Advanced Threat Defense Certification Testing Report. Symantec Corporation Symantec Advanced Threat Protection

Transcription

1 Advanced Threat Defense Certification Testing Report Symantec Advanced Threat Protection ICSA Labs Advanced Threat Defense December 8, 2015 Prepared by ICSA Labs 1000 Bent Creek Blvd., Suite 200 Mechanicsburg, PA ATD-SYMANTEC

2 ICSA Labs Advanced Threat Defense Report-at-a-Glance Executive Summary Symantec Advanced Threat Protection During 28 consecutive days of testing, ICSA Labs tested the detection capabilities of the Symantec Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) with a mix of over 650 test runs. The mix was primarily composed of new and little-known malicious threats i.e., recently harvested threats not detected by traditional security products. Periodically, ICSA Labs launched innocuous applications and activities to additionally test the Symantec ATP in terms of false positives. Throughout testing ICSA Labs observed product logs to ensure not only that the Symantec ATP indicated the existence of a malicious threat but also that logged threats were distinguishable from other logged traffic and events. The Symantec ATP passed, having met all criteria requirements. As seen in Figure 1 below, the SATP did remarkably well during this test cycle - detecting previously unknown threats while having zero false positives. Figures 2 and 3 below further break down the SATP s detection effectiveness and false positives. Test Length 28 days Malicious Samples 606 Innocuous Apps 61 Test Runs 667 % Detected 91.7% % False Positives 0.0% Fig. 1 High Detection Effectiveness & Few False Positives ICSA Labs Advanced Threat Defense Certified Test Period: Q Certified Since: 12 / 2015 Fig. 2 Detected 556 of 606 New & Little-Known Malicious Samples Fig. 3 Few Alerts on Innocuous Applications ATD-SYMANTEC Page 1 of 9

3 Introduction This is Symantec s first ICSA Labs Advanced Threat Defense Certification testing report for Symantec ATP. ICSA Labs Advanced Threat Defense (ATD) testing is aimed at vendor solutions designed to detect new threats that other traditional security products miss. Thus the focus is on how effectively vendor ATD solutions detect these unknown and little-known threats. The remainder of the report presents a more detailed look at how the Symantec ATP performed during this cycle of ICSA Labs Advanced Threat Defense Certification testing. To better understand what the results mean, this report documents not just the testing results themselves but the threat vectors and sample sources that ICSA Labs employed for this cycle of ATD testing against Symantec ATP. Threat Vectors The current set of threat vectors used in ICSA Labs ATD Certification Testing map directly to many of the top threat vectors that lead to enterprise cybersecurity breaches as reported in the Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report (DBIR). That is, the tested malicious threat vectors are among the most common ones leading to breaches in both the most recent DBIR as well as historically. Figure 4 depicts the most common threat vectors in the DBIR over time while Figure 5 illustrates those threat vectors that were most common in the 2015 DBIR Direct Install Attachment Web Download Web Drive-By Link Download by Malware Network Propagation Remote Injection Removable Media Other Fig. 4 DBIR Threat Vectors All Time Direct Install Link Attachment Web Drive-By Download by Malware Web Download Remote Injection Network Propagation Removable Media Other Fig. 5 DBIR Threat Vectors 2015 ATD-SYMANTEC Page 2 of 9

