Dlsecure

Overview

Executive Summary

Infection Vector and Technical Capabilities

• Deceptive GUI: The malware launches a highly convincing interface complete with fake scan progress bars, spinning icons, and long lists of terrifying-sounding (but entirely non-existent) malware infections.
• System Disruption: To force the user to pay, Dlsecure actively disables the operating system. It routinely terminates legitimate executable files (like `taskmgr.exe` or `explorer.exe`), blocks access to real antivirus websites, and constantly displays full-screen warnings that "system damage is imminent."
• Extortion: The program persistently directs the user to a payment gateway (often requesting credit card details) to purchase the "full version" to "clean" the system.

Threat Assessment

Incident Response and Remediation

• Safe Mode Boot: The most effective way to bypass the Scareware's lock-down mechanisms is to reboot the infected machine into Windows "Safe Mode with Networking." This prevents the Dlsecure executable from loading on startup.
• Rogue AV Removal: Once in Safe Mode, utilize a reputable, dedicated anti-malware scanner to detect and remove the Dlsecure executables and repair the registry keys the malware altered to hijack `.exe` file associations.
• Financial Remediation: If the user actually submitted their credit card details to the fake payment portal, they must immediately contact their bank to cancel the card and dispute the fraudulent charges.

Known aliases

Threat reports may refer to this family under multiple names:

• Rogue.Dlsecure
• FakeAV.Dlsecure
• Scareware.Win32

MITRE ATT&CK Techniques

Observed techniques used by this family, mapped to our technical analysis hubs and the official MITRE ATT&CK framework:

MITRE D3FEND™ Defensive Countermeasures

Defensive techniques mapped to counter the offensive tradecraft observed in this family (via the MITRE D3FEND matrix):

Tiered Detection Rules (Cisco CAIRN Model)

Modern threat detection requires multi-layered rule engineering. We classify detections into three operational tiers based on signal fidelity:

rule MALWARE_WIN_DLSECURE_T1_ARTIFACT {
    meta:
        description = "Tier 1 Primitive Artifact: Raw string matches for Dlsecure"
        tier = "T1 - Primitive Artifact"
        confidence = "Low-Medium (Fast Triage)"
        author = "SystemHelpdesk Threat Research Desk"
        date = "2026-10-14"
    strings:
        $s1 = "dlsecure" ascii wide nocase
        $s2 = "rogue.dlsecure" ascii wide nocase
        $s3 = "fakeav.dlsecure" ascii wide nocase
        $s4 = "scareware.win32" ascii wide nocase
    condition:
        uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and any of them
}

title: SystemHelpDesk Detection - Dlsecure (Ransomware) Execution & Triage
id: fbfe02fb-502e-50c5-95d8-1bf84a7e7590
status: production
description: Detects execution, defense evasion, and persistence behaviors associated
  with the Dlsecure malware family. Detects volume shadow copy deletion, boot status
  tampering, and recovery inhibition characteristic of modern ransomware operations.
references:
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/families/dlsecure
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/defensive/ransomware-protection
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/
author: Ricky Jordan, Lead Threat Intelligence Analyst, SystemHelpDesk MSP
date: '2026-10-14'
modified: '2026-10-14'
tags:
- attack.ransomware
- author.ricky-jordan
- source.systemhelpdesk-mfc
- attack.t1489
- attack.t1491_001
- attack.t1562_001
logsource:
  category: process_creation
  product: windows
detection:
  selection_process:
    Image|endswith:
    - \vssadmin.exe
    - \wmic.exe
    - \wbadmin.exe
    - \bcdedit.exe
    CommandLine|contains:
    - delete shadows
    - shadowcopy delete
    - resize shadowstorage
    - recoveryenabled no
    - ignoreallfailures
  condition: selection_process
falsepositives:
- Legitimate enterprise administrative scripts during approved change windows
- Authorized IT software deployment utilities and backup management agents
level: critical

rule MALWARE_WIN_DLSECURE_T3_ATTRIBUTION {
    meta:
        description = "Tier 3 Attribution Fingerprint: Heuristic detection for Dlsecure tradecraft"
        tier = "T3 - Attribution Fingerprint"
        confidence = "High (Confirmed Family Signature)"
        author = "SystemHelpdesk Threat Research Desk"
        date = "2026-10-14"
    strings:
        // Core family identifier & heuristic payload signatures
        $attrib_str = "dlsecure" ascii wide nocase
        $pe_magic = "MZ" ascii
        $net_marker = "http" ascii nocase
    condition:
        uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and ($attrib_str and $net_marker) and filesize < 15MB
}

Containment & Response Steps

Ordered checklist for responders. Adapt to your environment and engage professional support for active incidents.

1. Immediately isolate affected host(s) from the internal network (disconnect physical Ethernet and disable Wi-Fi/Bluetooth) to prevent Dlsecure from spreading laterally or encrypting network-attached storage (NAS) and shared SMB volumes.
2. Preserve volatile system memory (RAM capture) on a representative endpoint before attempting a reboot or power-down, as Dlsecure symmetric encryption keys or uncompiled payload components may still reside in memory.
3. Audit process execution logs and terminate active scripting interpreters (e.g. PowerShell, CMD, WScript) or commands executing 'vssadmin.exe delete shadows' or 'wbadmin' used by Dlsecure to inhibit recovery.
4. Investigate the initial compromise vector (such as exposed RDP instances, spearphishing attachments, or vulnerable edge gateways) and enforce an immediate credential reset for all compromised Active Directory accounts.
5. Restore critical assets and databases exclusively from verified, air-gapped, or immutable offline backups once the Dlsecure binary and related persistence hooks are eradicated.

What to Avoid

Common mistakes during response to this family that can destroy evidence, spread the infection, or worsen recovery.

1. Do not restart or power cycle infected systems prematurely; doing so destroys volatile RAM encryption keys and may trigger bootloader locking logic embedded in Dlsecure.
2. Avoid negotiating or paying the extortion demand without prior forensic evaluation and consultation with incident response specialists, as payment does not guarantee data recovery.
3. Do not connect clean backup drives or external storage to the affected network until Dlsecure eradication is completely verified.

References & External Analysis

• Search "dlsecure" on VirusTotal (External Analysis)
• Search "dlsecure" on Any.Run (Sandbox Sandbox)
• Search "dlsecure" on MalwareBazaar (Malware Samples)

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Threats (Category: Ransomware)

Explore other documented threats in the same operational category:

• Jyfi
• Shrejh
• Torjok
• 27D3E5Bc
• Uacme
• Ghoul
• Zepto
• Onkfa0Sahzhg

Machine-readable

Get this profile as JSON: https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/api/dlsecure.json

Ecosystem & Interactive Environments

This profile is part of the Malware Families Catalog, a public dataset of 2,899 malware families. The catalog is also published across our ecosystem: Hugging Face, Kaggle, Zenodo, Replit, StackBlitz, CodeSandbox, and CodePen.