiia Garkava
Security Analyst

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September 5, 2025

Cyber Assessment Framework v4.0 Raises the Bar: 6 Questions every security team should ask about their security posture

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What is the Cyber Assessment Framework?

The Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) acts as guide for organizations, specifically across essential services, critical national infrastructure and regulated sectors, across the UK for assessing, managing and improving their cybersecurity, cyber resilience and cyber risk profile.

The guidance in the Cyber Assessment Framework aligns with regulations such as The Network and Information Systems Regulations (NIS), The Network and Information Security Directive (NIS2) and the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill.

What’s new with the Cyber Assessment Framework 4.0?

On 6 August 2025, the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) released Cyber Assessment Framework 4.0 (CAF v4.0) a pivotal update that reflects the increasingly complex threat landscape and the regulatory need for organisations to respond in smarter, more adaptive ways.

The Cyber Assessment Framework v4.0 introduces significant shifts in expectations, including, but not limited to:

  • Understanding threats in terms of the capabilities, methods and techniques of threat actors and the importance of maintaining a proactive security posture (A2.b)
  • The use of secure software development principles and practices (A4.b)
  • Ensuring threat intelligence is understood and utilised - with a focus on anomaly-based detection (C1.f)
  • Performance of proactive threat hunting with automation where appropriate (C2.a)

This blog post will focus on these components of the framework. However, we encourage readers to get the full scope of the framework by visiting the NCSC website where they can access the full framework here.

In summary, the changes to the framework send a clear signal: the UK’s technical authority now expects organisations to move beyond static rule-based systems and embrace more dynamic, automated defences. For those responsible for securing critical national infrastructure and essential services, these updates are not simply technical preferences, but operational mandates.

At Darktrace, this evolution comes as no surprise. In fact, it reflects the approach we've championed since our inception.

Why Darktrace? Leading the way since 2013

Darktrace was built on the principle that detecting cyber threats in real time requires more than signatures, thresholds, or retrospective analysis. Instead, we pioneered a self-learning approach powered by artificial intelligence, that understands the unique “normal” for every environment and uses this baseline to spot subtle deviations indicative of emerging threats.

From the beginning, Darktrace has understood that rules and lists will never keep pace with adversaries. That’s why we’ve spent over a decade developing AI that doesn't just alert, it learns, reasons, explains, and acts.

With Cyber Assessment Framework v4.0, the bar has been raised to meet this new reality. For technical practitioners tasked with evaluating their organisation’s readiness, there are five essential questions that should guide the selection or validation of anomaly detection capabilities.

5 Questions you should ask about your security posture to align with CAF v4

1. Can your tools detect threats by identifying anomalies?

Cyber Assessment Framework v4.0 principle C1.f has been added in this version and requires that, “Threats to the operation of network and information systems, and corresponding user and system behaviour, are sufficiently understood. These are used to detect cyber security incidents.”

This marks a significant shift from traditional signature-based approaches, which rely on known Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) or predefined rules to an expectation that normal user and system behaviour is understood to an extent enabling abnormality detection.

Why this shift?

An overemphasis on threat intelligence alone leaves defenders exposed to novel threats or new variations of existing threats. By including reference to “understanding user and system behaviour” the framework is broadening the methods of threat detection beyond the use of threat intelligence and historical attack data.

While CAF v4.0 places emphasis on understanding normal user and system behaviour and using that understanding to detect abnormalities and as a result, adverse activity. There is a further expectation that threats are understood in terms of industry specific issues and that monitoring is continually updated  

Darktrace uses an anomaly-based approach to threat detection which involves establishing a dynamic baseline of “normal” for your environment, then flagging deviations from that baseline — even when there’s no known IoCs to match against. This allows security teams to surface previously unseen tactics, techniques, and procedures in real time, whether it’s:

  • An unexpected outbound connection pattern (e.g., DNS tunnelling);
  • A first-time API call between critical services;
  • Unusual calls between services; or  
  • Sensitive data moving outside normal channels or timeframes.

The requirement that organisations must be equipped to monitor their environment, create an understanding of normal and detect anomalous behaviour aligns closely with Darktrace’s capabilities.

2. Is threat hunting structured, repeatable, and improving over time?

CAF v4.0 introduces a new focus on structured threat hunting to detect adverse activity that may evade standard security controls or when such controls are not deployable.  

