Coinbasecartel

MITRE ATT&CK does not currently catalogue Coinbasecartel, 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: coinbasecartel uses PowerShell scripts to execute malicious commands and stage ransomware payloads across compromised systems.

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

2. T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder PersistencePrivilege Escalation

   What they do: coinbasecartel modifies registry run keys to ensure ransomware execution persists across reboots.

   What that means: Adversaries may achieve persistence by adding a program to a startup folder or referencing it with a Registry run key.

3. T1685 Disable or Modify Tools Defense Impairment

   What they do: coinbasecartel disables security tools like EDR and AV by terminating processes or modifying system configurations to evade detection.

   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.

4. T1027.013 Encrypted/Encoded File Stealth

   What they do: coinbasecartel encodes victim data with symmetric encryption keys before exfiltration to protect stolen information.

   What that means: Adversaries may encrypt or encode files to obfuscate strings, bytes, and other specific patterns to impede detection.

5. T1070.004 File Deletion Stealth

   What they do: coinbasecartel deletes Volume Shadow Copies and backup directories via system commands to prevent data recovery.

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

6. T1018 Remote System Discovery Discovery

   What they do: coinbasecartel uses remote system discovery to map network topology and identify additional targets for infection.

   What that means: Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of other systems by IP address, hostname, or other logical identifier on a network that may be used for Lateral Movement from the current system.

7. T1135 Network Share Discovery Discovery

   What they do: coinbasecartel performs network share discovery to identify accessible SMB shares for lateral movement and victim targeting.

   What that means: Adversaries may look for folders and drives shared on remote systems as a means of identifying sources of information to gather as a precursor for Collection and to identify potential systems of interest for Lateral Movement.

8. T1560.001 Archive via Utility Collection

   What they do: coinbasecartel archives victim data using utility tools prior to encryption to facilitate exfiltration and extortion.

   What that means: Adversaries may use utilities to compress and/or encrypt collected data prior to exfiltration.

9. T1486 Data Encrypted for Impact Impact

   What they do: coinbasecartel encrypts victim files using custom ransomware binaries to maximize impact and force ransom payments.

   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: coinbasecartel performs internal defacement by replacing victim files with ransom notes and 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.