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February 10, 2025

From Hype to Reality: How AI is Transforming Cybersecurity Practices

AI hype is everywhere, but not many vendors are getting specific. Darktrace’s multi-layered AI combines various machine learning techniques for behavioral analytics, real-time threat detection, investigation, and autonomous response.
Inside the SOC
Darktrace cyber analysts are world-class experts in threat intelligence, threat hunting and incident response, and provide 24/7 SOC support to thousands of Darktrace customers around the globe. Inside the SOC is exclusively authored by these experts, providing analysis of cyber incidents and threat trends, based on real-world experience in the field.
Written by
Nicole Carignan
SVP, Security & AI Strategy, Field CISO
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10
Feb 2025

AI is everywhere, predominantly because it has changed the way humans interact with data. AI is a powerful tool for data analytics, predictions, and recommendations, but accuracy, safety, and security are paramount for operationalization.

In cybersecurity, AI-powered solutions are becoming increasingly necessary to keep up with modern business complexity and this new age of cyber-threat, marked by attacker innovation, use of AI, speed, and scale. The emergence of these new threats calls for a varied and layered approach in AI security technology to anticipate asymmetric threats.

While many cybersecurity vendors are adding AI to their products, they are not always communicating the capabilities or data used clearly. This is especially the case with Large Language Models (LLMs). Many products are adding interactive and generative capabilities which do not necessarily increase the efficacy of detection and response but rather are aligned with enhancing the analyst and security team experience and data retrieval.

Consequently, many  people erroneously conflate generative AI with other types of AI. Similarly, only 31% of security professionals report that they are “very familiar” with supervised machine learning, the type of AI most often applied in today’s cybersecurity solutions to identify threats using attack artifacts and facilitate automated responses. This confusion around AI and its capabilities can result in suboptimal cybersecurity measures, overfitting, inaccuracies due to ineffective methods/data, inefficient use of resources, and heightened exposure to advanced cyber threats.

Vendors must cut through the AI market and demystify the technology in their products for safe, secure, and accurate adoption. To that end, let’s discuss common AI techniques in cybersecurity as well as how Darktrace applies them.

Modernizing cybersecurity with AI

Machine learning has presented a significant opportunity to the cybersecurity industry, and many vendors have been using it for years. Despite the high potential benefit of applying machine learning to cybersecurity, not every AI tool or machine learning model is equally effective due to its technique, application, and data it was trained on.

Supervised machine learning and cybersecurity

Supervised machine models are trained on labeled, structured data to facilitate automation of a human-led trained tasks. Some cybersecurity vendors have been experimenting with supervised machine learning for years, with most automating threat detection based on reported attack data using big data science, shared cyber-threat intelligence, known or reported attack behavior, and classifiers.

In the last several years, however, more vendors have expanded into the behavior analytics and anomaly detection side. In many applications, this method separates the learning, when the behavioral profile is created (baselining), from the subsequent anomaly detection. As such, it does not learn continuously and requires periodic updating and re-training to try to stay up to date with dynamic business operations and new attack techniques. Unfortunately, this opens the door for a high rate of daily false positives and false negatives.

Unsupervised machine learning and cybersecurity

Unlike supervised approaches, unsupervised machine learning does not require labeled training data or human-led training. Instead, it independently analyzes data to detect compelling patterns without relying on knowledge of past threats. This removes the dependency of human input or involvement to guide learning.

However, it is constrained by input parameters, requiring a thoughtful consideration of technique and feature selection to ensure the accuracy of the outputs. Additionally, while it can discover patterns in data as they are anomaly-focused, some of those patterns may be irrelevant and distracting.

When using models for behavior analytics and anomaly detection, the outputs come in the form of anomalies rather than classified threats, requiring additional modeling for threat behavior context and prioritization. Anomaly detection performed in isolation can render resource-wasting false positives.

LLMs and cybersecurity

LLMs are a major aspect of mainstream generative AI, and they can be used in both supervised and unsupervised ways. They are pre-trained on massive volumes of data and can be applied to human language, machine language, and more.

With the recent explosion of LLMs in the market, many vendors are rushing to add generative AI to their products, using it for chatbots, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems, agents, and embeddings. Generative AI in cybersecurity can optimize data retrieval for defenders, summarize reporting, or emulate sophisticated phishing attacks for preventative security.

But, since this is semantic analysis, LLMs can struggle with the reasoning necessary for security analysis and detection consistently. If not applied responsibly, generative AI can cause confusion by “hallucinating,” meaning referencing invented data, without additional post-processing to decrease the impact or by providing conflicting responses due to confirmation bias in the prompts written by different security team members.

