Forest

Forest is a type of malware that leverages the Golden Ticket authentication ticket to exploit entire domains and Active Directory (AD) forests. This malware uses the Security Identifier (SID) of the Enterprise Admins group in the AD forest to spoof admin rights across all domains within the forest. The forged ticket is particularly effective when created in the Forest root domain, allowing the malware to access resources and potentially disrupt operations or steal sensitive information. The impact of Forest has been significant, with a 172% increase in forest-wide Active Directory outages since 2021. Factors contributing to this rise include escalating cyberattacks, increasing complexity of hybrid environments, and human error. Traditional recovery solutions for AD forest outages often require clean or new hardware and can take hours or even days, exacerbating the issue. Despite these challenges, machine learning algorithms such as Random Forest have been utilized to identify and combat malicious domains based on certificate and pDNS reputation. Several incidents related to Forest malware have been reported. For instance, Waltham Forest Council announced a potential data breach in May, stating they would contact the Information Commissioner's Office and affected individuals if residents' data was confirmed to be compromised. The rising threat of malware like Forest underscores the importance of robust cybersecurity measures and the need for continual vigilance against evolving cyber threats.