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Dhumal, Atharva, Ghaleb, Mustafa, Abdelsalam, Samah, Moldovan, Arghir-Nicolae and Hamdan Mohamed, Mosab (2025) Zero Trust Architecture for Ransomware Defense in Virtualized Environment. In: BDCAT '25: Proceedings of the IEEE/ACM 12th International Conference on Big Data Computing, Applications and Technologies. ACM, Nantes, pp. 1-7. ISBN 979-840072286-8
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Abstract
The ongoing surge of ransomware has underscored the need to shift from perimeter-based security to Zero Trust models. This paper investigates a Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) approach to containing ransomware in a virtualized environment using least-privilege controls, micro-segmentation, and continuous monitoring. We develop an open-source, lightweight security architecture comprising Wazuh for real-time auditing and alerts, audited for system logging, and the Uncomplicated Firewall (UFW) for network segmentation within a VirtualBox laboratory network, consisting of Ubuntu as the victim and Kali as the attacker virtual machines. A simulated ransomware attack is conducted to evaluate detection latency, data impact, system overhead, and alert accuracy. The prototype ZTA framework detected ransomware activity in an average of ≈ 5.3 seconds. This detection limited encryption to approximately 20% of files prior to the activation of containment measures, while maintaining minimal CPU and memory overhead and exhibiting a low rate of false positives. These findings illustrate the successful early containment of ransomware via the implementation of Zero Trust controls. Although evaluated in a laboratory environment, the methodology is applicable to trustworthy and secure cloud or hybrid systems by improving data protection, facilitating compliance-oriented audits, and minimizing the impact of attacks.
| Item Type: | Book Section |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Auditd; Micro-Segmentation; Ransomware; Ransomware Containment; Uncomplicated Firewall; Virtualized Lab; Wazuh; Zero Trust Architecture |
| Subjects: | Q Science > QA Mathematics > Electronic computers. Computer science T Technology > T Technology (General) > Information Technology > Electronic computers. Computer science Q Science > QA Mathematics > Computer software > Computer Security T Technology > T Technology (General) > Information Technology > Computer software > Computer Security T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) > Systems engineering > Simulation methods |
| Divisions: | School of Computing > Staff Research and Publications |
| Depositing User: | Tamara Malone |
| Date Deposited: | 21 Jan 2026 10:39 |
| Last Modified: | 21 Jan 2026 10:39 |
| URI: | https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/9110 |
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