Combining techniques in a multi-layered AI approach

Each type of machine learning technique has its own set of strengths and weaknesses, so a multi-layered, multi-method approach is ideal to enhance functionality while overcoming the shortcomings of any one method.

Darktrace’s multi-layered AI engine is powered by multiple machine learning approaches, which operate in combination for cyber defense. This allows Darktrace to protect the entire digital estates of the organizations it secures, including corporate networks, cloud computing services, SaaS applications, IoT, Industrial Control Systems (ICS), and email systems.

Plugged into the organization’s infrastructure and services, our AI engine ingests and analyzes the raw data and its interactions within the environment and forms an understanding of the normal behavior, right down to the granular details of specific users and devices. The system continually revises its understanding about what is normal based on evolving evidence, continuously learning as opposed to baselining techniques.

This dynamic understanding of normal partnered with dozens of anomaly detection models means that the AI engine can identify, with a high degree of precision, events or behaviors that are both anomalous and unlikely to be benign. Understanding anomalies through the lens of many models as well as autonomously fine-tuning the models’ performances gives us a higher understanding and confidence in anomaly detection.

The next layer provides event correlation and threat behavior context to understand the risk level of an anomalous event(s). Every anomalous event is investigated by Cyber AI Analyst that uses a combination of unsupervised machine learning models to analyze logs with supervised machine learning trained on how to investigate. This provides anomaly and risk context along with investigation outcomes with explainability.

The ability to identify activity that represents the first footprints of an attacker, without any prior knowledge or intelligence, lies at the heart of the AI system’s efficacy in keeping pace with threat actor innovations and changes in tactics and techniques. It helps the human team detect subtle indicators that can be hard to spot amid the immense noise of legitimate, day-to-day digital interactions. This enables advanced threat detection with full domain visibility.

Digging deeper into AI: Mapping specific machine learning techniques to cybersecurity functions

Visibility and control are vital for the practical adoption of AI solutions, as it builds trust between human security teams and their AI tools. That is why we want to share some specific applications of AI across our solutions, moving beyond hype and buzzwords to provide grounded, technical explanations.

Darktrace’s technology helps security teams cover every stage of the incident lifecycle with a range of comprehensive analysis and autonomous investigation and response capabilities.

  1. Behavioral prediction: Our AI understands your unique organization by learning normal patterns of life. It accomplishes this with multiple clustering algorithms, anomaly detection models, Bayesian meta-classifier for autonomous fine-tuning, graph theory, and more.
  2. Real-time threat detection: With a true understanding of normal, our AI engine connects anomalous events to risky behavior using probabilistic models. 
  3. Investigation: Darktrace performs in-depth analysis and investigation of anomalies, in particular automating Level 1 of a SOC team and augmenting the rest of the SOC team through prioritization for human-led investigations. Some of these methods include supervised and unsupervised machine learning models, semantic analysis models, and graph theory.
  4. Response: Darktrace calculates the proportional action to take in order to neutralize in-progress attacks at machine speed. As a result, organizations are protected 24/7, even when the human team is out of the office. Through understanding the normal pattern of life of an asset or peer group, the autonomous response engine can isolate the anomalous/risky behavior and surgically block. The autonomous response engine also has the capability to enforce the peer group’s pattern of life when rare and risky behavior continues.
  5. Customizable model editor: This layer of customizable logic models tailors our AI’s processing to give security teams more visibility as well as the opportunity to adapt outputs, therefore increasing explainability, interpretability, control, and the ability to modify the operationalization of the AI output with auditing.

See the complete AI architecture in the paper “The AI Arsenal: Understanding the Tools Shaping Cybersecurity.”

Figure 1. Alerts can be customized in the model editor in many ways like editing the thresholds for rarity and unusualness scores above.

Machine learning is the fundamental ally in cyber defense

Traditional security methods, even those that use a small subset of machine learning, are no longer sufficient, as these tools can neither keep up with all possible attack vectors nor respond fast enough to the variety of machine-speed attacks, given their complexity compared to known and expected patterns.

Security teams require advanced detection capabilities, using multiple machine learning techniques to understand the environment, filter the noise, and take action where threats are identified.

Darktrace’s multi-layered AI comes together to achieve behavioral prediction, real-time threat detection and response, and incident investigation, all while empowering your security team with visibility and control.

Download the full report

Discover specifically how Darktrace applies different types of AI to improve cybersecurity efficacy and operations in this technical paper.

