[KB6132] Configure firewall rules for ESET Endpoint Security to protect against ransomware
Issue
You want to configure additional firewall rules in ESET Endpoint Security or create a policy in ESET PROTECT or ESET PROTECT On-Prem with additional firewall settings for ESET Endpoint Security to protect against ransomware malware(filecoder)
Click an image to open the ESET Knowledgebase article for anti-ransomware best practices and additional product configurations:
Details
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With ESET default settings, if malicious code with a dropper is executed, ESET Endpoint Security will prevent the download of the malware with the integrated ESET Firewall. To further help prevent ransomware malware on your Windows systems with ESET Endpoint Security, create the following rules in the latest ESET Endpoint Security, or create and apply an ESET PROTECT Policy.
Solution
Do not adjust settings on production systems
The following settings are additional configurations, and the specific settings needed for your security environment may vary. We recommend that you test the settings for each implementation in a test environment before using them in a production environment.
Manually create an ESET PROTECT Policy/configure the settings in ESET Endpoint Security
Click Settings and in the Select product... drop-down menu, select ESET Endpoint for Windows. Proceed to step 4.
Figure 1-1 Click the image to view larger in new window
Click Network Protection → Network attack protection and verify that Enable Botnet protection is enabled.
Figure 1-2
Click Network Protection, expand Advanced and click Edit next to Rules.
Figure 1-3 Click the image to view larger in new window
In the Firewall rules window, click Add.
Figure 1-4
In the Name field, type Deny network connections for cmd.exe (native).
Use the following configuration for the rule:
From the Direction drop-down menu, select Both.
From the Action drop-down menu, select Deny.
From the Protocol drop-down menu, select Any.
From the Profile drop-down menu, select Any profile.
Figure 1-5
Click the Local tab, and in the Application field, type C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe.
Figure 1-6
Click OK → Add, and repeat steps 6 – 7 to create the following list of rules:
Name: Deny network connections for cmd.exe (SysWOW64) Application: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\cmd.exe
Name: Deny network connections for wscript.exe (native) Application: C:\Windows\System32\wscript.exe
Name: Deny network connections for wscript.exe (SysWOW64) Application: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\wscript.exe
Name: Deny network connections for cscript.exe (native) Application: C:\Windows\System32\cscript.exe
Name: Deny network connections for cscript.exe (SysWOW64) Application: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\cscript.exe
Name: Deny network connections for powershell.exe (native) Application: C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe
Name: Deny network connections for powershell.exe (SysWOW64) Application: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe
Name: Deny network connections for ntvdm.exe Application: C:\Windows\System32\ntvdm.exe
Name: Deny network connections for regsvr.exe (native) Application: C:\Windows\System32\regsvr.exe
Name: Deny network connections for regsvr.exe (SysWOW64) Application: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\regsvr.exe
Name: Deny network connections for rundll32.exe (native) Application: C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe
Name: Deny network connections for rundll32.exe (SysWOW64) Application: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\rundll32.exe
In the Firewall rules window, click OK after adding all rules. Click Assign to assign the policy to a client or group; otherwise, click Finish in the New Policy – Settings screen. If assigned, your policy settings will be applied to the target groups or client computers once they check in to ESET PROTECT or ESET PROTECT On-Prem.
If you are using an ESET Endpoint Security without remote management, click OK→ OK after adding all rules.
Figure 1-7 Click the image to view larger in new window
Download and import the ESET PROTECT Policy
The ESET PROTECT Policy for ESET Endpoint Security with additional firewall settings to protect against ransomware malware(filecoder) can be downloaded and imported from the link below. The ESET PROTECT Policy is available only for the latest version of ESET products. Compatibility with earlier versions cannot be guaranteed.