Phantoms

Phantoms play a unique role in Ridgeback’s approach to network security, offering innovative ways to monitor, detect, and mitigate threats within the "dark space" of a network. This chapter explores what phantoms are, how they impact both devices and users, and why they are integral to proactive threat detection.

The Dark Space in Your Network

In every network, there exists a "dark space"—areas of unused IP addresses and ports. This dark space is not part of active network operations but can be revealing when interacted with. Any traffic directed toward this space is often unauthorized or unusual, serving as an early indicator of suspicious behavior. Phantoms occupy this dark space and are set up to appear as legitimate devices. By occupying and monitoring this otherwise-unused network territory, phantoms provide insights into potential threats that traditional security tools may miss.

What Are Phantoms and Why Are They Important?

Phantoms are virtual endpoints that appear to be real, network-connected devices but are designed solely to detect unauthorized activity. Phantoms do not perform any genuine network function; instead, they turn the dark space into a vast tarpit. When an entity—be it a device, user, or potential attacker—attempts to communicate with a phantom, it triggers alerts, indicating potential reconnaissance or probing activity. This activity may include scanning for open ports, searching for vulnerable devices, or attempting to map the network.

Phantoms are essential because they reveal threats in real-time without requiring an actual breach. By catching suspicious entities in the dark space, phantoms enable administrators to detect threats that may not yet have reached critical systems or sensitive data.

Recon Threats and Active Threats

Phantoms help detect two main types of threats:

• Reconnaissance (Recon) Threats: These are attempts to gather information about the network’s layout, devices, and vulnerabilities. When attackers conduct network scans or port probes, phantoms register this activity as a recon threat, allowing administrators to monitor and respond before the attacker gains a foothold.

• Active Threats: These occur when an endpoint initiates unauthorized activity, such as trying to exchange data with phantoms in the dark space. Active threats indicate potentially compromised devices attempting to communicate or exfiltrate data. By identifying these attempts early, phantoms enable swift responses to mitigate or contain the threat.

Why do we call these "threats?" We call them threats because they represent very clear and obvious paths through which an attacker can seize control of your network. Each threat is like an open door leading to the compromise of your network. Ignore the recon and active threats at your own risk.

As a bonus, cleaning up the recon and active threats makes for a much more hygenic and easy-to-manage network. Imagine having a network that hums along in an orderly fashion, making IT problems easier to troubleshoot and quicker to fix.

Running Without Phantoms

Operating a network without phantoms can leave critical blind spots. Without phantoms, administrators might miss out on early signs of attack, such as probing or scanning activity that would otherwise go undetected. In essence, phantoms act as a first line of defense, catching unauthorized behavior in low-traffic areas before it reaches critical infrastructure. Without this layer of detection, organizations may only become aware of threats after they have infiltrated deeper into the network, potentially leading to costly and disruptive incidents.

The Effects of Phantoms on Computers

Phantoms are passive from a device performance perspective. Since they exist in unused network spaces, they do not interfere with legitimate device communications or operations. Instead, they serve as sticky traps and leverage the network’s monitoring capabilities to detect and log interactions. For network devices, this means that phantoms offer a non-intrusive layer of security that strengthens overall network defense without impacting normal device performance.

The Effects of Phantoms on People

For network administrators and security teams, phantoms offer enhanced visibility into otherwise-hidden network activities, providing valuable insights into potential risks. Phantoms also reduce the cognitive load for security personnel by offering clear indicators of suspicious activity that can guide and prioritize response efforts.

For malicious actors like hackers and malware, phantoms gum up operations, seriously degrading an attacker's ability to execute the hacking techniques of reconnaissance and exploitation. From the attacker's perspective, engaging with phantoms feels like entering an unreliable network. In fact, many professional penetration testers (i.e., the red team) have reported that engaging Ridgeback makes it seem like their own network is having problems. The end result is that malicious actors become very noisy and easy to detect after they contact one or more Ridgeback phantoms.

For end users, the impact of phantoms is invisible but valuable. By detecting threats before they escalate, phantoms contribute to a secure network environment, ultimately reducing the likelihood of disruptive security incidents or breaches.

Summary

Phantoms are a crucial tool in Ridgeback’s security framework, utilizing the dark space in a network to detect recon and active threats before they become critical issues. By running a network with phantoms, organizations gain early insights into suspicious activity, minimizing risks while enhancing overall security posture. Phantoms provide a proactive, non-intrusive method for keeping networks safe, offering both administrators and users peace of mind that potential threats are being caught at the earliest possible stage.