Inside the SOC
Darktrace cyber analysts are world-class experts in threat intelligence, threat hunting and incident response, and provide 24/7 SOC support to thousands of Darktrace customers around the globe. Inside the SOC is exclusively authored by these experts, providing analysis of cyber incidents and threat trends, based on real-world experience in the field.
Written by
Nicole Carignan
SVP, Security & AI Strategy, Field CISO

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April 22, 2025

Obfuscation Overdrive: Next-Gen Cryptojacking with Layers

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Out of all the services honeypotted by Darktrace, Docker is the most commonly attacked, with new strains of malware emerging daily. This blog will analyze a novel malware campaign with a unique obfuscation technique and a new cryptojacking technique.

What is obfuscation?

Obfuscation is a common technique employed by threat actors to prevent signature-based detection of their code, and to make analysis more difficult. This novel campaign uses an interesting technique of obfuscating its payload.

Docker image analysis

The attack begins with a request to launch a container from Docker Hub, specifically the kazutod/tene:ten image. Using Docker Hub’s layer viewer, an analyst can quickly identify what the container is designed to do. In this case, the container is designed to run the ten.py script which is built into itself.

 Docker Hub Image Layers, referencing the script ten.py.
Figure 1: Docker Hub Image Layers, referencing the script ten.py.

To gain more information on the Python file, Docker’s built in tooling can be used to download the image (docker pull kazutod/tene:ten) and then save it into a format that is easier to work with (docker image save kazutod/tene:ten -o tene.tar). It can then be extracted as a regular tar file for further investigation.

Extraction of the resulting tar file.
Figure 2: Extraction of the resulting tar file.

The Docker image uses the OCI format, which is a little different to a regular file system. Instead of having a static folder of files, the image consists of layers. Indeed, when running the file command over the sha256 directory, each layer is shown as a tar file, along with a JSON metadata file.

Output of the file command over the sha256 directory.
Figure 3: Output of the file command over the sha256 directory.

As the detailed layers are not necessary for analysis, a single command can be used to extract all of them into a single directory, recreating what the container file system would look like:

find blobs/sha256 -type f -exec sh -c 'file "{}" | grep -q "tar archive" && tar -xf "{}" -C root_dir' \;

Result of running the command above.
Figure 4: Result of running the command above.

The find command can then be used to quickly locate where the ten.py script is.

find root_dir -name ten.py

root_dir/app/ten.py

Details of the above ten.py script.
Figure 5: Details of the above ten.py script.

This may look complicated at first glance, however after breaking it down, it is fairly simple. The script defines a lambda function (effectively a variable that contains executable code) and runs zlib decompress on the output of base64 decode, which is run on the reversed input. The script then runs the lambda function with an input of the base64 string, and then passes it to exec, which runs the decoded string as Python code.

To help illustrate this, the code can be cleaned up to this simplified function:

def decode(input):
   reversed = input[::-1]

   decoded = base64.decode(reversed)
   decompressed = zlib.decompress(decoded)
   return decompressed

decoded_string = decode(the_big_text_blob)
exec(decoded_string) # run the decoded string

This can then be set up as a recipe in Cyberchef, an online tool for data manipulation, to decode it.

Use of Cyberchef to decode the ten.py script.
Figure 6: Use of Cyberchef to decode the ten.py script.

The decoded payload calls the decode function again and puts the output into exec. Copy and pasting the new payload into the input shows that it does this another time. Instead of copy-pasting the output into the input all day, a quick script can be used to decode this.

The script below uses the decode function from earlier in order to decode the base64 data and then uses some simple string manipulation to get to the next payload. The script will run this over and over until something interesting happens.

# Decode the initial base64

decoded = decode(initial)
# Remove the first 11 characters and last 3

# so we just have the next base64 string

clamped = decoded[11:-3]

for i in range(1, 100):
   # Decode the new payload

   decoded = decode(clamped)
   # Print it with the current step so we

   # can see what’s going on

   print(f"Step {i}")

   print(decoded)
   # Fetch the next base64 string from the

   # output, so the next loop iteration will

   # decode it

   clamped = decoded[11:-3]

Result of the 63rd iteration of this script.
Figure 7: Result of the 63rd iteration of this script.

After 63 iterations, the script returns actual code, accompanied by an error from the decode function as a stopping condition was never defined. It not clear what the attacker’s motive to perform so many layers of obfuscation was, as one round of obfuscation versus several likely would not make any meaningful difference to bypassing signature analysis. It’s possible this is an attempt to stop analysts or other hackers from reverse engineering the code. However,  it took a matter of minutes to thwart their efforts.

Cryptojacking 2.0?

Cleaned up version of the de-obfuscated code.
Figure 8: Cleaned up version of the de-obfuscated code.

