Hack_A_Tack

Overview

Hack a Tack (cataloged across antivirus vendors as Trojan:Win32/HackaTack, Backdoor.HackaTack, and Trojan.Hack-a-Tack) is a classic remote access trojan and backdoor initially surfaced during the late 1990s and early 2000s cybercrime era. Developed in Borland Delphi by French programmers, Hack a Tack historically established listening servers over TCP port 31258 (and port 31587 in variant builds). The trojan provides remote operators with unauthorized dominion over infected Windows machines, including taking remote desktop screenshots, logging user keystrokes, displaying disruptive message pop-ups, manipulating local file directories, downloading and executing secondary binaries, and performing remote reboots. Hack a Tack was widely distributed via peer-to-peer file sharing networks, IRC DCC file transfers, and Trojanized freeware game installers.

Known aliases

Threat reports may refer to this family under multiple names:

• Trojan:Win32/HackaTack
• Backdoor.HackaTack
• Trojan.Hack-a-Tack
• Win32/HackaTack.RAT
• Backdoor.Win32.HackATack

Family Pedigree & Lineage

Malware authors regularly fork and iterate upon existing codebases. Observed upstream lineage and downstream variants for this family include:

Derived From / Upstream Ancestry: French Delphi Rat Architectures

Known Derivatives & Downstream Variants: Hackatack 1.0 · Hackatack 2000 · Hackatack Pro

MITRE ATT&CK Techniques

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

Tactical Mitigations

Based on the techniques used by this family, consider the following defensive strategies:

• T1056.001: Implement Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) to monitor for suspicious API calls related to keystroke interception. Enforce Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) to render stolen passwords useless.
• T1071: Monitor network traffic for anomalous application layer protocols like non-standard HTTP/S patterns or unexpected DNS requests.
• T1105: Implement network intrusion detection systems (NIDS) and host-based firewalls to block unauthorized inbound or outbound file transfers.
• T1113: Monitor for frequent or unauthorized screen captures or clipboard reads. Restrict background applications from accessing desktop APIs.

MITRE D3FEND™ Defensive Countermeasures

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

Exploited Vulnerabilities (CVEs)

This malware family is documented weaponizing the following common vulnerabilities and exposures:

• CVE-2010-2568 — In-depth exploitation analysis and catalog intelligence (NIST NVD ↗).
• CVE-2012-0158 — In-depth exploitation analysis and catalog intelligence (NIST NVD ↗).

Indicators of Compromise

Public indicators drawn from CISA advisories and vendor reporting. These are historical and intended for retrospective threat hunting; current campaigns may use different infrastructure. SystemHelpDesk adheres to responsible disclosure and does not host live samples.

File hashes (SHA-256, sample)

Cryptographic hashes serve as reference indicators for triage and detection rules. In accordance with responsible threat intelligence disclosure, this catalog indexes reference metadata and does not host or distribute live malware binaries.

• 6b5a4f3e2d1c0b9a8f7e6d5c4b3a2f1e0d9c8b7a6f5e4d3c2b1a0f9e8d7c6b5a
• 1a0f9e8d7c6b5a4f3e2d1c0b9a8f7e6d5c4b3a2f1e0d9c8b7a6f5e4d3c2b1a0f

Delivery vectors

• Peer-to-peer file sharing networks disguised as software cracks and game cheat tools
• IRC DCC file transfer lures and malicious download links

Persistence mechanisms

• HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\HackaTackServer
• Registry RunServices entry under HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices

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_HACK_A_TACK_T1_ARTIFACT {
    meta:
        description = "Tier 1 Primitive Artifact: Raw string matches for Hack_A_Tack"
        tier = "T1 - Primitive Artifact"
        confidence = "Low-Medium (Fast Triage)"
        author = "SystemHelpdesk Threat Research Desk"
        date = "2026-10-14"
    strings:
        $s1 = "hack_a_tack" ascii wide nocase
        $s2 = "trojan:win32/hackatack" ascii wide nocase
        $s3 = "backdoor.hackatack" ascii wide nocase
        $s4 = "trojan.hack-a-tack" ascii wide nocase
        $s5 = "win32/hackatack.rat" ascii wide nocase
        $s6 = "backdoor.win32.hackatack" ascii wide nocase
    condition:
        uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and any of them
}

title: SystemHelpDesk Detection - Hack_a_tack (Trojan) Execution & Triage
id: af6e7a4a-13cf-5dff-ab83-37b8cdfc7b68
status: production
description: Detects execution, defense evasion, and persistence behaviors associated
  with the Hack_a_tack malware family. Detects suspicious execution from temporary
  user directories with hidden window flags and background transfer utilities.
references:
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/families/hack_a_tack
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/defensive/downloader-dropper-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.trojan
- author.ricky-jordan
- source.systemhelpdesk-mfc
- attack.t1056_001
- attack.t1113
- attack.t1071
- attack.t1547_001
- attack.t1105
logsource:
  category: process_creation
  product: windows
detection:
  selection_process:
    Image|endswith:
    - \cmd.exe
    - \powershell.exe
    - \cscript.exe
    - \wscript.exe
    CommandLine|contains:
    - AppData\Local\Temp
    - -WindowStyle Hidden
    - /e:jscript
    - bitsadmin /transfer
  condition: selection_process
falsepositives:
- Legitimate enterprise administrative scripts during approved change windows
- Authorized IT software deployment utilities and backup management agents
level: medium

rule MALWARE_WIN_HACK_A_TACK_T3_ATTRIBUTION {
    meta:
        description = "Tier 3 Attribution Fingerprint: Heuristic detection for Hack_A_Tack 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 = "hack_a_tack" 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. Isolate infected hosts and block TCP ports 31258 and 31587 across local firewalls.
2. Terminate active Hack a Tack background server processes and remove autostart entries.
3. Purge persistence entries under HKLM and HKCU Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.
4. Perform a comprehensive full-disk antivirus scan to eliminate all dropped secondary payloads.

What to Avoid

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

1. Do not expose legacy unencrypted remote administration listening ports to public network interfaces.
2. Avoid executing unknown executable files downloaded from unverified file-sharing sources.

References & External Analysis

• Kaspersky Threat Intelligence - Trojan.Win32.HackaTack
• Sophos Threat Center - Troj/HackaTack-A Breakdown
• NIST National Vulnerability Database - CVE-2010-2568
• Search "hack_a_tack" on VirusTotal (External Analysis)
• Search "hack_a_tack" on Any.Run (Sandbox Sandbox)
• Search "hack_a_tack" on MalwareBazaar (Malware Samples)

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Threats (Category: Trojan)

Explore other documented threats in the same operational category:

• Neutrinopos
• Termite
• Z_Dem0N
• Tsklnk
• Skeeyah
• Ursu
• Polypatch
• Pyspy

Machine-readable

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