Knowledge Center

McAfee is aware of a new variant of ransomware that has been detected in corporate environments. Threat Name: Ransom-WannaCry (also known as WCry, WanaCrypt, WannaCrypt, and WanaCrypt0r).

Read McAfee's observations and analysis here: https://securingtomorrow.mcafee.com/business/analysis-wannacry-ransomware-outbreak/
Read McAfee's official Threat Advisory here: PD27077.
See also the information in this Technical Brief: https://www.mcafee.com/us/resources/solution-briefs/sb-how-to-protect-against-ransomware.pdf

Minimum DATs for coverage: 

• VSE (8527) or higher * 
• ENS (2978) or higher *

* McAfee-defined content protection against known variants.  

As a best practice, configure repository update tasks with a minimal refresh interval to ensure that new content is applied when McAfee releases it.

This article will be updated as additional information is available. Continue to monitor this document for updates.

Topics in this article

Symptoms of infected systems
VSE Access Protection rules
ENS Access Protection rules
ENS Adaptive Threat Protection – Real Protect and Dynamic Application Containment
ENS Dynamic Application Containment rules
Advanced Threat Defense coverage for WannaCry Ransomware
McAfee NSP coverage for WannaCry Ransomware
Frequently Asked Questions

This threat exhibits the following symptoms on infected systems:

• Files are encrypted with the .wnry, .wcry, .wncry, .wcryt, and .wncryt extension. End users see a screen with a ransom message.
• End users see the following Ransom-WannaCry Desktop Background:
   
• On restarting, impacted systems have a blue screen error and cannot start. 
• Encryption seen on local host and open SMB shares. IMPORTANT: Customers should immediately install the Critical Microsoft Patch MS17-010, to prevent SMB shares from becoming encrypted: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/security/ms17-010.aspx.

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VirusScan Enterprise (VSE) and Endpoint Security (ENS) Access Protection Proactive Measures
 

Use VSE Access Protection rules:

Rule1:

Rule Type: Registry Blocking Rule
Process to include: *
Registry key or value to protect: HKLM - /Software/WanaCrypt0r
Registry key or value p protect: Key
File actions to prevent: Create key or value

Rule2:

Rule Type: File/Folder Blocking Rule
Process to include: *
File or folder name to block: *.wnry
File actions to prevent: New files being created

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Use ENS Access Protection rules:

Rule1:

Executable1:

Inclusion: Include
File Name or Path: *

SubRule1:

SubRule Type: Registry key
Operations: Create
Target1:

Inclusion: Include
File, folder name, or file path: *\Software\WanaCrypt0r

SubRule2:

SubRule Type: Files
Operations: Create
Target1:

Inclusion: Include
File, folder name, or file path: *.wnry

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Endpoint Security (ENS) with Adaptive Threat Protection (ATP) – Real Protect and Dynamic Application Containment (DAC) 

ENS 10.5 Adaptive Threat Protection Real Protect, in conjunction with Dynamic Application Containment, provides next-generation protection against unknown exploits.

ENS with ATP provides full protection against all known variants of the WannaCry exploit. McAfee recommends the following ATP configuration for detection of unknown WannaCry variants.

1. Configure the following setting in the Adaptive Threat Protection - Options Policy:

Rule Assignment = Security (default setting is Balanced)

2. Configure the following rules in the Adaptive Threat Protection – Dynamic Application Containment policy:

Dynamic Application Containment – Containment Rules

See KB87843 – List of and best practices for Endpoint Security Dynamic Application Containment rules, and set the recommended DAC rules to Block as prescribed.

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ENS Dynamic Application Containment rules triggered by Ransom-WannaCry variants

This section provides additional information about observed Dynamic Application Containment rules triggered by known WannaCry variants. Additional rule enablement might not be required to effectively contain related processes not detected by other layers of the ENS security stack. See KB87843 – Best Practices for ENS Dynamic Application Containment Rues, and set the recommended DAC rules to Block as prescribed.

Rule1:

Rule Name: Executing any child process

Rule2:

Rule Name: Accessing user cookie locations

Rule3:

Rule Name: Creating files with the .html, .jpg, or .bmp extension

Rule4:

Rule Name: Creating files with the .exe extension

Rule5:

Rule Name: Modifying users' data folders

Rule6:

Rule Name: Modifying startup registry locations

Rule7:

Rule Name: Modifying critical Windows files and registry locations

Rule8:

Rule Name: Reading or modifying files on any network location

Rule9:

Rule Name: Modifying files with the .bat extension

Rule10:

Rule Name: Modifying files with the .vbs extension

Rule11:

Rule Name: Creating files with the .bat extension

Rule12:

Rule Name: Reading files commonly targeted by ransomware-class malware

Rule13:

Rule Name: Creating files on any network location

Rule14:

Rule Name: Writing to files commonly targeted by ransomware-class malware

Rule15:

Rule Name: Modifying the hidden attribute bit

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Advanced Threat Defense (ATD) Content Update Package for WannaCry available in the following builds, or later:

3.6.x – 3.6.2.103.61987 or later
3.8.x package – 3.8.2.170207.59307 or later
3.10.x – 3.10.2.170712.61985 or later
4.0 – Detection included in base install

McAfee NSP coverage for WannaCry Ransomware:

Existing signatures:

• 0x43c0b800- NETBIOS-SS: Windows SMBv1 identical MID and FID type confusion vulnerability (CVE-2017-0143)   
• 0x43c0b400- NETBIOS-SS: Windows SMB Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2017-0144)   
• 0x43c0b500- NETBIOS-SS: Windows SMB Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2017-0145) 
• 0x43c0b300- NETBIOS-SS: Microsoft Windows SMB Out of bound Write Vulnerability (CVE-2017-0146)                                                                              
• 0x43c0b900- NETBIOS-SS: Windows SMBv1 information disclosure vulnerability (CVE-2017-0147)                                

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Frequently Asked Questions about Ransom-WannaCry