Crosslock

MITRE ATT&CK does not currently catalogue Crosslock, 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: low. Treat it as orientation, not attribution.

1. T1059.001 PowerShell Execution

   What they do: crosslock executes PowerShell scripts to run ransomware payloads and manipulate system files.

   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: crosslock modifies Windows Registry Run Keys to ensure malware persistence 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: crosslock disables security tools like antivirus software and event log collectors 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. T1027.016 Junk Code Insertion Stealth

   What they do: crosslock inserts junk code into binaries to evade static malware analysis and signature detection.

   What that means: Adversaries may use junk code / dead code to obfuscate a malware’s functionality.

5. T1070.004 File Deletion Stealth

   What they do: crosslock deletes Volume Shadow Copies and backup directories to prevent file restoration.

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

6. T1567.002 Exfiltration to Cloud Storage Exfiltration

   What they do: crosslock exfiltrates victim data such as agricultural records and financial information to demand payment.

   What that means: Adversaries may exfiltrate data to a cloud storage service rather than over their primary command and control channel.

7. T1486 Data Encrypted for Impact Impact

   What they do: crosslock encrypts victim files using a custom ransomware algorithm to hold data hostage.

   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.

8. T1489 Service Stop Impact

   What they do: crosslock stops critical Windows services and processes to disrupt victim operations before encryption.

   What that means: Adversaries may stop or disable services on a system to render those services unavailable to legitimate users.