Silent

MITRE ATT&CK does not currently catalogue Silent, 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: silent executes PowerShell scripts to stage payloads and manipulate system processes before encryption.

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

2. T1106 Native API Execution

   What they do: silent leverages native API calls to bypass detection while performing file operations and service manipulation.

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

3. T1112 Modify Registry PersistenceDefense Impairment

   What they do: silent modifies registry run keys to establish persistence and ensure recurring execution after reboots.

   What that means: Adversaries may interact with the Windows Registry as part of a variety of other techniques to aid in defense evasion, persistence, and execution.

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

   What they do: silent leverages startup folders and registry run entries to maintain persistence across system restarts.

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

5. T1685 Disable or Modify Tools Defense Impairment

   What they do: silent disables antivirus tools and security software using registry modifications 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.

6. T1027.013 Encrypted/Encoded File Stealth

   What they do: silent encodes victim data using symmetric encryption keys before demanding ransom payments.

   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: silent deletes Volume Shadow Copies and backup directories via command-line tools to prevent recovery.

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

8. T1057 Process Discovery Discovery

   What they do: silent discovers running processes to identify critical services and isolate components for disruption.

   What that means: Adversaries may attempt to get information about running processes on a system.

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

   What they do: silent moves laterally through SMB shares to access additional systems within the victim network.

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

10. T1486 Data Encrypted for Impact Impact

    What they do: silent encrypts victim files using custom ransomware binaries targeting business documents and databases.

    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.

11. T1489 Service Stop Impact

    What they do: silent executes kill.bat commands to stop critical services and disrupt operational continuity.

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

12. T1490 Inhibit System Recovery Impact

    What they do: silent calls system recovery inhibitors like shutdown scripts to prevent forensic analysis and system 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.