The cleaned up code indicates that the malware attempts to set up a connection to teneo[.]pro, which appears to belong to a Web3 startup company.

Teneo appears to be a legitimate company, with Crunchbase reporting that they have raised USD 3 million as part of their seed round [1]. Their service allows users to join a decentralized network, to “make sure their data benefits you” [2]. Practically, their node functions as a distributed social media scraper. In exchange for doing so, users are rewarded with “Teneo Points”, which are a private crypto token.

The malware script simply connects to the websocket and sends keep-alive pings in order to gain more points from Teneo and does not do any actual scraping. Based on the website, most of the rewards are gated behind the number of heartbeats performed, which is likely why this works [2].

Checking out the attacker’s dockerhub profile, this sort of attack seems to be their modus operandi. The most recent container runs an instance of the nexus network client, which is a project to perform distributed zero-knowledge compute tasks in exchange for cryptocurrency.

Typically, traditional cryptojacking attacks rely on using XMRig to directly mine cryptocurrency, however as XMRig is highly detected, attackers are shifting to alternative methods of generating crypto. Whether this is more profitable remains to be seen. There is not currently an easy way to determine the earnings of the attackers due to the more “closed” nature of the private tokens. Translating a user ID to a wallet address does not appear to be possible, and there is limited public information about the tokens themselves. For example, the Teneo token is listed as “preview only” on CoinGecko, with no price information available.

Conclusion

This blog explores an example of Python obfuscation and how to unravel it. Obfuscation remains a ubiquitous technique employed by the majority of malware to aid in detection/defense evasion and being able to de-obfuscate code is an important skill for analysts to possess.

We have also seen this new avenue of cryptominers being deployed, demonstrating that attackers’ techniques are still evolving - even tried and tested fields. The illegitimate use of legitimate tools to obtain rewards is an increasingly common vector. For example,  as has been previously documented, 9hits has been used maliciously to earn rewards for the attack in a similar fashion.

Docker remains a highly targeted service, and system administrators need to take steps to ensure it is secure. In general, Docker should never be exposed to the wider internet unless absolutely necessary, and if it is necessary both authentication and firewalling should be employed to ensure only authorized users are able to access the service. Attacks happen every minute, and even leaving the service open for a short period of time may result in a serious compromise.

References

1. https://www.crunchbase.com/funding_round/teneo-protocol-seed--a8ff2ad4

2. https://teneo.pro/

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About the author
Nate Bill
Threat Researcher

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April 22, 2025

How NDR and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Work Together to Achieve Network Security Outcomes

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Modern networks are evolving rapidly, with traffic patterns, user behavior, and critical assets extending far beyond the boundaries of traditional network security tools. As organizations adopt hybrid infrastructures, remote working, and cloud-native services, it is essential to maintain visibility and protect this expanding attack surface.

Network Detection and Response (NDR) and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) are two technologies commonly used to safeguard organizational networks. While both play crucial roles in enhancing security, one does not replace the other. Instead, NDR and SASE complement each other, taking on different roles to create a robust network security framework. This blog will unpack the relationship between NDR and SASE, including the component functionalities that comprise SASE, highlighting their unique contributions to maintaining a comprehensive and resilient network security strategy.

Network Detection and Response (NDR) and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) explained

NDR solutions, such as Darktrace / NETWORK, are designed to detect, investigate, and respond to suspicious activities within any network. By leveraging machine learning and behavioral analytics, NDR continuously monitors network traffic to identify anomalies that could indicate potential threats and to contain those threats at machine speed. These solutions analyze both North-South traffic (between internal and external networks) and East-West traffic (within internal networks), providing comprehensive visibility into network activities.

SASE, on the other hand, comprises multiple solutions, focused on providing hybrid and remote users access to services while adhering to the Zero Trust principle of "never trust, always verify". Within SASE architectures, Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) solutions provide secure remote access to private applications and services the user has been explicitly granted, and Secure Web Gateways (SWG) provide Internet access, again based on policy groups. Unlike traditional security models that grant implicit trust to users within the network perimeter, ZTNA requires continuous verification of user identity and device health before granting access to resources. This approach minimizes the attack surface and reduces the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive data and internal applications. Similarly, SWGs filter web traffic based on the verified user identity and can block known malware, further reducing the attack surface for the client estate.

