Spook

MITRE ATT&CK does not currently catalogue Spook, 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: spook executes PowerShell scripts to stage payloads and manipulate system processes during initial compromise.

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

2. T1106 Native API Execution

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

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

3. T1685 Disable or Modify Tools Defense Impairment

   What they do: spook disables antivirus tools and security software to prevent system recovery and hinder forensic analysis.

   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: spook deletes critical files and Volume Shadow Copies using command-line utilities to maximize impact and prevent recovery.

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

5. T1110 Brute Force Credential Access

   What they do: spook brute-forces local accounts to obtain credentials for privilege escalation and persistence.

   What that means: Adversaries may use brute force techniques to gain access to accounts when passwords are unknown or when password hashes are obtained.

6. T1057 Process Discovery Discovery

   What they do: spook discovers running processes to identify services and processes to disrupt or terminate.

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

7. T1083 File and Directory Discovery Discovery

   What they do: spook performs file and directory discovery to locate sensitive data for encryption and potential exfiltration.

   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.

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

   What they do: spook spreads laterally via SMB/Windows Admin Shares to infect additional hosts within the network.

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

9. T1486 Data Encrypted for Impact Impact

   What they do: spook encrypts victim files with custom ransomware binaries, targeting documents and system data for impact.

   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.

10. T1490 Inhibit System Recovery Impact

    What they do: spook invokes system recovery inhibition commands to block automatic restoration attempts after encryption.

    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.