Principle C2.a outlines the need for documented, repeatable threat hunting processes and stresses the importance of recording and reviewing hunts to improve future effectiveness. This inclusion acknowledges that reactive threat hunting is not sufficient. Instead, the framework calls for:

  • Pre-determined and documented methods to ensure threat hunts can be deployed at the requisite frequency;
  • Threat hunts to be converted  into automated detection and alerting, where appropriate;  
  • Maintenance of threat hunt  records and post-hunt analysis to drive improvements in the process and overall security posture;
  • Regular review of the threat hunting process to align with updated risks;
  • Leveraging automation for improvement, where appropriate;
  • Focus on threat tactics, techniques and procedures, rather than one-off indicators of compromise.

Traditionally, playbook creation has been a manual process — static, slow to amend, and limited by human foresight. Even automated SOAR playbooks tend to be stock templates that can’t cover the full spectrum of threats or reflect the specific context of your organisation.

CAF v4.0 sets the expectation that organisations should maintain documented, structured approaches to incident response. But Darktrace / Incident Readiness & Recovery goes further. Its AI-generated playbooks are bespoke to your environment and updated dynamically in real time as incidents unfold. This continuous refresh of “New Events” means responders always have the latest view of what’s happening, along with an updated understanding of the AI's interpretation based on real-time contextual awareness, and recommended next steps tailored to the current stage of the attack.

The result is far beyond checkbox compliance: a living, adaptive response capability that reduces investigation time, speeds containment, and ensures actions are always proportionate to the evolving threat.

3. Do you have a proactive security posture?

Cyber Assessment Framework v4.0 does not want organisations to detect threats, it expects them to anticipate and reduce cyber risk before an incident ever occurs. That is s why principle A2.b calls for a security posture that moves from reactive detection to predictive, preventative action.

A proactive security posture focuses on reducing the ease of the most likely attack paths in advance and reducing the number of opportunities an adversary has to succeed in an attack.

To meet this requirement, organisations could benefit in looking for solutions that can:

  • Continuously map the assets and users most critical to operations;
  • Identify vulnerabilities and misconfigurations in real time;
  • Model likely adversary behaviours and attack paths using frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK; and  
  • Prioritise remediation actions that will have the highest impact on reducing overall risk.

When done well, this approach creates a real-time picture of your security posture, one that reflects the dynamic nature and ongoing evolution of both your internal environment and the evolving external threat landscape. This enables security teams to focus their time in other areas such as  validating resilience through exercises such as red teaming or forecasting.

4. Can your team/tools customize detection rules and enable autonomous responses?

CAF v4.0 places greater emphasis on reducing false positives and acting decisively when genuine threats are detected.  

The framework highlights the need for customisable detection rules and, where appropriate, autonomous response actions that can contain threats before they escalate:

The following new requirements are included:  

  • C1.c.: Alerts and detection rules should be adjustable to reduce false positives and optimise responses. Custom tooling and rules are used in conjunction with off the shelf tooling and rules;
  • C1.d: You investigate and triage alerts from all security tools and take action – allowing for improvement and prioritization of activities;
  • C1.e: Monitoring and detection personnel have sufficient understanding of operational context and deal with workload effectively as well as identifying areas for improvement (alert or triage fatigue is not present);
  • C2.a: Threat hunts should be turned into automated detections and alerting where appropriate and automation should be leveraged to improve threat hunting.

Tailored detection rules improve accuracy, while automation accelerates response, both of which help satisfy regulatory expectations. Cyber AI Analyst allows for AI investigation of alerts and can dramatically reduce the time a security team spends on alerts, reducing alert fatigue, allowing more time for strategic initiatives and identifying improvements.

5. Is your software secure and supported?  

CAF v4.0 introduced a new principle which requires software suppliers to leverage an established secure software development framework. Software suppliers must be able to demonstrate:  

  • A thorough understanding of the composition and provenance of software provided;  
  • That the software development lifecycle is informed by a detailed and up to date understanding of threat; and  
  • They can attest to the authenticity and integrity of the software, including updates and patches.  

Darktrace is committed to secure software development and all Darktrace products and internally developed systems are developed with secure engineering principles and security by design methodologies in place. Darktrace commits to the inclusion of security requirements at all stages of the software development lifecycle. Darktrace is ISO 27001, ISO 27018 and ISO 42001 Certified – demonstrating an ongoing commitment to information security, data privacy and artificial intelligence management and compliance, throughout the organisation.  

