Procedure examples

FunnyDream has compressed collected files with zLib and encrypted them using an XOR operation with the string key from the command line or `qwerasdf` if the command line argument doesn’t contain the key. File names are obfuscated using XOR with the same key as the compressed file content.

metaMain has used XOR-based encryption for collected files before exfiltration.

ADVSTORESHELL compresses output data generated by command execution with a custom implementation of the Lempel–Ziv–Welch (LZW) algorithm.

Modules can be pushed to and executed by Duqu that copy data to a staging area, compress it, and XOR encrypt it.

AcidRain iterates over device file identifiers on the target, opens the device file, and either overwrites the file or calls various IOCTLS commands to erase it.

Apostle searches for files on available drives based on a list of extensions hard-coded into the sample for follow-on wipe activity.

WhisperGate can overwrite sectors of a victim host's hard drive at periodic offsets.

AcidPour includes functionality to overwrite victim devices with the content of a buffer to wipe disk content.

BlackCat has the ability to wipe VM snapshots on compromised networks.

VPNFilter has the capability to wipe a portion of an infected device's firmware.

DarkGate has deleted all files in the Mozilla directory using the following command: `/c del /q /f /s C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\firefox*`.

StoneDrill can wipe the accessible physical or logical drives of the infected machine.

MegaCortex can wipe deleted data from all drives using cipher.exe.

HermeticWiper has the ability to corrupt disk partitions and obtain raw disk access to destroy data.

DEADWOOD deletes files following overwriting them with random data.

RawDisk has been used to directly access the hard disk to help overwrite arbitrarily sized portions of disk content.

cipher.exe can be used to overwrite deleted data in specified folders.

ShrinkLocker has used Diskpart to format newly-created partitions.

WhisperGate can overwrite the Master Book Record (MBR) on victim systems with a malicious 16-bit bootloader.

MultiLayer Wiper opens a handle to \\\\\\\\.\\\\PhysicalDrive0 and wipes the first 512 bytes of data from this location, removing the boot sector.

Shamoon has been seen overwriting features of disk structure such as the MBR.

StoneDrill can wipe the master boot record of an infected computer.

HermeticWiper has the ability to corrupt disk partitions, damage the Master Boot Record (MBR), and overwrite the Master File Table (MFT) of all available physical drives.

CaddyWiper has the ability to destroy information about a physical drive's partitions including the MBR, GPT, and partition entries.

BFG Agonizer retrieves a device handle to \\\\.\\PhysicalDrive0 to wipe the boot sector of a given disk.

KillDisk overwrites the first sector of the Master Boot Record with “0x00”.

DEADWOOD opens and writes zeroes to the first 512 bytes of each drive, deleting the MBR. DEADWOOD then sends the control code IOCTL_DISK_DELETE_DRIVE_LAYOUT to ensure the MBR is removed from the drive.

Diskpart can be used to delete a partition or a volume. Diskpart can also be used to remove all partitions or volume formatting from the selected disk.

RawDisk was used in Shamoon to help overwrite components of disk structure like the MBR and disk partitions.

ZeroCleare can corrupt the file system and wipe the system drive on targeted hosts.

MEDUSA can be configured to capture SSH credentials via SSH hijacking.

WannaCry enumerates current remote desktop sessions and tries to execute the malware on each session.

DarkTortilla has used `%HiddenReg%` and `%HiddenKey%` as part of its persistence via the Windows registry.

NOOPLDR can hide services used to aid execution.

Bundlore uses the mktemp utility to make unique file and directory names for payloads, such as TMP_DIR=`mktemp -d -t x.

Tarrask is able to create “hidden” scheduled tasks by deleting the Security Descriptor (`SD`) registry value.

OSX/Shlayer has used the mktemp utility to make random and unique filenames for payloads, such as export tmpDir="$(mktemp -d /tmp/XXXXXXXXXXXX)" or mktemp -t Installer.

WarzoneRAT can masquerade the Process Environment Block on a compromised host to hide its attempts to elevate privileges through `IFileOperation`.

Remcos can modify file attributes to hide the file.

COATHANGER creates and installs itself to a hidden installation directory.

NETWIRE can copy itself to and launch itself from hidden folders.

iKitten saves itself with a leading "." so that it's hidden from users by default.

EnvyScout can use hidden directories and files to hide malicious executables.

Machete has the capability to exfiltrate stolen data to a hidden folder on a removable drive.

Dacls has had its payload named with a dot prefix to make it hidden from view in the Finder application.

Cuckoo Stealer has copied its binary and the victim's scraped password into a hidden folder in the `/Users` directory.

WastedLocker has copied a random file from the Windows System32 folder to the %APPDATA% location under a different hidden filename.

InvisiMole can create hidden system directories.

CLAIMLOADER has modified file attributes to remain hidden to a standard user.

FruitFly saves itself with a leading "." to make it a hidden file.