Cryptoware

MITRE ATT&CK does not currently catalogue Cryptoware, 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: Cryptoware executes malicious payloads through PowerShell scripts to stage ransomware activity.

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

2. T1548.002 Bypass User Account Control Privilege Escalation

   What they do: Cryptoware bypasses User Account Control checks to execute with elevated privileges.

   What that means: Adversaries may bypass UAC mechanisms to elevate process privileges on system.

3. T1685 Disable or Modify Tools Defense Impairment

   What they do: Cryptoware disables antivirus tools and modifies system utilities 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. T1070.004 File Deletion Stealth

   What they do: Cryptoware deletes Volume Shadow Copies and backup files to eliminate recovery options.

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

5. T1083 File and Directory Discovery Discovery

   What they do: Cryptoware scans file and directory structures to identify sensitive data for encryption.

   What that means: Adversaries may enumerate files and directories or may search in specific locations of a host or network share for certain information within a file system.

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

   What they do: Cryptoware moves laterally via SMB/Windows Admin Shares to encrypt additional systems.

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

7. T1567 Exfiltration Over Web Service Exfiltration

   What they do: Cryptoware threatens financial theft by demanding payment and leaking stolen data if ransom is unpaid.

   What that means: Adversaries may use an existing, legitimate external Web service to exfiltrate data rather than their primary command and control channel.

8. T1486 Data Encrypted for Impact Impact

   What they do: Cryptoware encrypts victim files using a custom symmetric cipher to hold data hostage for ransom.

   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.

9. T1490 Inhibit System Recovery Impact

   What they do: Cryptoware runs commands to halt system recovery processes and prevent file restoration attempts.

   What that means: Adversaries may delete or remove built-in data and turn off services designed to aid in the recovery of a corrupted system to prevent recovery.