Cephalus Ransomware: Emergence and Threat Profile
🚨 Cephalus is a mid‑2025 ransomware operation that both encrypts systems and exfiltrates sensitive data for publication on a dark‑web leak site. The group commonly gains initial access via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) accounts lacking multi‑factor authentication and uses a DLL sideloading chain that abuses SentinelOne's SentinelBrowserNativeHost.exe to load a malicious DLL and execute the payload. Infected files are renamed with the .sss extension, Volume Shadow Copies are deleted, and Windows Defender is disabled. Organisations should prioritise MFA, timely patching, secure offline backups, network segmentation and staff training to reduce risk.
