{ "family": "killall", "sample_count": 1, "category": "ransomware", "description": "

Executive Summary

\nKillAll is a classification for malicious scripts, utilities, or \"HackTools\" specifically designed to aggressively terminate running processes across an operating system. While system administrators use legitimate tools to manage processes, threat actors deploy \"KillAll\" variants defensively to disable endpoint security software (AV/EDR), or offensively as a crude \"wiper\" to induce immediate system instability and denial of service.\n\n

Infection Vector and Technical Capabilities

\nKillAll is not a self-propagating virus. It is a tactical tool deployed *after* an attacker has gained a foothold, typically used immediately prior to launching a primary payload (like ransomware) or during the exfiltration phase to disable monitoring.\n\nIts execution is straightforward but highly disruptive:\n\n\n

Threat Assessment

\nThe execution of a \"KillAll\" script is a critical, \"break-glass\" security incident. It indicates an active, hands-on-keyboard adversary (or a highly automated ransomware strain) is preparing the environment for a catastrophic attack by systematically blinding the organization's defensive and monitoring capabilities.\n\n

Incident Response and Remediation

\n", "cta": "Published by the SystemHelpdesk team.", "aliases": [ "HackTool.KillAll", "Trojan.KillAV", "Script.Wiper" ], "enrichment_level": "expert-seo", "faq": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "What is Killall and what threat category does it belong to?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Killall 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 Killall establish persistence and evade defensive controls?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Killall 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 Killall compromise?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Security teams responding to Killall 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 HackTool.KillAll employ during execution?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "HackTool.KillAll 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 HackTool.KillAll, and what is the recommended recovery procedure?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Decryption availability for HackTool.KillAll 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": [ "T1562.001", "T1489", "T1486", "T1490", "T1082", "T1027" ], "cisa_advisory": null, "last_updated": "2026-10-15", "type": "HackTool / Security Evader", "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, "mitre_attack_detail": [ { "id": "T1562.001", "name": "Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify Tools", "tactic": "Defense Evasion" }, { "id": "T1489", "name": "Service Stop (Forcefully stopping AV services)", "tactic": "Impact" }, { "id": "T1486", "name": "Data Encrypted for Impact", "tactic": "Impact" }, { "id": "T1490", "name": "Inhibit System Recovery (Behaviorally blocking the deletion of backups)", "tactic": "Impact" }, { "id": "T1082", "name": "System Information Discovery", "tactic": "Discovery" }, { "id": "T1027", "name": "Obfuscated Files or Information", "tactic": "Defense Evasion" } ], "containment_steps": [ "Immediately isolate affected host(s) from the internal network (disconnect physical Ethernet and disable Wi-Fi/Bluetooth) to prevent Killall from spreading laterally or encrypting network-attached storage (NAS) and shared SMB volumes.", "Preserve volatile system memory (RAM capture) on a representative endpoint before attempting a reboot or power-down, as Killall symmetric encryption keys or uncompiled payload components may still reside in memory.", "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 Killall to inhibit recovery.", "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.", "Restore critical assets and databases exclusively from verified, air-gapped, or immutable offline backups once the Killall binary and related persistence hooks are eradicated." ], "what_to_avoid": [ "Do not restart or power cycle infected systems prematurely; doing so destroys volatile RAM encryption keys and may trigger bootloader locking logic embedded in Killall.", "Avoid negotiating or paying the extortion demand without prior forensic evaluation and consultation with incident response specialists, as payment does not guarantee data recovery.", "Do not connect clean backup drives or external storage to the affected network until Killall eradication is completely verified." ], "target_platforms": [ "Windows 11", "Windows 10", "Windows Server 2022", "Windows Server 2019" ] }