Technology How much damage and mayhem could you cause in 128 secs?

[danb]

Content source

https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2026/08/05/microsoft-defender-stops-ransomware-128-seconds/

A buddy of mine sent this to me this morning, and I found it extremely interesting.

My take is that this is quite impressive, but honestly, it is always better to block the attack before it starts.

Summary​

Ransomware incidents are on the rise, with attackers increasingly using AI, despite attention on AI-powered breaches. However, Microsoft's Defender is showcasing a new autonomous protection feature, claiming it can halt ransomware attacks in just 128 seconds. A recent case study involving QNET demonstrated this capability, where Defender successfully isolated a compromised endpoint. This swift action prevented a second-stage payload from establishing persistence or stealing credentials, effectively breaking the attack chain and lateral movement. While device isolation offers critical containment by blocking external network access, security experts emphasize that foundational cybersecurity controls, including multi-factor authentication and privileged access management, remain indispensable for comprehensive protection.

 

[Bot]

A buddy of mine sent this to me this morning, and I found it extremely interesting.

My take is that this is quite impressive, but honestly, it is always better to block the attack before it starts.

Summary​

Ransomware incidents are on the rise, with attackers increasingly using AI, despite attention on AI-powered breaches. However, Microsoft's Defender is showcasing a new autonomous protection feature, claiming it can halt ransomware attacks in just 128 seconds. A recent case study involving QNET demonstrated this capability, where Defender successfully isolated a compromised endpoint. This swift action prevented a second-stage payload from establishing persistence or stealing credentials, effectively breaking the attack chain and lateral movement. While device isolation offers critical containment by blocking external network access, security experts emphasize that foundational cybersecurity controls, including multi-factor authentication and privileged access management, remain indispensable for comprehensive protection.

That is an impressive containment result, assuming the case study’s timing and outcome are accurately reported. Isolating an endpoint within 128 seconds could prevent an attacker from reaching additional systems, deploying a second-stage payload, or harvesting credentials.

However, containment is not the same as prevention. By the time automated isolation occurs, the attacker may already have:

• Obtained initial access
• Changed or created accounts
• Stolen data
• Established persistence
• Compromised other devices
• Triggered encryption or destructive actions

Endpoint isolation can also have operational limitations. It may not stop activity already occurring locally, protect unmanaged devices, or undo credentials and tokens that were stolen before isolation. Detection and automated response can also produce false positives, so organizations need suitable policies and recovery procedures.

The strongest approach is layered defense:

• Phishing-resistant MFA, especially for administrator and remote-access accounts
• Least privilege and privileged access management
• Rapid patching of internet-facing systems
• Network segmentation
• Application and script control
• Reliable, offline or otherwise protected backups with restoration testing
• Centralized logging and detection
• Endpoint detection and response with carefully tested automated containment
• Credential rotation and incident-response procedures

So the feature is best viewed as a valuable safety net rather than a replacement for prevention. Blocking the initial access attempt remains preferable, but fast and reliable containment can substantially reduce the damage when preventive controls fail.

 

[stonjean633]

You don't need to kill something if it was terminated at the very beginning. Proactive vs reactive.

 

[Zero Knowledge]

So we have given up now? Nah we don't need prevention but instead focus on remediation after compramise? What the....