---
name: implementing-anti-ransomware-group-policy
description: Hardens Windows Active Directory environments against ransomware by configuring Group Policy Objects with AppLocker rules, Controlled Folder Access, Attack Surface Reduction rules, and lateral movement restrictions.
license: Apache-2.0
---

# Implementing Anti-Ransomware Group Policy

## When to Use

- Hardening a Windows Active Directory environment against ransomware execution and propagation
- Implementing defense-in-depth by blocking ransomware execution paths via Group Policy
- Configuring AppLocker or WDAC rules to prevent unauthorized executables from running in user-writable directories
- Enabling Controlled Folder Access to protect critical directories from unauthorized file modifications
- Restricting lateral movement vectors (RDP, SMB, WMI) that ransomware uses to spread across the domain

**Do not use** as a standalone ransomware defense. GPO settings complement but do not replace endpoint detection, backups, network segmentation, and user awareness training.

## Prerequisites

- Windows Server 2016+ Active Directory environment with Group Policy Management Console (GPMC)
- Domain Admin or Group Policy Creator Owners privileges
- Windows 10/11 Enterprise or Education (required for AppLocker and WDAC)
- Microsoft Defender Antivirus enabled (required for Controlled Folder Access and ASR rules)
- Python 3.8+ for audit script that validates GPO compliance
- Test OU for validating GPO settings before domain-wide deployment

## Workflow

### Step 1: Block Ransomware Execution Paths with AppLocker

Configure AppLocker to prevent executables from running in common ransomware staging locations:

```
AppLocker GPO Path:
  Computer Configuration → Policies → Windows Settings →
  Security Settings → Application Control Policies → AppLocker

Key Rules:
━━━━━━━━━
1. DENY executable rules for user-writable paths:
   - %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp\*     (email attachment extraction)
   - %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\*         (CryptoLocker staging)
   - %USERPROFILE%\Downloads\*               (web downloads)
   - %TEMP%\*                                (temporary extraction)
   - %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\*                 (social engineering drops)

2. ALLOW default rules:
   - C:\Windows\* (signed by Microsoft)
   - C:\Program Files\* and C:\Program Files (x86)\*
   - Administrator group: all paths

3. Enable Application Identity service:
   Computer Configuration → Policies → Windows Settings →
   Security Settings → System Services →
   Application Identity → Automatic
```

### Step 2: Enable Controlled Folder Access

Protect critical directories from unauthorized modification:

```
Controlled Folder Access GPO Path:
  Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates →
  Windows Components → Microsoft Defender Antivirus →
  Microsoft Defender Exploit Guard → Controlled Folder Access

Settings:
━━━━━━━━━
1. Configure Controlled folder access: Enabled → Block mode
2. Configure protected folders: Add custom paths
   - \\fileserver\shares\finance
   - \\fileserver\shares\hr
   - C:\Users\*\Documents
   - C:\Users\*\Desktop

3. Configure allowed applications: Whitelist trusted apps
   - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\*
   - C:\Program Files\Adobe\*
   - Line-of-business applications

Default protected folders (automatic):
  Documents, Pictures, Videos, Music, Desktop, Favorites
```

### Step 3: Configure Attack Surface Reduction (ASR) Rules

Enable ASR rules that target ransomware delivery mechanisms:

```
ASR Rules GPO Path:
  Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates →
  Windows Components → Microsoft Defender Antivirus →
  Microsoft Defender Exploit Guard → Attack Surface Reduction

Critical ASR Rules for Ransomware Prevention:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
GUID                                    Rule
BE9BA2D9-53EA-4CDC-84E5-9B1EEEE46550   Block executable content from email
D4F940AB-401B-4EFC-AADC-AD5F3C50688A   Block Office apps from creating child processes
3B576869-A4EC-4529-8536-B80A7769E899   Block Office apps from creating executable content
75668C1F-73B5-4CF0-BB93-3ECF5CB7CC84   Block Office apps from injecting into processes
D3E037E1-3EB8-44C8-A917-57927947596D   Block JavaScript/VBScript from launching downloads
5BEB7EFE-FD9A-4556-801D-275E5FFC04CC   Block execution of obfuscated scripts
92E97FA1-2EDF-4476-BDD6-9DD0B4DDDC7B   Block Win32 API calls from Office macros
01443614-CD74-433A-B99E-2ECDC07BFC25   Block executable files unless they meet prevalence criteria

Set each rule to: Block (1) or Audit (2) for initial testing
```