6. Is your incident response plan built on a true understanding of your environment and does it adapt to changes over time?

CAF v4.0 raises the bar for incident response by making it clear that a plan is only as strong as the context behind it. Your response plan must be shaped by a detailed, up-to-date understanding of your organisation’s specific network, systems, and operational priorities.

The framework’s updates emphasise that:

  • Plans must explicitly cover the network and information systems that underpin your essential functions because every environment has different dependencies, choke points, and critical assets.
  • They must be readily accessible even when IT systems are disrupted ensuring critical steps and contact paths aren’t lost during an incident.
  • They should be reviewed regularly to keep pace with evolving risks, infrastructure changes, and lessons learned from testing.

From government expectation to strategic advantage

Cyber Assessment Framework v4.0 signals a powerful shift in cybersecurity best practice. The newest version sets a higher standard for detection performance, risk management, threat hunting software development and proactive security posture.

For Darktrace, this is validation of the approach we have taken since the beginning: to go beyond rules and signatures to deliver proactive cyber resilience in real-time.

-----

Disclaimer:

This document has been prepared on behalf of Darktrace Holdings Limited. It is provided for information purposes only to provide prospective readers with general information about the Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) in a cyber security context. It does not constitute legal, regulatory, financial or any other kind of professional advice and it has not been prepared with the reader and/or its specific organisation’s requirements in mind. Darktrace offers no warranties, guarantees, undertakings or other assurances (whether express or implied)  that: (i) this document or its content are  accurate or complete; (ii) the steps outlined herein will guarantee compliance with CAF; (iii) any purchase of Darktrace’s products or services will guarantee compliance with CAF; (iv) the steps outlined herein are appropriate for all customers. Neither the reader nor any third party is entitled to rely on the contents of this document when making/taking any decisions or actions to achieve compliance with CAF. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law or regulation, Darktrace has no liability for any actions or decisions taken or not taken by the reader to implement any suggestions contained herein, or for any third party products, links or materials referenced. Nothing in this document negates the responsibility of the reader to seek independent legal or other advice should it wish to rely on any of the statements, suggestions, or content set out herein.  

The cybersecurity landscape evolves rapidly, and blog content may become outdated or superseded. We reserve the right to update, modify, or remove any content without notice.

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Mariana Pereira
VP, Field CISO

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September 5, 2025

Rethinking Signature-Based Detection for Power Utility Cybersecurity

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Lessons learned from OT cyber attacks

Over the past decade, some of the most disruptive attacks on power utilities have shown the limits of signature-based detection and reshaped how defenders think about OT security. Each incident reinforced that signatures are too narrow and reactive to serve as the foundation of defense.

2015: BlackEnergy 3 in Ukraine

According to CISA, on December 23, 2015, Ukrainian power companies experienced unscheduled power outages affecting a large number of customers — public reports indicate that the BlackEnergy malware was discovered on the companies’ computer networks.

2016: Industroyer/CrashOverride

CISA describes CrashOverride malwareas an “extensible platform” reported to have been used against critical infrastructure in Ukraine in 2016. It was capable of targeting industrial control systems using protocols such as IEC‑101, IEC‑104, and IEC‑61850, and fundamentally abused legitimate control system functionality to deliver destructive effects. CISA emphasizes that “traditional methods of detection may not be sufficient to detect infections prior to the malware execution” and recommends behavioral analysis techniques to identify precursor activity to CrashOverride.

2017: TRITON Malware

The U.S. Department of the Treasury reports that the Triton malware, also known as TRISIS or HatMan, was “designed specifically to target and manipulate industrial safety systems” in a petrochemical facility in the Middle East. The malware was engineered to control Safety Instrumented System (SIS) controllers responsible for emergency shutdown procedures. During the attack, several SIS controllers entered a failed‑safe state, which prevented the malware from fully executing.

The broader lessons

These events revealed three enduring truths:

  • Signatures have diminishing returns: BlackEnergy showed that while signatures can eventually identify adapted IT malware, they arrive too late to prevent OT disruption.
  • Behavioral monitoring is essential: CrashOverride demonstrated that adversaries abuse legitimate industrial protocols, making behavioral and anomaly detection more effective than traditional signature methods.
  • Critical safety systems are now targets: TRITON revealed that attackers are willing to compromise safety instrumented systems, elevating risks from operational disruption to potential physical harm.

