Moneris Beats a Medusa Ransomware Attack
As a means of illustration let’s consider the following case:
Medusa ransomware attacked payments processor Moneris — jointly owned by Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal and processing transactions at more than 325,000 merchants — seeking a $6 million ransom in November 2023. Because of a multi-layered security strategy and real-time Digital Loss Prevention (DLP) policies, Moneris was able to identify the attempted unauthorized access at an early stage, carried out a full investigation and confirmed that no important information was compromised or encrypted.
Measures TakenThere are several mitigation measures that were implemented
Threat Realization and DLP Policies in Real Time
Moneris employs systems to help detect anomalous file access patterns and unauthorized encryption and block malware from running as ransomware. This methodology is in accordance with the best practices followed by the industry for ransomware defense, which achieves network-wide communication patterns detection coupled with endpoint analytics.
Segmentation, and Immutable Backups
By segmenting all sensitive functions into micro- segmented network zones and air-gapped, write-once backups, banks limit the impact of any breach and prevent downtime while refusing to pay ransoms. Immutable backups means that even if bad guys are able to breach our primary, the recovery point remains untouched.
Routine Penetration Testing and Employee Training
Phishing-resistance programs and simulated ransomware drills train front-line staff in spotting social-engineering efforts. Red teaming exercises, along with simulating and emulating real-world attack scenarios, validate control effectiveness and help build a culture of security first.
Threat Intelligence Sharing
Collaboration in information-sharing communities enables quick sharing of indicators of compromise (IOCs) for ongoing ransomware families. After Moneris’s security team picked up on Medusa’s TTPs (tactics, techniques, and procedures), they immediately included IOCs with partner banks to improve the overall security posture.
Lessons for Future Generations and Recommendations
Proactive Posture is Key: Don’t wait until you have a breach. Organizations need to have the approach of “detect and contain,” which requires impact control based on ever-changing threat environments.
Invest in Automation: Manual response to incidents is just too slow in the fast-moving ransomware landscape. Remediation is sped with security orchestration and automated containment workflows and potential operational fallout is contained.
Top Priority: Holistic Recovery Planning: Then you’ve got to think of communication – inside the bank as well as outside it – to deal with management and reporting obligations to regulators.
Lessons Learned and Recommendations
Proactive Posture Is Paramount: Waiting for a breach to occur can be catastrophic. Institutions must adopt a “detect-and-contain” mindset, continuously refining controls based on evolving threat landscapes.
Invest in Automation: Manual incident response processes are too slow against fast-moving ransomware. Security orchestration and automated containment workflows accelerate remediation and limit operational fallout.
Holistic Recovery Planning: Beyond technical measures, banks need robust communication plans—both internally and externally—to manage stakeholder expectations and regulatory reporting obligations.
How P J Networks Pvt Ltd And Its Team Can Assist
Three decades with cybersecurity experience and close Fortinet, Dell and top SIEM vendors partnerships guarantee our customers world class NOC and SOC services, customized for banking segment by P J Networks Pvt Ltd:
24×7 NOC Monitoring + Fault Pick Up and Detachment Profile
Simplifies Security Operations Proactive network performance monitoring of Fortinet firewalls, switches, and access points
Auto alerting for latency, packet-loss or configuration drift so transactional throughput is never compromised
Bespoke dashboards showing real-time KPIs, ensuring your IT team can always see the wood for the treesSOC Threat Detection and Response with Orchestration and Automation
in SIEM Integration and Tuned Correlation Rules to detect ransomware indictors -file hash anomalies, abnormal encryption events or lateral movement behaviour
Incident-hunting playbooks that qucikly isolate affected tunnels, prevent malicious IPs, and initiate end-point containment
Frequent threat hunting activities to discover covert intrusions before they spreadImmutable Backup Verification and DR-Ready.
Co-ordinating arrangements with your other backup teams to obtain offlinewritable media for critical systems
Regular (quarterly) disaster-recovery drills to test restoration procedures, reducing downtime in case of attackEmployee Education and Phishing Simulations
Targeted phishing initiatives and education initiatives to banking staff in an effort to lower click-through rates on malicious emails
Stat dashboards to follow progress and workout modules optimizationRegulatory Compliance and Reports Assistance
Guidance on RBI-prescribed cybersecurity frameworks and incident-reporting mandate
Production of auditor or regulator ready forensic quality audit logs and timelines
When partner with P J Networks Pvt Ltd, global banks will gain single pane of glass for both network operations and security operations – ensured by a team of veterans in New Delhi, and regional support all over India and overseas too. Our full lifecycle managed services allows you to be a couple of moves ahead of ransomware attackers, ensure that customer trust is upheld and remain fully compliant with financial regulations.
Conclusion
The Moneris incident proves that even a diligent ransomware crew can be stopped in its tracks through a mature cyber defense that includes cutting edge detection capabilities, networking hygiene, and a rapid response. Amid increasingly sophisticated adversaries targeting the financial sector, global banks need to be focused on resilience by making ongoing investments in technology, processes and people. P J Networks NOC is a value added service from P J Networks Pvt Ltd, it is the added advantage P J Networks NOC and SOC managed support would mean 24×7 technical know-how, and a proactive approach so that the organization can counter tech threats before it’s too late.
