CYBERSECURITYTRACKER
TRACKING3,014 stories541 vuln stories
Threat actor

Akira

ransomware328 leak-site claimslast active 2026-07-24MITRE ATT&CK G1024 ↗ORKL search ↗
Targeted sectorsManufacturingBusiness & Professional ServicesConstruction & EngineeringRetailLegal
Origin and motivation

Origin and motivation not attributed.

Recent claims
View all on Breaches →
Leak-site claim activity
2026-012026-07
Defensive actions

The MITRE ATT&CK mitigations countering the most of this group's known techniques, derived automatically from MITRE's own group and mitigation data. Each links to the full guidance with NIST 800-53 controls and authoritative configuration sources.

All defensive actions for Akira →
Detection rules

SigmaHQ detection rules mapped to this group's MITRE ATT&CK techniques. One technique maps to many rules, so this shows the top few by status and severity, with a link to the full set on SigmaHQ.

Detection rules for AkiraShowing 8 of 181
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Arnim Rupp
title: Antivirus - Exploitation Framework Signature
id: 238527ad-3c2c-4e4f-a1f6-92fd63adb864
status: stable
description: |
    Detects a highly relevant Antivirus alert that reports an exploitation framework.
    This event must not be ignored just because the AV has blocked the malware but investigate, how it came there in the first place.
references:
    - https://www.nextron-systems.com/?s=antivirus
    - https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/925b0b28472d4d79b4bf92050e38cc2b8f722691c713fc28743ac38551bc3797
    - https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/8f8daabe1c8ceb5710949283818e16c4aa8059bf2ce345e2f2c90b8692978424
    - https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/d9669f7e3eb3a9cdf6a750eeb2ba303b5ae148a43e36546896f1d1801e912466
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Arnim Rupp
date: 2018-09-09
modified: 2026-06-15
tags:
    - attack.execution
    - attack.t1203
    - attack.command-and-control
    - attack.t1219.002
logsource:
    category: antivirus
detection:
    selection:
        Signature|contains:
            - 'ATK/Cobalt'
            - 'Backdoor.Cobalt'
            - 'Beacon'
            - 'Brutel'
            - 'BruteR'
            - 'CbltStr'
            - 'CobaltStr'
            - 'COBALT.SMD'
            - 'COBEACON'
            - 'Cometer'
            - 'Exploit.Script.CVE'
            - 'IISExchgSpawnCMD'
            - 'Metasploit'
            - 'Meterpreter'
            - 'MeteTool'
            - 'Mpreter'
            - 'MsfShell'
            - 'PowerSploit'
            - 'Razy'
            - 'Rozena'
            - 'Sbelt'
            - 'Seatbelt'
            - 'Sliver'
            - 'Swrort'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Unlikely
level: critical
View this rule on SigmaHQ ↗
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Arnim Rupp
title: Antivirus - Password Dumper Signature
id: 78cc2dd2-7d20-4d32-93ff-057084c38b93
status: stable
description: |
    Detects a highly relevant Antivirus alert that reports password dumpers and stealers.
    This event must not be ignored just because the AV has blocked the malware but investigate, how it came there in the first place and check if passwords need to be reset.
references:
    - https://www.nextron-systems.com/?s=antivirus
    - https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/5fcda49ee7f202559a6cbbb34edb65c33c9a1e0bde9fa2af06a6f11b55ded619
    - https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/a4edfbd42595d5bddb442c82a02cf0aaa10893c1bf79ea08b9ce576f82749448
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Arnim Rupp
date: 2018-09-09
modified: 2026-06-15
tags:
    - attack.credential-access
    - attack.t1003
    - attack.t1558
    - attack.t1003.001
    - attack.t1003.002
logsource:
    category: antivirus
detection:
    selection:
        - Signature|startswith: 'PWS'
        - Signature|contains:
              - 'Certify'
              - 'DCSync'
              - 'Creddump'
              - 'DumpCreds'
              - 'DumpLsass'
              - 'DumpPert'
              - 'FormBook'
              - 'HTool/WCE'
              - 'Kekeo'
              - 'Lazagne'
              - 'LsassDump'
              - 'Lummast'
              - 'Mimikatz'
              - 'MultiDump'
              - 'Multiverze'
              - 'Nanodump'
              - 'NativeDump'
              - 'Outflank'
              - 'PShlSpy'
              - 'PSWTool'
              - 'PWCrack'
              - 'PWDump'
              - 'PWS.'
              - 'PWSX'
              - 'pypykatz'
              - 'Rubeus'
              - 'SafetyKatz'
              - 'SecurityTool'
              - 'SharpChrome'
              - 'SharpDPAPI'
              - 'SharpDump'
              - 'SharpKatz'
              - 'SharpS.' # Sharpsploit, e.g. 530ea2ff9049f5dfdfa0a2e9c27c2e3c0685eb6cbdf85370c20a7bfae49f592d
              - 'ShpKatz'
              - 'Steal'
              - 'TrickDump'
              - 'wsass'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Unlikely
level: critical
View this rule on SigmaHQ ↗
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
title: Exploit for CVE-2015-1641
id: 7993792c-5ce2-4475-a3db-a3a5539827ef
status: stable
description: Detects Winword starting uncommon sub process MicroScMgmt.exe as used in exploits for CVE-2015-1641
references:
    - https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/5567408950b744c4e846ba8ae726883cb15268a539f3bb21758a466e47021ae8/analysis/
    - https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/sample/5567408950b744c4e846ba8ae726883cb15268a539f3bb21758a466e47021ae8?environmentId=100
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
date: 2018-02-22
modified: 2021-11-27
tags:
    - attack.stealth
    - attack.t1036.005
    - cve.2015-1641
    - detection.emerging-threats
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        ParentImage|endswith: '\WINWORD.EXE'
        Image|endswith: '\MicroScMgmt.exe'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: critical
View this rule on SigmaHQ ↗
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
title: HackTool - Rubeus Execution
id: 7ec2c172-dceb-4c10-92c9-87c1881b7e18
related:
    - id: 7ec2c172-dceb-4c10-92c9-87c1881b7e18
      type: similar
status: stable
