Dread

MITRE ATT&CK does not currently catalogue Dread, 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: dread executes malicious payloads via PowerShell scripts injected into legitimate processes.

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

2. T1106 Native API Execution

   What they do: dread leverages native Windows API calls to bypass detection and manipulate system functions.

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

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

   What they do: dread establishes persistence by injecting malicious entries into Windows Registry Run Keys.

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

4. T1685 Disable or Modify Tools Defense Impairment

   What they do: dread disables antivirus tools and security software using registry modifications and service termination commands.

   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: dread forces Safe Mode boot to circumvent user-mode security controls during initial execution.

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

6. T1027.013 Encrypted/Encoded File Stealth

   What they do: dread encodes ransom notes and configuration data within encrypted file structures to evade static analysis.

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

7. T1070.004 File Deletion Stealth

   What they do: dread deletes Volume Shadow Copies and system restore points via vssadmin and command-line tools.

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

8. T1018 Remote System Discovery Discovery

   What they do: dread performs remote system discovery to identify available hosts and network topology for propagation.

   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.

9. T1083 File and Directory Discovery Discovery

   What they do: dread scans file and directory structures to identify critical data and backup locations 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.

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

    What they do: dread moves laterally through SMB shares to compromise additional networked systems.

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

11. T1486 Data Encrypted for Impact Impact

    What they do: dread encrypts victim files using custom symmetric encryption routines applied to discovered data paths.

    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.

12. T1490 Inhibit System Recovery Impact

    What they do: dread executes commands to inhibit system recovery processes and prevent automatic restoration.

    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.