Procedure examples

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

During APT28 Nearest Neighbor Campaign, APT28 used the native Microsoft utility cipher.exe to securely wipe files and folders – overwriting the deleted data using cmd.exe /c cipher /W:C.

Gamaredon Group has used tools to delete files and folders from victims' desktops and profiles.

Lazarus Group has used malware like WhiskeyAlfa to overwrite the first 64MB of every drive with a mix of static and random buffers. A similar process is then used to wipe content in logical drives and, finally, attempt to wipe every byte of every sector on every drive. WhiskeyBravo can be used to overwrite the first 4.9MB of physical drives. WhiskeyDelta can overwrite the first 132MB or 1.5MB of each drive with random data from heap memory.

VOID MANTICORE has utilized a disk wiping utility to facilitate destructive actions on victim servers. VOID MANTICORE has also utilized legitimate remote disk wiping commands.

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.

During HomeLand Justice, threat actors used a version of ZeroCleare to wipe disk drives on targeted hosts.

APT38 has used a custom MBR wiper named BOOTWRECK to render systems inoperable.

Sandworm Team has used the BlackEnergy KillDisk component to corrupt the infected system's master boot record.

APT37 has access to destructive malware that is capable of overwriting a machine's Master Boot Record (MBR).

Ember Bear conducted destructive operations against victims, including disk structure wiping, via the WhisperGate malware in Ukraine.

Lazarus Group malware SHARPKNOT overwrites and deletes the Master Boot Record (MBR) on the victim's machine and has possessed MBR wiper malware since at least 2009.

VOID MANTICORE has deployed custom wipers that overwrite system files and the host devices master boot records (MBR) to corrupt or destroy files.

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.

Axiom has targeted victims with remote administration tools including RDP.

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.

Mustang Panda stored encrypted payloads associated with PlugX installation in hidden directories during RedDelta Modified PlugX Infection Chain Operations.

APT32's macOS backdoor hides the clientID file via a chflags function.