Argonauts

MITRE ATT&CK does not currently catalogue Argonauts, so this is our assessment of the techniques it uses, drawn from public reporting. The techniques themselves, and every "what that means" definition below, come from MITRE ATT&CK v19.2. Confidence: medium. Treat it as orientation, not attribution.

1. T1059.001 PowerShell Execution

   What they do: argonauts uses PowerShell scripts to execute malicious commands and spread payloads across compromised systems.

   What that means: Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.

2. T1106 Native API Execution

   What they do: argonauts leverages native API calls to interact with system functions for execution and evasion.

   What that means: Adversaries may interact with the native OS application programming interface (API) to execute behaviors.

3. T1112 Modify Registry PersistenceDefense Impairment

   What they do: argonauts modifies registry run keys to establish persistence and ensure recurring execution.

   What that means: Adversaries may interact with the Windows Registry as part of a variety of other techniques to aid in defense evasion, persistence, and execution.

4. T1685 Disable or Modify Tools Defense Impairment

   What they do: argonauts disables security tools like antivirus software to prevent detection and hinder incident response.

   What that means: Adversaries may disable, degrade, or tamper with security tools or applications (e.g., endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools, intrusion detection systems (IDS), antivirus, logging agents, sensors, etc.) to impair or reduce visibility of defensive capabilities.

5. T1688 Safe Mode Boot Defense Impairment

   What they do: argonauts forces Safe Mode Boot to disable non-essential services and evade detection mechanisms.

   What that means: Adversaries may abuse Windows safe mode to disable endpoint defenses.

6. T1070.004 File Deletion Stealth

   What they do: argonauts deletes Volume Shadow Copies and backup files via system commands to prevent recovery.

   What that means: Adversaries may delete files left behind by the actions of their intrusion activity.

7. T1057 Process Discovery Discovery

   What they do: argonauts performs process discovery to identify active processes and select targets for manipulation or termination.

   What that means: Adversaries may attempt to get information about running processes on a system.

8. T1021.002 SMB/Windows Admin Shares Lateral Movement

   What they do: argonauts uses SMB/Windows Admin Shares for lateral movement between networked victim machines.

   What that means: Adversaries may use Valid Accounts to interact with a remote network share using Server Message Block (SMB).

9. T1486 Data Encrypted for Impact Impact

   What they do: argonauts encrypts victim files using custom ransomware binaries to achieve data encryption for impact.

   What that means: Adversaries may encrypt data on target systems or on large numbers of systems in a network to interrupt availability to system and network resources.

10. T1491.001 Internal Defacement Impact

    What they do: argonauts performs internal defacement by replacing victim files with ransom notes or altered content.

    What that means: An adversary may deface systems internal to an organization in an attempt to intimidate or mislead users, thus discrediting the integrity of the systems.