Malware Families

TAMECAT is PowerShell-based backdoor with modular components designed to facilitate data exfiltration and remote control

aka Nancrat, NanoCore

Nanocore is a Remote Access Tool used to steal credentials and to spy on cameras. It as been used for a while by numerous criminal actors as well as by nation state threat actors.

aka Bladabindi, Lime-Worm

RedPacket Security describes NJRat as "a remote access trojan (RAT) has capabilities to log keystrokes, access the victim's camera, steal credentials stored in browsers, open a reverse shell, upload/download files, view the victim's desktop, perform process, file, and registry manipulations, and capabilities to let the attacker update, uninstall, restart, close, disconnect the RAT and rename its campaign ID. Through the Command & Control (CnC) server software, the attacker has capabilities to create and configure the malware to spread through USB drives." It is supposedly popular with actors in the Middle East. Similar to other RATs, many leaked builders may be backdoored.

aka Cryptear, FuckUnicorn

HiddenTear is an open source ransomware developed by a Turkish programmer and later released as proof of concept on GitHub. The malware generates a local symmetric key in order to encrypt a configurable folder (/test was the default one) and it sends it to a centralized C&C server. Due to its small payload it was used as real attack vector over email phishing campaigns. Variants are still used in attacks.

aka ReBot, TeaBot, Toddler

aka CoinMiner

According to ESET, first seen in-the-wild on 26th May, 2017, the malicious mining software is a fork of a legitimate open source Monero CPU miner called xmrig.

SpyMax is a popular Android surveillance tool. Its predecessor, SpyNote, was one of the most widely used spyware frameworks.

According to Mandiant, MISTPEN is a lightweight backdoor written in C whose main functionality is to download and execute Portable Executable (PE) files. The backdoor is a modification of the open-source Notepad++ binhex plugin v2.0.0.1 where the creation of a thread that executes the malicious code has been added to the DllMain function.

aka ScoringMathTea

According to ESET Research, ScoringMathTea is a RAT that offers the attackers full control over the compromised machine. Its first appearance dates to late 2022, when its dropper was uploaded to VirusTotal. Soon after, it was seen in the wild, and since then in multiple attacks attributed to Lazarus’ Operation DreamJob campaigns, which makes it the attacker’s payload of choice for already three years. It uses compromised servers for C&C communication, with the server part usually stored under the WordPress folder containing design templates or plugins.

According to Nextron, Lynx ransomware is a sophisticated malware threat that has been active since mid-2024. Lynx has claimed over 20 victims across a range of industries. Once it infiltrates a system, it encrypts critical files, appending a ‘.lynx’ extension, and deletes backup files like shadow copies to hinder recovery. Uniquely, it also sends the ransom note to available printers, adding an unexpected element to its attack strategy. This malware shares similarities with previous INC ransomware, indicating that they bought INC ransomware source code.

aka LIGHTSHOW

FudModule is a user-mode DLL that gets the ability to read and write arbitrary kernel memory via the BYOVD technique. Its main goal is to turn off Windows system monitoring features, which is done by modifying kernel variables and removing kernel callbacks. Its actions may very likely affect various types of security products, e.g. EDRs, firewalls, antimalware and even digital forensics tools.

aka Unidentified 081

Kaspersky Labs observed Andariel to drop this ransomware in one case within a series of attacks carried out against targets in South Korea in April 2021.

Ransomware. Uses dropper written in JavaScript to deploy a .NET payload.

aka CLEANBOOST, CleanUp, CleanUpLoader +1

Oyster is a backdoor malware written in C++ that first appeared in July 2023. It allows for remote sessions, supporting tasks such as file transfer and command-line processing. This malware has been used by numerous threat actors as a tool to facilitate ransomware intrusions. The distribution of Oyster has likely occurred through various methods, as suggested by the build identifiers found in examined samples. Additionally, Oyster is capable of collecting basic system data and communicates with a command-and-control (C2) server. It can execute commands via cmd.exe and run additional files. In August 2024, a new version of Oyster was discovered that featured a new command-and-control (C2) communication protocol format. This 2024 version contained plaintext strings and lacked code obfuscation, suggesting it was still in development. In contrast to the 2024 version, the new 2025 Oyster version does not send C2 messages in plaintext, instead reintroducing the substitution cipher that was present in earlier versions of Oyster.

