Adversaries may wipe or corrupt raw disk data on specific systems or in large numbers in a network to interrupt availability to system and network resources. With direct write access to a disk, adversaries may attempt to overwrite portions of disk data. Adversaries may opt to wipe arbitrary portions of disk data and/or wipe disk structures like the master boot record (MBR). A complete wipe of all disk sectors may be attempted.
To maximize impact on the target organization in operations where network-wide availability interruption is the goal, malware used for wiping disks may have worm-like features to propagate across a network by leveraging additional techniques like Valid Accounts, OS Credential Dumping, and SMB/Windows Admin Shares.[1]
On network devices, adversaries may wipe configuration files and other data from the device using Network Device CLI commands such as erase.[2]
| ID | Mitigation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| M1053 | Data Backup |
Consider implementing IT disaster recovery plans that contain procedures for taking regular data backups that can be used to restore organizational data.[3] Ensure backups are stored off system and is protected from common methods adversaries may use to gain access and destroy the backups to prevent recovery. |
| ID | Data Source | Data Component | Detects |
|---|---|---|---|
| DS0017 | Command | Command Execution |
Monitor for direct access read/write attempts using the |
| DS0016 | Drive | Drive Access |
Monitor for newly constructed drive letters or mount points to a data storage device for attempts to write to sensitive locations like the partition boot sector, master boot record, disk partition table, or BIOS parameter block/superblock. |
| Drive Modification |
Monitor for changes made to drive letters or mount points of data storage devices for attempts to read to sensitive locations like the partition boot sector, master boot record, disk partition table, or BIOS parameter block/superblock. |
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| DS0027 | Driver | Driver Load |
Monitor for unusual kernel driver installation activity that may wipe or corrupt raw disk data on specific systems or in large numbers in a network to interrupt availability to system and network resources. |
| DS0009 | Process | Process Creation |
Monitor newly executed processes that may wipe or corrupt raw disk data on specific systems or in large numbers in a network to interrupt availability to system and network resources. |