Local governments, just like any private organization, rely heavily on digital infrastructure for nearly every aspect of operation — from managing tax systems to safeguarding financial records and online services. This reliance however added to restricted IT and security budgets makes them prime targets for cyberattacks.
Faced with this challnge, the IT team of a local municipality decided to take advantage of Recon Scanner, one of the latest Veeam Data Platform features. It proactively provides threat assessments and the fact that it was already available to them, made it very attractive to their IT team with limited defensive security tools.
Timeline of Attack
In late February, the team deployed Recon Scanner, initially targeting Veeam Backup and Replication servers with minimal activity to establish a baseline. By March 5, the rollout expanded to additional hosts across their Veeam Data Platform environment.
Recon Scanner collects data from various system sources — Windows registry data, event logs (both OS-level and Veeam-specific), networking processes, browser history, and more. It then maps this data to MITRE ATT&CK framework techniques, tactics, and procedures (TTPs), surfacing information about potential cyberthreats.
Immediately within the broader deployment, Recon Scanner detected a surge in high-risk events, information that was available through a user portal for easy identification and tracking. After further review, it became evident the events were tied to Brute Force Attack technique (T1110), indicating unauthorized login attempts originating from a range of foreign IP addresses.
This chart illustrates the MITRE ID for Brute Force (T1110) starting on March 5.
Unfortunately, it’s all too common for attackers around the world to target small local governments, looking to steal and/or encrypt sensitive data.
In this case, Recon Scanner flagged the unusual activity and alerted the municipality’s IT team. They quickly confirmed it wasn’t legitimate traffic and moved fast to put security measures in place, stopping the Brute Force attack before any damage was done.
This shows the actual brute force attack (redacted) events on the original host.
The attack had all the hallmarks of an early-stage ransomware campaign, likely aimed at compromising systems, obtain command and control, later movement between systems and finally executing and attack by exfiltrating data first and then encrypting. Thanks to early detection, the attackers were stopped before they could cause any harm: the IT and security team’s swift action neutralized the threat before any compromise occurred.
Why This Matters
This incident is a strong reminder of why proactive cybersecurity matters, especially for organizations that handle sensitive public data. Without Recon Scanner, this brute force attack could have succeeded, opening the door to ransomware, service outages, and the potential loss or theft of critical information tied to town finances, taxes, and operations.
Instead, Recon Scanner did exactly what it was built to do: it surfaced suspicious behavior early, provided visibility, and gave the IT team the context they needed to act fast. That quick response prevented attackers from gaining a foothold or escalating their efforts.
Beyond data protection and backup, this story shows how the Veeam Data Platform, with Recon Scanner, plays a critical role in defending systems before damage is done. For this municipality, it meant uninterrupted services, protected data, and avoided costs.
More broadly, it’s a clear case for why investing in smart, integrated data resilience platforms with security features pays off.
Read more about Recon Scanner here.
The post Recon Scanner Detects Malicious Activity & Prevents Cyberattack appeared first on Veeam Software Official Blog.
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