4 Figures 4 and 5 above indicate that there is much overlap between current and historic threat vectors. ICSA Labs ATD testing includes the threat vector that is by far the most prevalent, Direct Install. In addition, the testing currently includes the threat vectors labeled Web Download, Web Drive-By, and Download by Malware. The malicious threats themselves that are used in testing target weaknesses in end-user Windows desktop machines. While some threats are generically applicable to servers as well, test cases target services and software typically found on desktop machines in enterprises. The threats often involve: a. Local execution or loading of a malicious executable or data file (covering means by which an attacker has access or a user is tricked into doing so), or b. Exploitation of a client-side vulnerability in the OS, web browser, or other commonly installed application subject to malicious data files being loaded without intentional user action, or c. There may also be attacks involving remotely-accessible components of such machines. Note that in most threat detection related test cases, a file of some sort is involved. Throughout this report such a file is referred to as a sample. ATD Solution Tested ICSA Labs tested Symantec Advanced Threat Protection (ATP). Symantec ATP as tested was a singlecomponent advanced threat defense solution and is described by Symantec below. Advanced Threat Protection v (version tested) Symantec Advanced Threat Protection is a single unified solution that uncovers, prioritizes, and remediates advanced attacks. It inspects network traffic in real-time, using an array of analysis engines, including Cynic, to detect advanced attacks. This analysis is fused with intelligence from existing Symantec Endpoint Protection clients, Security.cloud, and Symantec s massive global sensor network, to stop threats that evade individual point products, with no additional agents to deploy. And with one click of a button, Symantec Advanced Threat Protection will search for, discover, and remediate any attack artifacts in your organization. All from a single console. For more information about the Symantec Advanced Threat Protection solution, please go to: Test Cycle Information This report reflects the results of one test cycle at ICSA Labs. Test cycle duration ranges from three to five weeks. To be eligible for certification, vendor solutions must be tested for at least 3 consecutive weeks. For vendors, like Symantec, that has registered for ICSA Labs Advanced Threat Defense (ATD) testing, ICSA Labs tests their ATD solutions as many as four times during a twelve-month contract term. Each quarterly test is performed using the latest, new and little-known malicious threats. During each test cycle ICSA Labs subjects ATD solutions to hundreds of test runs comprised of a mix of new threats, little-known threats and innocuous applications sent one after another continuously. Below in Figure 6 is information about the test cycle from which this findings report is based: Start Date Sept 22, 2015 Days of Continuous Testing 28 End Date Oct 23, 2015 Test Runs 667 Fig. 6 Information On This Test Cycle ATD-SYMANTEC Page 3 of 9

5 Prior ATD Reports With this report, Symantec Advanced Threat Protection initially passed all the test cases and attained certification. Thus there are no earlier ICSA Labs Advanced Threat Defense Certification testing reports for Symantec ATP. Source of Samples A number of sample sources feed ICSA Labs ATD testing. One source is the spam ICSA Labs collects. The labs spam honeypots receive approximately 250, ,000 spam messages/day. For ICSA Labs ATD testing, the team harvests attachments in that spam, making use of the ones that are malicious. Another sample source is from malicious URLs. Some of these come from the spam mentioned above. From feeds like this ICSA Labs filters and checks the URLs to see if there is a malicious file on the other end of that URL -- either as a direct file link or a series of steps (e.g. a drive-by attack with a multi-stage download process) leading to it. If so, ICSA Labs collects the sample for potential use in testing. ICSA Labs additionally uses other tools and techniques to create unique malicious files as an attacker or penetration tester might do. In some cases these are trojanized versions of clean executables. In other cases they may be original executables that are malicious. Still another source of samples is the samples themselves. Any dropped files resulting from running another malicious sample are also evaluated and potentially used in testing. Finally and importantly to test for false positives ICSA Labs also launches legitimate executables. Running innocuous applications helps ensure that vendor solutions aren t just identifying everything as malicious. Regarding The Samples From This Test Cycle Samples harvested for use in ATD testing are often unmodified and used as is. That is the case if ICSA Labs determines that the sample is new enough and/or not being detected by traditional security products. In many cases malicious samples require modification before it can avoid detection by traditional security products. Of the 606 malicious samples, Figure 7 shows that there were many more original samples used and far fewer samples that required some kind of modification before use in testing. As there were many more unmodified samples, Figure 8 reveals the source of the 463 malicious samples used in testing that were both unmodified and non-dropped. Fig. 7 Malicious Samples Original vs. Modified Fig. 8 Unmodified/Non-Dropped Sample Sources ATD-SYMANTEC Page 4 of 9