description: Detects the execution of the hacktool Rubeus via PE information of command line parameters
references:
    - https://blog.harmj0y.net/redteaming/from-kekeo-to-rubeus
    - https://m0chan.github.io/2019/07/31/How-To-Attack-Kerberos-101.html
    - https://github.com/GhostPack/Rubeus
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
date: 2018-12-19
modified: 2023-04-20
tags:
    - attack.credential-access
    - attack.t1003
    - attack.t1558.003
    - attack.lateral-movement
    - attack.t1550.003
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        - Image|endswith: '\Rubeus.exe'
        - OriginalFileName: 'Rubeus.exe'
        - Description: 'Rubeus'
        - CommandLine|contains:
              - 'asreproast '
              - 'dump /service:krbtgt '
              - 'dump /luid:0x'
              - 'kerberoast '
              - 'createnetonly /program:'
              - 'ptt /ticket:'
              - '/impersonateuser:'
              - 'renew /ticket:'
              - 'asktgt /user:'
              - 'harvest /interval:'
              - 's4u /user:'
              - 's4u /ticket:'
              - 'hash /password:'
              - 'golden /aes256:'
              - 'silver /user:'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Unlikely
level: critical
View this rule on SigmaHQ ↗
Author: Vasiliy Burov, oscd.community
title: LockerGoga Ransomware Activity
id: 74db3488-fd28-480a-95aa-b7af626de068
status: stable
description: Detects LockerGoga ransomware activity via specific command line.
references:
    - https://medium.com/@malwaredancer/lockergoga-input-arguments-ipc-communication-and-others-bd4e5a7ba80a
    - https://blog.f-secure.com/analysis-of-lockergoga-ransomware/
    - https://www.carbonblack.com/blog/tau-threat-intelligence-notification-lockergoga-ransomware/
author: Vasiliy Burov, oscd.community
date: 2020-10-18
modified: 2023-02-03
tags:
    - attack.impact
    - attack.t1486
    - detection.emerging-threats
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        CommandLine|contains: '-i SM-tgytutrc -s'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Unlikely
level: critical
View this rule on SigmaHQ ↗
Author: Sittikorn S
title: AWS SecurityHub Findings Evasion
id: a607e1fe-74bf-4440-a3ec-b059b9103157
status: stable
description: Detects the modification of the findings on SecurityHub.
references:
    - https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/securityhub/
author: Sittikorn S
date: 2021-06-28
tags:
    - attack.defense-impairment
    - attack.t1685
logsource:
    product: aws
    service: cloudtrail
detection:
    selection:
        eventSource: securityhub.amazonaws.com
        eventName:
            - 'BatchUpdateFindings'
            - 'DeleteInsight'
            - 'UpdateFindings'
            - 'UpdateInsight'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - System or Network administrator behaviors
    - DEV, UAT, SAT environment. You should apply this rule with PROD environment only.
level: high
View this rule on SigmaHQ ↗
Author: Thomas Patzke
title: HackTool - CrackMapExec Execution Patterns
id: 058f4380-962d-40a5-afce-50207d36d7e2
status: stable
description: Detects various execution patterns of the CrackMapExec pentesting framework
references:
    - https://github.com/byt3bl33d3r/CrackMapExec
author: Thomas Patzke
date: 2020-05-22
modified: 2023-11-06
tags:
    - attack.privilege-escalation
    - attack.persistence
    - attack.execution
    - attack.t1047
    - attack.t1053
    - attack.t1059.003
    - attack.t1059.001
    - attack.s0106
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        CommandLine|contains:
            # cme/protocols/smb/wmiexec.py (generalized execute_remote and execute_fileless)
            - 'cmd.exe /Q /c * 1> \\\\*\\*\\* 2>&1'
            # cme/protocols/smb/atexec.py:109 (fileless output via share)
            - 'cmd.exe /C * > \\\\*\\*\\* 2>&1'
            # cme/protocols/smb/atexec.py:111 (fileless output via share)
            - 'cmd.exe /C * > *\\Temp\\* 2>&1'
            # https://github.com/byt3bl33d3r/CrackMapExec/blob/d8c50c8cbaf36c29329078662473f75e440978d2/cme/helpers/powershell.py#L136 (PowerShell execution with obfuscation)
            - 'powershell.exe -exec bypass -noni -nop -w 1 -C "'
            # https://github.com/byt3bl33d3r/CrackMapExec/blob/d8c50c8cbaf36c29329078662473f75e440978d2/cme/helpers/powershell.py#L160 (PowerShell execution without obfuscation)
            - 'powershell.exe -noni -nop -w 1 -enc '
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: high
View this rule on SigmaHQ ↗
Author: Bhabesh Raj, Nasreddine Bencherchali
title: Microsoft Defender Tamper Protection Trigger
id: 49e5bc24-8b86-49f1-b743-535f332c2856
status: stable
description: Detects blocked attempts to change any of Defender's settings such as "Real Time Monitoring" and "Behavior Monitoring"
references:
    - https://bhabeshraj.com/post/tampering-with-microsoft-defenders-tamper-protection
    - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-endpoint/troubleshoot-microsoft-defender-antivirus?view=o365-worldwide
author: Bhabesh Raj, Nasreddine Bencherchali
date: 2021-07-05
modified: 2022-12-06
tags:
    - attack.defense-impairment
    - attack.t1685
logsource:
    product: windows
    service: windefend
detection:
    selection:
        EventID: 5013 # Tamper protection blocked a change to Microsoft Defender Antivirus. If Tamper protection is enabled then, any attempt to change any of Defender's settings is blocked. Event ID 5013 is generated and states which setting change was blocked.
        Value|endswith:
            - '\Windows Defender\DisableAntiSpyware'
            - '\Windows Defender\DisableAntiVirus'
            - '\Windows Defender\Scan\DisableArchiveScanning'
            - '\Windows Defender\Scan\DisableScanningNetworkFiles'
            - '\Real-Time Protection\DisableRealtimeMonitoring'
            - '\Real-Time Protection\DisableBehaviorMonitoring'
            - '\Real-Time Protection\DisableIOAVProtection'
            - '\Real-Time Protection\DisableScriptScanning'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Administrator might try to disable defender features during testing (must be investigated)
level: high
View this rule on SigmaHQ ↗
View all detecting rules on SigmaHQ →

