Deathkitty

MITRE ATT&CK does not currently catalogue Deathkitty, 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: deathkitty executes malicious commands via PowerShell scripts to stage ransomware deployment.

   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: deathkitty modifies Windows Registry Run Keys to ensure malware persistence after reboot.

   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: deathkitty disables antivirus tools and security software to evade detection during infection.

   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: deathkitty inserts junk code into binaries to evade static analysis and 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: deathkitty deletes Volume Shadow Copies and backup files to prevent 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: deathkitty discovers network systems using native discovery tools to identify additional victims.

   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. T1486 Data Encrypted for Impact Impact

   What they do: deathkitty encrypts victim files using its ransomware payload 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.