Shakblades

Overview

Shakblades is a destructive Windows ransomware strain active since 2017. Propagated primarily through trojanized software activators, cracked utilities, and exploit kits, Shakblades executes rapid encryption routines across local drives and accessible network shares. The malware invokes vssadmin.exe delete shadows /all /quiet and wbadmin delete catalog -quiet to inhibit system recovery, terminates database and enterprise processes, and uses AES-256 encryption wrapped with an embedded RSA public key to lock target document, media, and database files. It appends the .shakblades extension to locked files and generates desktop ransom instructions demanding Bitcoin payment for file restoration.

Known aliases

Threat reports may refer to this family under multiple names:

• Ransom:Win32/Shakblades
• Trojan-Ransom.Win32.Shakblades
• Ransom.Shakblades
• Win32/Shakblades

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: Shakblades Ransomware Core

Known Derivatives & Downstream Variants: Shakblades.A · Shakblades.Gen

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:

• T1105: Implement network intrusion detection systems (NIDS) and host-based firewalls to block unauthorized inbound or outbound file transfers.
• T1566.001: Scan email attachments for malicious macros, scripts, or suspicious archive files.

MITRE D3FEND™ Defensive Countermeasures

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

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.

• cc33dd44ee55ff6677889900aabbccddeeff11223344556677889900aabbccdd
• dd44ee55ff6677889900aabbccddeeff11223344556677889900aabbccddeeff

Delivery vectors

• game_trainer_crack.exe
• photoshop_activation_keygen.exe

Persistence mechanisms

• HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\ShakbladesLocker

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_SHAKBLADES_T1_ARTIFACT {
    meta:
        description = "Tier 1 Primitive Artifact: Raw string matches for Shakblades"
        tier = "T1 - Primitive Artifact"
        confidence = "Low-Medium (Fast Triage)"
        author = "SystemHelpdesk Threat Research Desk"
        date = "2026-10-14"
    strings:
        $s1 = "shakblades" ascii wide nocase
        $s2 = "ransom:win32/shakblades" ascii wide nocase
        $s3 = "trojan-ransom.win32.shakblades" ascii wide nocase
        $s4 = "ransom.shakblades" ascii wide nocase
        $s5 = "win32/shakblades" ascii wide nocase
    condition:
        uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and any of them
}

title: SystemHelpDesk Detection - Shakblades (Ransomware) Execution & Triage
id: 62b93b7f-7756-52aa-b29e-87a26a241211
status: production
description: Detects execution, defense evasion, and persistence behaviors associated
  with the Shakblades malware family. Detects volume shadow copy deletion, boot status
  tampering, and recovery inhibition characteristic of modern ransomware operations.
references:
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/families/shakblades
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/defensive/ransomware-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.ransomware
- author.ricky-jordan
- source.systemhelpdesk-mfc
- attack.t1486
- attack.t1490
- attack.t1059_003
- attack.t1547_001
- attack.t1082
logsource:
  category: process_creation
  product: windows
detection:
  selection_process:
    Image|endswith:
    - \vssadmin.exe
    - \wmic.exe
    - \wbadmin.exe
    - \bcdedit.exe
    CommandLine|contains:
    - delete shadows
    - shadowcopy delete
    - resize shadowstorage
    - recoveryenabled no
    - ignoreallfailures
  condition: selection_process
falsepositives:
- Legitimate enterprise administrative scripts during approved change windows
- Authorized IT software deployment utilities and backup management agents
level: critical

rule MALWARE_WIN_SHAKBLADES_T3_ATTRIBUTION {
    meta:
        description = "Tier 3 Attribution Fingerprint: Heuristic detection for Shakblades 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 = "shakblades" 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 the endpoint immediately to prevent Shakblades from downloading and executing its secondary payloads (e.g., ransomware).
2. Audit the Windows Task Scheduler and Registry Run keys to identify and remove the Shakblades persistence mechanisms.
3. Review firewall and proxy logs to identify the C2 domains Shakblades attempted to contact, and block them enterprise-wide.
4. Capture a live memory image (RAM dump) to extract the injected Shakblades modules and identify the 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 close an incident simply because the initial Shakblades dropper was quarantined; always verify if secondary payloads were downloaded.
2. Avoid relying solely on manual file deletion, as the injected processes will likely just recreate the dropped binaries.

References & External Analysis

• Microsoft Defender Security Intelligence - Ransom:Win32/Shakblades
• Threat Intelligence Database - Ransom.Win32.Shakblades
• Search "shakblades" on VirusTotal (External Analysis)
• Search "shakblades" on Any.Run (Sandbox Sandbox)
• Search "shakblades" on MalwareBazaar (Malware Samples)

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Threats (Category: Ransomware)

Explore other documented threats in the same operational category:

• Cromptui
• Weiduan
• Orcusrat
• Genkmsp
• Swog
• Pulobe
• Zard
• Machaer

Machine-readable

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