Detection rules licensed under Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1, from SigmaHQ. Each rule retains its author.

Validation tests

Atomic Red Team validating tests mapped to this group's MITRE ATT&CK techniques, shown beside the detection rules so you can validate the detections. This shows the top few, with a link to the full set on GitHub. Descriptive metadata only, never the attack commands.

Validating tests for AkiraShowing 8 of 138
Platforms: windows

Red teamer's avoid IEX and Invoke-WebRequest in your PowerShell commands. Instead, host a text record with a payload to compromise hosts. [reference](https://twitter.com/jstrosch/status/1237382986557001729)

View this test on GitHub ↗
Platforms: windows

Adfind tool can be used for reconnaissance in an Active directory environment. This example has been documented by ransomware actors enumerating Active Directory Computer Objects reference- http://www.joeware.net/freetools/tools/adfind/, https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2019/04/pick-six-intercepting-a-fin6-intrusion.html

View this test on GitHub ↗
Platforms: windows

Adfind tool can be used for reconnaissance in an Active directory environment. This example has been documented by ransomware actors enumerating Active Directory Domain Controller Objects reference- http://www.joeware.net/freetools/tools/adfind/, https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2019/04/pick-six-intercepting-a-fin6-intrusion.html

View this test on GitHub ↗
Platforms: windows

Adfind tool can be used for reconnaissance in an Active directory environment. This example has been documented by ransomware actors enumerating Active Directory OUs reference- http://www.joeware.net/freetools/tools/adfind/, https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2019/04/pick-six-intercepting-a-fin6-intrusion.html

View this test on GitHub ↗
Platforms: windows

Adfind tool can be used for reconnaissance in an Active directory environment. This example has been documented by ransomware actors enumerating Active Directory Trusts reference- http://www.joeware.net/freetools/tools/adfind/, https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2019/04/pick-six-intercepting-a-fin6-intrusion.html

View this test on GitHub ↗
Platforms: windows

Any easy way to bypass AMSI inspection is it patch the dll in memory setting the "amsiInitFailed" function to true. Upon execution, no output is displayed. https://www.mdsec.co.uk/2018/06/exploring-powershell-amsi-and-logging-evasion/

View this test on GitHub ↗
Platforms: windows

Executes powershell.exe with variations of the -Command parameter

View this test on GitHub ↗
Platforms: windows

Executes powershell.exe with variations of the -Command parameter with encoded arguments supplied

View this test on GitHub ↗
View all validating tests on GitHub →

Atomic tests from Atomic Red Team, (c) Red Canary, MIT License. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Red Canary.

Related coverage

Actor profile data:RansomLook(CC BY 4.0). Leak-site claims are unverified.