What a Skype for Business Cyberattack Can Look Like

Unfortunately, real-life circumstances prompted this post. We recently had to help a customer deal with a ransomware infection that affected most of their servers. (I’ll keep details private of course.)

The customer called us in a panic. They’d lost email, Skype for Business, and several client desktops. Someone had clicked a phishing link & triggered a Locky infection. We did have some backups available, but wound up having to wipe/replace a couple systems.

While this wasn’t the first time we’d helped resolve a ransomware infection, it was the first time the ransomware hit someone’s Skype for Business Server. I’m not sure the exact route Locky took to reach it, but I believe it got in via an abandoned administrator’s account. They had a systems admin leave the company a few months prior—but they hadn’t shut off his account!

The aftereffects: Four days of lost business, a bunch of angry clients, unknown number of emails lost, thousands spent on emergency support and replacement IT hardware.

(At least they didn’t have to pay the ransom on top of all that!)

Where Malware Can Reach Skype for Business

Skype4B isn’t just vulnerable through its Internet connection. As our example shows, it’s vulnerable from client-level too.

Here are the routes most malware/ransomware would take to reach & infect yours:

Front End Server. Where Skype4B lives.
Exchange Server. The server with which Skype4B interacts most often…which means the most potential routes for malware to take.
File Share. A BIG vulnerability. A shared folder through which users exchange files? It only takes one infected file, and your entire deployment’s in trouble.
End User Devices. Not just desktops/laptops now…even phones can carry malware into the office.

Milan Tomic

Hi. I’m Designer of Blog Magic. I’m CEO/Founder of ThemeXpose. I’m Creative Art Director, Web Designer, UI/UX Designer, Interaction Designer, Industrial Designer, Web Developer, Business Enthusiast, StartUp Enthusiast, Speaker, Writer and Photographer. Inspired to make things looks better.