6 Detection Effectiveness To meet the criteria requirements and attain (or retain) certification through ICSA Labs testing, advanced threat defense solutions must be at least 75% effective at detecting new malicious threats. As shown in Figure 9 the Symantec ATP detected 91.7% of the threats it encountered during testing, considerably better than the percentage required for certification. Fig. 9 Symantec Advanced Threat Protection s Detection Effectiveness ICSA Labs harvests and uses many distinct malicious samples in each test cycle unrelated to the others used. Even so, there are also many similar or related malicious samples used in the test set as well. Of the 50 malicious samples not detected by the Symantec ATP, 80% were distinct misses (i.e., the not-detected samples were unrelated to one another). Of the remaining 10 misses, each is related to at least one other malicious threat that was not detected. Represented by pie slices in Figure 10 below, there are three groups each of which includes one or more related malicious threats that all went undetected during testing (labeled Related A through Related C ). Being almost 92% effective, the Symantec ATP didn t miss too many malicious threats during this test cycle; however, it did have a little trouble with similar malicious threats represented by those in the pie slice labeled, Related A and to a lesser extent those in Related B. Fig. 10 Most Undetected Malicious Samples Were Unrelated ATD-SYMANTEC Page 5 of 9

7 Another interesting plot of the SATP s detection effectiveness data appears below in Figure 11. The chart sheds light on whether or not the Symantec ATP did better or worse the newer the malicious sample. The SATP detected 93% of threats one hour old or less, and 86% of threats that were 2 hours old. In fact, regardless of how new or how old the threat, Symantec ATP did a very good job detecting new and little-known malicious threats during this test cycle. Fig. 11 Detection Effectiveness by Age of Threat (Threats < 24 Hours Old) A final effectiveness-related plot to consider for Symantec ATP during this test cycle is Figure 12 below. Plotted below is each of the 28 test cycle days along with how effective SATP was on each of those days. With the exception of the first day during the test cycle, the Symantec ATP was always over 75% effective. And on all but 10 days, the Symantec ATP was at least 90% effective against new and little-known threats. Best of all, for almost 20% of test days during the test cycle (5 days) the Symantec ATP was 100% effective. Fig. 12 Detected & Missed Threats by Day of Test Cycle ATD-SYMANTEC Page 6 of 9

8 Analyst Observations The Symantec ATP is particularly strong when a complete investigation of a compromise is required. When an individual threat is detected, an incident record is created with related Incidents being grouped into a campaign. In SATP parlance, a Campaign includes information about malicious files, URLs accessed and network traffic. The reputation of a URL can be viewed easily using a link to a Norton Safe Web Report. The analysis of potentially malicious files is very deep and includes a list of behaviors (modifying the registry, creating files, etc.) along with their importance (informational, suspicious or malicious). Overall, the Symantec Advanced Threat Protection advanced threat defense solution was very effective at detecting unknown threats. Remarkably, it had no false positives during this test cycle. ICSA Labs was impressed with Symantec s SATP and would recommend it to enterprise organizations in the market for an advanced threat defense solution. ATD-SYMANTEC Page 7 of 9

9 Significance of the Test & Results Readers of certification testing reports often wonder what the testing and results really mean. They ask, In what way is this report significant? The four statements below sum up what this ICSA Labs Advanced Threat Defense Certification Testing report should indicate to the reader: 1. ICSA Labs tested the Symantec ATP using the primary threat vectors leading to enterprise breaches according to Verizon s Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR). 2. ICSA Labs tests with malicious threats that other security products typically miss. 3. The Symantec ATP demonstrated superb threat detection effectiveness against over 600 new and little-known threats. 4. The Symantec ATP had no false positives during testing. ATD-SYMANTEC Page 8 of 9

10 Authority Report Date: December 8, 2015 This report is issued by the authority of the Managing Director, ICSA Labs. Tests are done under normal operating conditions. ICSA Labs The goal of ICSA Labs is to significantly increase user and enterprise trust in information security products and solutions. For more than 20 years, ICSA Labs, an independent division of Verizon Business, has been providing credible, independent, 3rd party security product testing and certification for many of the world s top security product developers and service providers. Enterprises worldwide rely on ICSA Labs to set and apply objective testing and certification criteria for measuring product compliance and performance. is the global leader in cybersecurity. Operating one of the world s largest cyber intelligence networks, we see more threats, and protect more customers from the next generation of attacks. We help companies, governments and individuals secure their most important data wherever it lives. ICSA Labs 1000 Bent Creek Blvd., Suite 200 Mechanicsburg, PA World Headquarters 350 Ellis Street Mountain View, CA ATD-SYMANTEC Page 9 of 9