{
  "family": "hptrickbot",
  "sample_count": 1,
  "category": "ransomware",
  "description": "Trojan:Win32/Hptrickbot is a heuristic detection associated with Trickbot, one of the most prolific and dangerous banking trojans and botnets in history. Originally designed to steal financial credentials via web injects, Trickbot evolved into a highly modular, enterprise-level Initial Access Broker (IAB). It is infamous for breaching corporate networks, moving laterally, and ultimately deploying devastating ransomware like Ryuk or Conti.<br><br><b>Understanding Hptrickbot (Trickbot)</b><br>To an end-user, the initial infection is invisible. For a SOC analyst, a Trickbot detection is a 'Drop Everything' tier-one incident. If Trickbot is on a host, it means the attackers are actively mapping the network and preparing for domain-wide ransomware deployment.<br><br><b>Execution and Lateral Movement Mechanics</b><br>Trickbot typically arrives via malspam (often delivered by Emotet) containing malicious macros (`T1566.001`). Upon execution, it disables Windows Defender (`T1562.001`) and drops its main payload into `%AppData%`. Trickbot is heavily modular. It downloads modules to steal credentials from browsers (`T1552`), scrape active directory using LDAP queries (`T1087.002`), and harvest emails. Crucially, it uses the stolen credentials and tools like PsExec or WMI (`T1047`) to move laterally across the network (`T1021.002`), infecting other hosts and domain controllers.<br><br><b>Indicators of Compromise & Impact</b><br>The impact ranges from massive credential theft to total domain compromise and ransomware. Host-based IoCs include the presence of a scheduled task named after a random string, the execution of `svchost.exe` without command-line arguments (process hollowing), and the presence of modular DLLs in the `%AppData%` folder. Network IoCs involve DNS queries for known Trickbot C2 infrastructure and sudden, anomalous SMB traffic (lateral movement) originating from the infected host.",
  "cta": "Published by the SystemHelpdesk team.",
  "aliases": [],
  "enrichment_level": "expert-seo",
  "faq": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What is Hptrickbot and what threat category does it belong to?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Hptrickbot is classified as a Ransomware. Documented across security telemetry, it is engineered to execute unauthorized operations, establish persistent footholds on target endpoints, and facilitate malicious campaigns targeting enterprise and individual environments."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "How does Hptrickbot establish persistence and evade defensive controls?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Hptrickbot typically establishes persistence through registry run keys, scheduled tasks, or service installations, while evading signature-based antivirus solutions through code obfuscation, memory injection, or anti-analysis sandbox checks."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What are the essential incident response steps for mitigating a Hptrickbot compromise?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Security teams responding to Hptrickbot should immediately isolate affected endpoints from the network, perform memory triage to capture volatile forensic artifacts, audit registry and startup persistence mechanisms, revoke exposed user credentials, and restore systems from verified, clean backups."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What cryptographic algorithms and file targeting techniques does Hptrickbot employ during execution?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Hptrickbot typically leverages hybrid cryptographic architectures combining symmetric stream or block ciphers (such as AES-256 or ChaCha20) for rapid file encryption with asymmetric algorithms (such as RSA-2048 or Curve25519) to securely protect the session keys. It aggressively targets sensitive file extensions including corporate documents, databases, virtual disks, and backups while systematically executing commands to delete Volume Shadow Copies (vssadmin delete shadows /all /quiet) and disable system recovery options."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "Are decryptors available for Hptrickbot, and what is the recommended recovery procedure?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Decryption availability for Hptrickbot depends on whether security researchers or law enforcement (such as the No More Ransom initiative) have recovered the master private keys or discovered flaws in its key generation routines. Victims should never pay the extortion demand, as payment fuels criminal operations without guaranteeing file restoration. The recommended recovery procedure entails isolating infected hosts, conducting forensic disk imaging, identifying the root access vector, and restoring validated systems from immutable offline backups."
      }
    }
  ],
  "faq_count": 5,
  "mitre_attack": [
    "T1552",
    "T1021.002",
    "T1055"
  ],
  "cisa_advisory": null,
  "last_updated": "2026-06-09",
  "mitre_attack_detail": [
    {
      "id": "T1055",
      "name": "Process Injection (Trickbot relies heavily on injecting into svchost.exe)",
      "tactic": "Defense Evasion"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1021.002",
      "name": "Remote Services: SMB/Windows Admin Shares (Moving laterally to other hosts)",
      "tactic": "Lateral Movement"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1552",
      "name": "Credentials In Files (Stealing passwords to enable lateral movement)",
      "tactic": "Credential Access"
    }
  ],
  "containment_steps": [
    "Isolate the infected endpoint IMMEDIATELY; do not wait to analyze it, as Trickbot moves laterally very quickly.",
    "Initiate a domain-wide password reset for any user who logged into the infected host, particularly domain administrators.",
    "Hunt across the network for signs of lateral movement (e.g., suspicious PsExec usage or WMI execution) originating from the patient zero.",
    "Verify that no ransomware payload (like Ryuk) has been staged on domain controllers or file servers."
  ],
  "what_to_avoid": [
    "Do not assume containing one host stops the attack; Trickbot is designed to spread, and you must assume the network is compromised until proven otherwise.",
    "Avoid relying solely on traditional AV to clean Trickbot; it often leaves persistence mechanisms that require forensic removal."
  ],
  "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,
  "target_platforms": [
    "Windows 11",
    "Windows 10",
    "Windows Server 2022",
    "Windows Server 2019"
  ]
}