Limitations of SASE highlights the importance of NDR

While SASE, including ZTNA and SWG, is a powerful tool for enforcing secure access to company networks and resources as well as the Internet, it is not a comprehensive security solution, or a replacement for dedicated network monitoring and NDR capabilities. Some of the main limitations include:

  • Focused on policies rather than security: SASE delivers strong networking outcomes but provides policy-based protections, rather than a full suite of security features. It can provide simple alerting for disallowed actions, but it lacks the security context needed for comprehensive threat detection, such as knowing if user credentials have been compromised.
  • Can only detect known threats: SASE solutions cannot detect novel attacks such as zero-days and insider threats. This is because they rely on a rule-based approach that does not have a behavioral understanding of network entities that can detect anomalies or suspicious activity.
  • Limited response capabilities: Due to the limited detection capabilities of SASE solutions, it is not possible to automate response actions to threats that slip past existing policies.  While access to internal resources and the Internet can be revoked or severely limited as part of a response, this must be done after human investigation and analysis, allowing more time for the threat to continue before being contained.
  • Limited scope: SASE provides cloud-hosted secure networking, which lends itself much more toward the client estate of any organization. As a result, servers and unmanaged devices—whether IT/IoT/OT—are mostly out of scope and do not benefit from the policies SASE enforces.

The complementary roles of NDR and ZTNA

NDR solutions provide full visibility into network activity, with the ability to detect and respond to threats that may bypass initial access controls and filters. When combined, NDR and SASE create a layered security approach that addresses different aspects of network security, for example:

  • Detection of novel, unknown and insider threats: NDR solutions can monitor all network traffic using behavioral anomaly detection. This can identify suspicious activities, such as insider threats from authorized users who have passed policy checks, or novel attacks that have never been seen before.
  • Validation of policies: By continuously monitoring network traffic, NDR can validate the effectiveness of existing policies and identify any gaps in security that need addressing due to organizational changes or outdated rule sets.
  • Reducing risk and impact of threats: Together, SASE and NDR solutions shift toward proactive security by reducing the potential impact of a threat through predefined policies and by detecting and containing a threat in its earliest stages, even if it is novel or nuanced.
  • Enhanced contextual information: Alerts raised by SASE solutions can provide additional context into potential threats, which can be used by NDR solutions to increase investigation quality and context.
  • Containment of network threats: SASE solutions can prohibit access to resources on an internal company network or on the Internet if predefined access control criteria are not met or a site matches a threat signature. When combined with an NDR solution, organizations can go far beyond this, detecting and responding to a much wider variety of network threats to prevent attacks from escalating.

When implementing SASE and NDR solutions, it is also crucial to consider the best configurations to maximize interoperability, and integrations will often increase functionality. Well-designed implementations, combined with integrations, will strengthen both SASE and NDR solutions for organizations.

How Darktrace continues to secure SASE networks

With the latest 6.3 update, Darktrace continues to extend its capabilities with new innovations that support modern enterprise networks and the use of SASE across remote and hybrid worker devices. This expands on existing Darktrace integrations and partnerships with SASE vendors such as Netskope and Zscaler.

Traditional methods to contain remote access and internet-born threats are either signature or policy based, and response to nuanced threats requires manual, human-led investigation and decision-making. By the time security teams can react, the damage is often already done.

With Darktrace 6.3, customers using Zscaler can now configure Darktrace Autonomous Response to quarantine ZPA-connected user devices at machine speed. This provides a powerful new mechanism for containing remote threats at the earliest sign of suspicious activity, without disrupting broader operations.

By automatically shutting down ZPA access for compromised user accounts, Darktrace gives SOC teams valuable time to investigate and respond, while continuing to protect the rest of the organization. This integration enhances Darktrace’s ability to take actions for remote user devices, helping customers contain threats faster and keep the business running smoothly.

For organizations using SASE technologies to address the challenges of securing large, distributed networks across a range of geographies, SaaS applications and remote worker devices, Darktrace also now integrates with Netskope Cloud TAP to provide visibility into and analysis over tunneled traffic, reducing blind spots and enabling organizations to maintain detection capabilities across their expanding network perimeters.

Conclusion

While NDR and ZTNA serve distinct purposes, their integration is crucial for a comprehensive security strategy. ZTNA provides robust access controls, ensuring that only authorized users can access network resources. NDR, on the other hand, offers continuous visibility into network activities, detecting and responding to threats that may bypass initial access controls. By leveraging the strengths of both solutions, organizations can enhance their security posture and protect against a wide range of network security threats.

Understanding the complementary roles of NDR and ZTNA is essential for building a resilient security framework. As cyber threats continue to evolve, adopting a multi-layered, defense-in-depth security approach will be key to safeguarding organizational networks.

Click here for more information about the latest product innovations in Darktrace 6.3, or learn more about Darktrace / NETWORK here.

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About the author
Mikey Anderson
Product Marketing Manager, Network Detection & Response
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