{
  "family": "bedep",
  "sample_count": 3,
  "category": "ransomware",
  "description": "Bedep (classified in antivirus detection telemetry under designations including Ransom:Win32/Bedep, Ransom.Win32.Bedep, and Win32/Bedep) 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, Bedep 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/Bedep",
    "Ransom.Win32.Bedep",
    "Win32/Bedep"
  ],
  "enrichment_level": "curated_sourced",
  "faq": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What is Ransom:Win32/Bedep?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Bedep is a ransomware threat designed to infiltrate Windows systems and execute unauthorized operations without user consent."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "How does Bedep 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 Bedep 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 Bedep 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 Bedep?",
      "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": "T1496",
      "name": "Resource Hijacking (Ad-fraud / Click-fraud)",
      "tactic": "Impact"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1189",
      "name": "Drive-by Compromise (Exploit Kits)",
      "tactic": "Initial Access"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1055",
      "name": "Process Injection (Fileless memory execution)",
      "tactic": "Defense Evasion"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1568.002",
      "name": "Dynamic Resolution: Domain Generation Algorithms (DGA)",
      "tactic": "Command and Control"
    }
  ],
  "containment_steps": [
    "Isolate the endpoint to sever its connection to the ad-fraud C2 network and halt the generation of illicit traffic.",
    "Capture a live memory image (RAM dump) *before* rebooting, as the core Bedep payload resides entirely in memory and is highly valuable for analysis.",
    "Run a full system scan with a reputable EDR solution to identify and remove the encrypted persistence DLLs on the disk.",
    "Ensure all endpoint operating systems and applications (especially web browsers and plugins) are fully patched to mitigate Exploit Kit vectors."
  ],
  "what_to_avoid": [
    "Do not assume the machine is clean just because a standard AV scan finds nothing; Bedep's fileless nature requires deep memory scanning.",
    "Avoid leaving unpatched software (like legacy IE or Flash) on the network, as this is the primary entry point for this threat."
  ],
  "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/Bedep",
      "url": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/wdsi/threats/malware-encyclopedia-description?Name=Ransom:Win32/Bedep"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kaspersky Threat Intelligence - Ransom.Win32.Bedep",
      "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"
  ]
}