{
  "family": "antavmu",
  "sample_count": 9,
  "category": "ransomware",
  "description": "Antavmu (classified in antivirus detection telemetry under designations including Ransom:Win32/Antavmu, Ransom.Win32.Antavmu, and Win32/Antavmu) is a crypto-ransomware designed to locate, encrypt, and hold hostage high-value user documents, database stores, and system files. Disseminated across enterprise networks and consumer workstations via social engineering, phishing attachments, malicious drive-by downloads, or weaponized software cracks, Antavmu executes an initial reconnaissance phase upon system ingress. The binary evaluates host privileges, detects active hypervisors and sandbox environments to evade behavioral analysis, and establishes resilient autostart persistence by configuring registry keys under HKCU\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Run or registering background Windows services. Operational mechanics characteristic of this family include file system traversal, high-speed symmetric/asymmetric encryption, Volume Shadow Copy destruction via vssadmin, and extortion note display. Outbound communication is established with remote threat actor infrastructure to beacon operational status and receive tasking, posing significant security risks to data integrity and host availability.",
  "cta": "Published by the SystemHelpdesk Threat Intelligence Team.",
  "aliases": [
    "Ransom:Win32/Antavmu",
    "Ransom.Win32.Antavmu",
    "Win32/Antavmu"
  ],
  "enrichment_level": "curated_sourced",
  "faq": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What is Ransom:Win32/Antavmu?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Antavmu is a ransomware threat designed to infiltrate Windows systems and execute unauthorized operations without user consent."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "How does Antavmu compromise target systems?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "It commonly infiltrates systems via phishing emails, trojanized software installers, exploit kits, or unpatched vulnerabilities."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What persistence mechanisms does Antavmu utilize?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "It typically creates autostart entries in the Windows Registry (HKCU/HKLM Run keys), registers scheduled tasks, or installs hidden background services."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What risks does Antavmu pose to an enterprise?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "It can lead to credential theft, system manipulation, unauthorized remote access, data loss, or secondary malware delivery."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "How can administrators detect and eliminate Antavmu?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Deploy modern EDR solutions with updated behavioral signatures, isolate infected endpoints, audit autostart persistence entries, and conduct full antimalware scans."
      }
    }
  ],
  "faq_count": 5,
  "mitre_attack": [
    "T1486",
    "T1490",
    "T1489",
    "T1547.001",
    "T1083"
  ],
  "cisa_advisory": null,
  "last_updated": "2026-10-16",
  "mitre_attack_detail": [
    {
      "id": "T1562.001",
      "name": "Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify Tools (Terminating AV/EDR)",
      "tactic": "Defense Evasion"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1112",
      "name": "Modify Registry (Disabling Defender settings and deleting AV services)",
      "tactic": "Defense Evasion"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1489",
      "name": "Service Stop (Forcefully stopping AV services)",
      "tactic": "Impact"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1105",
      "name": "Ingress Tool Transfer (Downloading the secondary payload after blinding)",
      "tactic": "Command and Control"
    }
  ],
  "containment_steps": [
    "Instantly isolate the endpoint from the network; if Antavmu is active, a severe secondary deployment (like ransomware) is likely imminent.",
    "Do not rely on the local EDR agent for containment if Antavmu was successful; isolate the machine at the switch/firewall level.",
    "Capture a memory dump (RAM) immediately. The disabler module and the subsequent payload are likely active in memory even if the EDR is blind.",
    "Perform a deep forensic review to identify the initial entry vector that allowed Antavmu to gain execution privileges."
  ],
  "what_to_avoid": [
    "Do NOT assume the endpoint is safe if you simply restart the antivirus service; the malware maintains persistence and will disable it again.",
    "Avoid relying solely on automated remediation; a successful Antavmu attack means the automated tools have been compromised."
  ],
  "target_industries": [
    "Healthcare",
    "Critical Infrastructure",
    "Enterprise"
  ],
  "motivation": "Financial Extortion",
  "threat_actors": [
    "Unknown / Cybercriminal"
  ],
  "target_geographies": [
    "Global"
  ],
  "attack_stage": [
    "defense_evasion",
    "impact"
  ],
  "ecosystem": [
    "windows_pe"
  ],
  "is_emerging": false,
  "sources": [
    {
      "name": "Microsoft Defender Threat Encyclopedia - Ransom:Win32/Antavmu",
      "url": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/wdsi/threats/malware-encyclopedia-description?Name=Ransom:Win32/Antavmu"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kaspersky Threat Intelligence - Ransom.Win32.Antavmu",
      "url": "https://threats.kaspersky.com/en/threat/"
    },
    {
      "name": "MITRE ATT&CK - Enterprise Techniques",
      "url": "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1486/"
    }
  ],
  "target_platforms": [
    "Windows 11",
    "Windows 10",
    "Windows Server 2022",
    "Windows Server 2019"
  ]
}