### Step 4: Restrict Lateral Movement Vectors

Lock down SMB, RDP, and WMI to limit ransomware propagation:

```
Network Restrictions:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
1. Disable SMBv1:
   Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates →
   Network → Lanman Workstation → Enable insecure guest logons: Disabled

   Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates →
   MS Security Guide → Configure SMBv1 server: Disabled

2. Restrict Remote Desktop:
   Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates →
   Windows Components → Remote Desktop Services →
   Remote Desktop Session Host → Connections →
   Allow users to connect remotely: Disabled (or restricted to specific groups)

3. Disable remote WMI:
   Windows Firewall → Inbound Rules →
   Block Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) inbound

4. Disable AutoPlay/AutoRun:
   Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates →
   Windows Components → AutoPlay Policies →
   Turn off AutoPlay: Enabled (All drives)

5. Disable PowerShell remoting for non-admin users:
   Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates →
   Windows Components → Windows PowerShell →
   Turn on Script Execution: Allow only signed scripts
```

### Step 5: Audit and Validate GPO Compliance

Verify that GPO settings are applied correctly across the domain:

```powershell
# Check GPO application on endpoint
gpresult /r /scope:computer

# Verify AppLocker rules
Get-AppLockerPolicy -Effective | Select-Object -ExpandProperty RuleCollections

# Check Controlled Folder Access status
Get-MpPreference | Select-Object EnableControlledFolderAccess

# List protected folders
Get-MpPreference | Select-Object -ExpandProperty ControlledFolderAccessProtectedFolders

# Check ASR rules
Get-MpPreference | Select-Object -ExpandProperty AttackSurfaceReductionRules_Ids
Get-MpPreference | Select-Object -ExpandProperty AttackSurfaceReductionRules_Actions
```

## Verification

- Run `gpresult /r` on test endpoints to confirm GPO application
- Attempt to run an executable from `%AppData%\Temp` to verify AppLocker blocks it
- Modify a file in a protected folder from an unlisted application to confirm CFA blocks it
- Test ASR rules by opening a macro-enabled document and verifying child process blocking
- Validate that legitimate applications in the allowlist still function correctly
- Check Windows Event Log for AppLocker events (Event IDs 8003, 8004) and CFA events (1123, 1124)

## Key Concepts

| Term | Definition |
|------|------------|
| **AppLocker** | Windows application control feature that restricts which executables, scripts, and DLLs users can run based on publisher, path, or hash rules |
| **Controlled Folder Access** | Microsoft Defender feature that prevents untrusted applications from modifying files in protected directories |
| **Attack Surface Reduction (ASR)** | Set of rules in Microsoft Defender Exploit Guard that block specific attack behaviors like Office macro child processes |
| **Software Restriction Policies (SRP)** | Legacy Windows feature (deprecated in Win 11) for restricting executables; replaced by AppLocker and WDAC |
| **WDAC** | Windows Defender Application Control; the successor to AppLocker with stronger enforcement using code integrity policies |

## Tools & Systems

- **Group Policy Management Console (GPMC)**: Primary tool for creating and managing GPOs in Active Directory
- **AppLocker**: Built-in Windows application whitelisting and blacklisting engine
- **Microsoft Defender Exploit Guard**: Suite including CFA, ASR rules, and Network Protection
- **GPResult**: Command-line tool for verifying GPO application status on endpoints
- **PowerShell Get-MpPreference**: Cmdlet for querying Microsoft Defender configuration including ASR and CFA status