| ID | Name |
|---|---|
| T1561.001 | Disk Content Wipe |
| T1561.002 | Disk Structure Wipe |
Adversaries may erase the contents of storage devices on specific systems or in large numbers in a network to interrupt availability to system and network resources.
Adversaries may partially or completely overwrite the contents of a storage device rendering the data irrecoverable through the storage interface.[1][2][3] Instead of wiping specific disk structures or files, adversaries with destructive intent may wipe arbitrary portions of disk content. To wipe disk content, adversaries may acquire direct access to the hard drive in order to overwrite arbitrarily sized portions of disk with random data.[2] Adversaries have also been observed leveraging third-party drivers like RawDisk to directly access disk content.[1][2] This behavior is distinct from Data Destruction because sections of the disk are erased instead of individual files.
To maximize impact on the target organization in operations where network-wide availability interruption is the goal, malware used for wiping disk content 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.[2]
| ID | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| S1125 | AcidRain |
AcidRain iterates over device file identifiers on the target, opens the device file, and either overwrites the file or calls various IOCTLS commands to erase it.[4] |
| S1133 | Apostle |
Apostle searches for files on available drives based on a list of extensions hard-coded into the sample for follow-on wipe activity.[5] |
| S1068 | BlackCat |
BlackCat has the ability to wipe VM snapshots on compromised networks.[6][7] |
| S1134 | DEADWOOD |
DEADWOOD deletes files following overwriting them with random data.[5] |
| G0047 | Gamaredon Group |
Gamaredon Group has used tools to delete files and folders from victims' desktops and profiles.[8] |
| S0697 | HermeticWiper |
HermeticWiper has the ability to corrupt disk partitions and obtain raw disk access to destroy data.[9][10] |
| G0032 | Lazarus Group |
Lazarus Group has used malware like WhiskeyAlfa to overwrite the first 64MB of every drive with a mix of static and random buffers. A similar process is then used to wipe content in logical drives and, finally, attempt to wipe every byte of every sector on every drive. WhiskeyBravo can be used to overwrite the first 4.9MB of physical drives. WhiskeyDelta can overwrite the first 132MB or 1.5MB of each drive with random data from heap memory.[2] |
| S0576 | MegaCortex |
MegaCortex can wipe deleted data from all drives using |
| S0364 | RawDisk |
RawDisk has been used to directly access the hard disk to help overwrite arbitrarily sized portions of disk content.[2] |
| S0380 | StoneDrill |
StoneDrill can wipe the accessible physical or logical drives of the infected machine.[12] |
| S1010 | VPNFilter |
VPNFilter has the capability to wipe a portion of an infected device's firmware.[13] |
| S0689 | WhisperGate |
WhisperGate can overwrite sectors of a victim host's hard drive at periodic offsets.[14][15][16] |
| 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.[17] 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 executed commands and arguments that may erase the contents of storage devices on specific systems or in large numbers in a network to interrupt availability to system and network resources. |
| 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. |
||
| DS0027 | Driver | Driver Load |
Monitor for unusual kernel driver installation activity may erase the contents of storage devices 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 erase the contents of storage devices on specific systems or in large numbers in a network to interrupt availability to system and network resources. |