The natural progression for utilities is clear. Static, file-based defenses are too fragile for the realities of OT.  

These incidents showed that behavioral analytics and anomaly detection are far more effective at identifying suspicious activity across industrial systems, regardless of whether the malicious code has ever been seen before.

Strategic risks of overreliance on signatures

  • False sense of security: Believing signatures will block advanced threats can delay investment in more effective detection methods.
  • Resource drain: Constantly updating, tuning, and maintaining signature libraries consumes valuable staff resources without proportional benefit.
  • Adversary advantage: Nation-state and advanced actors understand the reactive nature of signature defenses and design attacks to circumvent them from the start.

Recommended Alternatives (with real-world OT examples)

 Alternative strategies for detecting cyber attacks in OT
Figure 1: Alternative strategies for detecting cyber attacks in OT

Behavioral and anomaly detection

Rather than relying on signatures, focusing on behavior enables detection of threats that have never been seen before—even trusted-looking devices.

Real-world insight:

In one OT setting, a vendor inadvertently left a Raspberry Pi on a customer’s ICS network. After deployment, Darktrace’s system flagged elastic anomalies in its HTTPS and DNS communication despite the absence of any known indicators of compromise. The alerting included sustained SSL increases, agent‑beacon activity, and DNS connections to unusual endpoints, revealing a possible supply‑chain or insider risk invisible to static tools.  

Darktrace’s AI-driven threat detection aligns with the zero-trust principle of assuming the risk of a breach. By leveraging AI that learns an organization’s specific patterns of life, Darktrace provides a tailored security approach ideal for organizations with complex supply chains.

Threat intelligence sharing & building toward zero-trust philosophy

Frameworks such as MITRE ATT&CK for ICS provide a common language to map activity against known adversary tactics, helping teams prioritize detections and response strategies. Similarly, information-sharing communities like E-ISAC and regional ISACs give utilities visibility into the latest tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) observed across the sector. This level of intel can help shift the focus away from chasing individual signatures and toward building resilience against how adversaries actually operate.

Real-world insight:

Darktrace’s AI embodies zero‑trust by assuming breach potential and continually evaluating all device behavior, even those deemed trusted. This approach allowed the detection of an anomalous SharePoint phishing attempt coming from a trusted supplier, intercepted by spotting subtle patterns rather than predefined rules. If a cloud account is compromised, unauthorized access to sensitive information could lead to extortion and lateral movement into mission-critical systems for more damaging attacks on critical-national infrastructure.

This reinforces the need to monitor behavioral deviations across the supply chain, not just known bad artifacts.

Defense-in-Depth with OT context & unified visibility

OT environments demand visibility that spans IT, OT, and IoT layers, supported by risk-based prioritization.

Real-world insight:

Darktrace / OT offers unified AI‑led investigations that break down silos between IT and OT. Smaller teams can see unusual outbound traffic or beaconing from unknown OT devices, swiftly investigate across domains, and get clear visibility into device behavior, even when they lack specialized OT security expertise.  

Moreover, by integrating contextual risk scoring, considering real-world exploitability, device criticality, firewall misconfiguration, and legacy hardware exposure, utilities can focus on the vulnerabilities that genuinely threaten uptime and safety, rather than being overwhelmed by CVE noise.  

Regulatory alignment and positive direction

Industry regulations are beginning to reflect this evolution in strategy. NERC CIP-015 requires internal network monitoring that detects anomalies, and the standard references anomalies 15 times. In contrast, signature-based detection is not mentioned once.

This regulatory direction shows that compliance bodies understand the limitations of static defenses and are encouraging utilities to invest in anomaly-based monitoring and analytics. Utilities that adopt these approaches will not only be strengthening their resilience but also positioning themselves for regulatory compliance and operational success.

Conclusion

Signature-based detection retains utility for common IT malware, but it cannot serve as the backbone of security for power utilities. History has shown that major OT attacks are rarely stopped by signatures, since each campaign targets specific systems with customized tools. The most dangerous adversaries, from insiders to nation-states, actively design their operations to avoid detection by signature-based tools.

A more effective strategy prioritizes behavioral analytics, anomaly detection, and community-driven intelligence sharing. These approaches not only catch known threats, but also uncover the subtle anomalies and novel attack techniques that characterize tomorrow’s incidents.

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About the author
Daniel Simonds
Director of Operational Technology
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