What Happened Before the Breach?

The energy grid is under attack. Power plants, pipelines, and substations are being compromised, and operations grind to a halt. A cyberattack has struck with a sophisticated, well-planned breach that left critical infrastructure vulnerable. But how did it happen? To understand, we must retrace the steps, from the catastrophic consequences back to the subtle warning signs hidden in the network.

As we walk through each stage of the breach, we’ll explore how network logs, a common data type used by security tools, provided limited insights, and how network packet data could have delivered the crucial intelligence needed to prevent disaster.

Step 1: The Blackout

What Happened
The attack reached its peak. Systems controlling the grid failed, leading to widespread outages. Pipelines shut down. Industrial control systems (ICSs) became unresponsive. The entire sector was in crisis mode as experts scrambled to assess the damage and restore functionality.

• What logs provided: Logs showed unexpected shutdowns of ICS components but failed to reveal the root cause and answer whether it was an insider threat, malware, or a direct attack on remote access systems.
• What packet data could have provided: Packet data would have revealed the exact commands issued to ICS controllers, whether they came from legitimate users or were injected via a compromised system. This insight could have enabled early detection and mitigation before widespread disruption occurred.

Step 2: The Ransomware Deployment

What Happened
Before systems failed, ransomware locked operators out of critical applications, demanding millions in cryptocurrency to restore control. Backup systems were compromised, leaving no easy path to recovery.

• What logs provided: Logs captured authentication failures and access attempts to backup servers, but they did not show how the ransomware spread across the network or how it bypassed defenses.
• What packet data could have provided: Packet data would have identified the exact malware payload delivery, how it exploited vulnerabilities, and the command-and-control (C2) traffic coordinating the attack. This intelligence could have facilitated earlier containment.

Step 3: The Lateral Movement

What Happened
Long before ransomware locked the systems, attackers moved laterally through the network, escalating privileges and identifying key systems to target. They leveraged legitimate remote access tools to blend in.

• What logs provided: Logs noted successful logins from authorized credentials but failed to flag the subtle anomalies such as unusual working hours or access from previously unseen devices.
• What packet data could have provided: Packet data would have uncovered unauthorized toolkits being transferred, unusual Secure Shell (SSH) or Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) session behaviors, and hidden beaconing patterns to external C2 servers. This visibility could have stopped the attackers before they reached critical systems.

Step 4: The Initial Compromise

What Happened
The breach started with a spear-phishing email targeting a plant operator. The email contained a malicious attachment that exploited a zero-day vulnerability, granting attackers a foothold into the network.

• What logs provided: Logs captured the email’s receipt and a subsequent file execution event but lacked visibility into what the file actually did.
• What packet data could have provided: Packet data would have shown the exact exploit behavior, the payload’s execution sequence, and its communications with external attacker-controlled infrastructure. This early warning could have prevented the entire attack chain from unfolding.

What Could Have Been Done?

At every stage of this cyberattack, network packet data provided the depth that log data could not. Logs offer a useful but often incomplete view, missing the raw, unfiltered truth of how the attack unfolded. Packet data delivers:

• Full payload visibility to detect malicious commands and exfiltrated data
• Deep forensic analysis to reconstruct attack sequences and pinpoint vulnerabilities
• Real-time threat detection to stop ransomware, lateral movement, and C2 traffic before they cause damage

Could This Happen Again?

As energy organizations assess their security posture, the question remains: Are you relying solely on logs, or are you leveraging the full power of packet data to defend your critical infrastructure? The answers to cyber resilience are always in the packets. Can you afford not to listen?

Learn how NETSCOUT Omnis Cyber Intelligence can help by providing comprehensive network visibility with scalable deep packet inspection (DPI) to detect, investigate, and respond to threats more efficiently.