According to Cyble, PhantomCore is a backdoor utilized by the hacktivist group Head Mare. It has been active since 2023 and is known for consistently targeting Russia. PhantomCore collects the victim’s information, including the public IP address, to gain detailed insights into the target before deploying the final-stage payload or executing additional commands on the compromised system. PhantomCore is known to deploy ransomware payloads such as LockBit and Babuk, inflicting significant damage on the victim’s systems.

FDMTP is a newly discovered hacking tool developed in .NET, used by Earth Preta. It functions as a simple malware downloader and is based on the TouchSocket framework over the Duplex Message Transport Protocol (DMTP). In one campaign, threat actors embedded FDMTP in the data section of a DLL. This allows it to be launched through DLL side-loading. The embedded network configurations are encoded and encrypted to enhance security and evade detection, utilizing Base64 and DES encryption methods. It has been observed to serve as a secondary control tool, often deployed by the PUBLOAD backdoor.

Mozi is a IoT botnet, that makes use of P2P for communication and reuses source code of other well-known malware families, including Gafgyt, Mirai, and IoT Reaper.

aka Trik, phorphiex

Proofpoint describes Phorpiex/Trik as a SDBot fork (thus IRC-based) that has been used to distribute GandCrab, Pushdo, Pony, and coinminers. The name Trik is derived from PDB strings.

According to Silent Push, this malware exists in multiple versions, including .NET, PowerShell, and JScript. They believe it is part of an IAB toolset or used by a affiliate with ties to LockBit, BlackBasta, and Qilin ransomware groups. CountLoader was also recently used in a PDF-based phishing lure targeting individuals in Ukraine, in a campaign that impersonated the Ukrainian police.

According to Google, GHOSTBLADE is delivered via the DarkSword exploit chain. GHOSTBLADE is a dataminer written in JavaScript that collects and exfiltrates a wide variety of data from a compromised device. Data collected by GHOSTBLADE is exfiltrated to an attacker-controlled server over HTTP(S). Unlike GHOSTKNIFE and GHOSTSABER, GHOSTBLADE is less capable and does not support any additional modules or backdoor-like functionality; it also does not operate continuously. However, similar to GHOSTKNIFE, GHOSTBLADE also contains code to delete crash reports, but targets a different directory where they may be stored.

According to PCrisk, Trigona is ransomware that encrypts files and appends the "._locked" extension to filenames. Also, it drops the "how_to_decrypt.hta" file that opens a ransom note. An example of how Trigona renames files: it renames "1.jpg" to "1.jpg._locked", "2.png" to "2.png._locked", and so forth. It embeds the encrypted decryption key, the campaign ID, and the victim ID in the encrypted files.

The 8Base ransomware group has remained relatively unknown despite the massive spike in activity in Summer of 2023. The group utilizes encryption paired with “name-and-shame” techniques to compel their victims to pay their ransoms. 8Base has an opportunistic pattern of compromise with recent victims spanning across varied industries. Despite the high amount of compromises, the information regarding identities, methodology, and underlying motivation behind these incidents still remains a mystery. Samples of their ransomware show they are using customized Phobos with SmokeLoader.

According to Orange Cyberdefense, MintsLoader is a little-known, multi-stage malware loader that has been used since at least February 2023. It has been observed in widespread distribution campaigns between July and October 2024. The name comes from a very characteristic use of an URL parameter “1.php?s=mintsXX" (with XX being numbers). MintsLoader primarily delivers malicious RAT or infostealing payloads such as AsyncRAT and Vidar through phishing emails, targeting organizations in Europe (Spain, Italy, Poland, etc.). Written in JavaScript and PowerShell, MintsLoader operates through a multi-step infection process involving several URLs and domains, most of which use a domain generation algorithm (DGA) with .top TLD.

aka PureHVNC, ResolverRAT

According to Morphisec, this RAT combines advanced in-memory execution, API and resource resolution at runtime, and layered evasion techniques. They have named it ‘Resolver’ due to its heavy reliance on runtime resolution mechanisms and dynamic resource handling, which make static and behavioral analysis significantly more difficult.

According to Cisco Talos, DriveSwitch is a launcher for SilentRaid.