Automated Moving Target Defense (AMTD) is a revolutionary, proactive cybersecurity technique that confounds threat actors by making fortifying systems while also making them unpredictable environments. By dynamically morphing runtime memory, AMTD creates a shifting attack surface that attackers can’t exploit.
This advanced security technique neutralizes ransomware, zero-day attacks, and fileless threats. Sometimes referred to as Moving Target Defense (MTD), it employs system polymorphism to conceal operating system and application targets, dramatically shrinking the attack surface while cutting security overhead.
Even with skyrocketing cybersecurity investments, cyberattacks continue to cost businesses over and the threat of ransomware persists. That’s because traditional defenses—like next generation antivirus (NGAV), endpoint protection platforms (EPP), and endpoint detection and response (EDR and XDR)—rely on known signatures and behavioral patterns, missing the sophisticated, undetectable attacks causing financial and reputational damage.
AMTD eliminates this gap by making attacks impossible
Recognized by Gartner, AMTD ensures prevention-first security, blocking advanced threats before they execute. Here’s how:
To gain initial access, attackers often use Living Off the Land (LOTL) techniques, which establish patterns that deviate significantly from normal operating procedures. Arms’ Zero Trust policies identify and block these abnormal patterns before an attacker can leverage them to breach the system. Intruders also rely on reliable information about their target, and static environments offer an ideal landscape for gathering such data. Integrating Automated Moving Target Defense (AMTD) at various layers introduces a level of diversity and dynamism, making it nearly impossible for attackers to gain actionable intelligence about their target.
To be successful, attackers must be able to move through the target system without raising any alarms. To prevent this, Arms Cyber integrates strategically placed deceptive tripwires with broader entropy analysis monitoring, which, combined with AMTD’s dynamic navigation surface, enables you to detect and stop attackers earlier in the encryption process, before damage can spread.
Arms Cyber goes beyond traditional backup approaches with a novel hidden stealth archival system to enable immediate recovery of corrupted data and restoration of operational state, should a ransomware break occur. So even if an attack is successful, you have the ability to subvert the impact with speed and reliability. With further anti-tamper protections, attackers never gain exclusive access to your data. This accelerates recovery and restores business as usual in no time.
The traditional cybersecurity model is reactive, relying on detection and response. AMTD shifts the paradigm to proactive security, stopping attacks before they start. Key benefits include:
No waiting for an attack to trigger a response
Protects vulnerabilities before official patches are available
Hides targets from polymorphic malware
Fewer alerts, less analyst workload
Stops lateral movement and privilege escalation
With Arms, the benefits begin immediately. In addition to the general features of an AMTD system outlined above, Arms integrates with your existing tools, installs in minutes, and delivers peace of mind right away.
Traditional malware relied on identifiable executables, allowing security tools like NGAV, EPP, EDR, and XDR to detect known threats. But attackers have evolved.
Today’s advanced threats operate in system memory at runtime, hijacking legitimate processes without leaving traces on disk. This makes them nearly invisible to traditional detection-based security solutions. Memory scanning alone isn’t enough. With vast amounts of virtual memory in a single application’s runtime, security tools can only analyze a small fraction—leaving attackers plenty of room to hide. Given this dynamic, it’s clear that AMTD becomes essential.
AMTD continuously randomizes runtime memory, disrupting attack patterns and preventing threat actors from exploiting the same vulnerability twice—even on the same system. Using an ultra-lightweight agent, AMTD proactively blocks malicious activity without generating excessive false positives or impacting performance. Seamlessly complementing NGAV, EPP, EDR, and XDR, it strengthens cybersecurity defenses by stopping in-memory, fileless, and zero-day attacks before they can take hold.
Automated Moving Target Defense adopts the same techniques that threat actors rely on and flips them against the attackers. Using polymorphism, deception, and evasion, AMTD neutralizes threats before they execute.
Think of a high-security building with constantly shifting hallways. Every time someone who is unauthorized enters, the layout changes, preventing the intruder from navigating toward valuable assets. Authorized personnel, however, always find a clear path to their destination. This is how AMTD works. It continuously alters the runtime memory environment, preventing attackers from mapping out vulnerabilities or reusing exploits. Meanwhile, legitimate processes continue running without disruption.
With an unpredictable attack surface, AMTD makes it nearly impossible for adversaries to locate and target critical system components. The result? A dramatically more secure system, fewer security incidents, and lower operational costs—all without impacting performance.
Moving Target Defense (MTD) is a preemptive cybersecurity strategy that continuously morphs system environments, making it nearly impossible for attackers to locate and exploit vulnerabilities.
Arms Cyber gives you the power to detect and stop attackers earlier in the kill chain, providing a more effective ransomware defense than any solution on the market today. Let us show you how. Contact us for a demo today, and defend your organization from ransomware tomorrow.
