Analysis

  • max time kernel
    147s
  • max time network
    147s
  • platform
    windows11-21h2_x64
  • resource
    win11-20251231-en
  • resource tags

    arch:x64arch:x86image:win11-20251231-enlocale:en-usos:windows11-21h2-x64system
  • submitted
    13/01/2026, 03:09

General

  • Target
    2026-01-13_a5775938fb23a1c405585b0248558323_akira_cobalt-strike_icedid_njrat_satacom_vidar.exe
  • Size 1.0MB
  • Sample260113-dnkvqagx4e
  • SHA256 a59244547b115d491ef67f1080c31b134f64492c3a501781e8f384a65afe976c
  • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP

Malware Config

Extracted

Path
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\akira_readme.txt

Ransom Note
  • Hi friends, Whatever who you are and what your title is, if you're reading this it means the internal infrastructure of your company is fully or partially dead, all your backups - virtual, physical - everything that we managed to reach - are completely removed. Moreover, we have taken a great amount of your corporate data prior to encryption. ATTENTION! Strictly prohibited: - Deleting files with .arika extension; - Replacing or renaming .arika and .akira files; - Using third party software to recover your systems. If you violate these rules, we cannot guarantee a successful recovery. Well, for now let's keep all the tears and resentment to ourselves and try to build a constructive dialogue. We're fully aware of what damage we caused by locking your internal sources. At the moment, you have to know: 1. Dealing with us you will save A LOT due to we are not interested in ruining you financially. We will study in depth your finance, bank & income statements, your savings, investments etc. and present our reasonable demand to you. If you have an active cyber insurance, let us know and we will guide you how to properly use it. Also, dragging out the negotiation process will lead to failing of the deal. 2. Paying us you save your TIME, MONEY, EFFORTS and be back on track within 24 hours approximately. Our decryptor works properly on any files or systems, so you will be able to check it by requesting a test decryption service from the beginning of our conversation. If you decide to recover on your own, keep in mind that you can permanently lose access to some files or accidentally corrupt them - in this case we won't be able to help. 3. The security report or the exclusive first-hand information that you will receive upon reaching an agreement is of great value, since NO full audit of your network will show you the vulnerabilities that we've managed to detect and use in order to get into, identify backup solutions and download your data. 4. As for your data, if we fail to agree, we will try to sell personal information/trade secrets/databases/source codes - generally speaking, everything that has a value on the darkmarket - to multiple threat actors at once. Then all of this will be published in our blog - akiral2iz6a7qgd3ayp3l6yub7xx2uep76idk3u2kollpj5z3z636bad[.]onion. 5. We're more than negotiable and will definitely find a way to settle this quickly and reach an agreement which will satisfy both of us. 6. Negotiations with Akira can only be conducted in a chat room, which you can access using the login details provided below or in the notes (a readme.txt file) in your systems. You should ignore any attempts (such as emails/social media messages, phone calls, etc.) to redirect you to another chat or email address (proton.me is often used by unauthorized individuals) on our behalf. 7. Be careful while working with recovery agencies as they often try to use your cyber incident to stuff their pockets. There are many risks for you to lose money and get nothing in return. If you're indeed interested in our assistance and the services we provide you can reach out to us following simple instructions: 1. Install TOR Browser to get access to our chat room - torproject[.]org/download/. 2. Paste this link - https://akiralkzxzq2dsrzsrvbr2xgbbu2wgsmxryd4csgfameg52n7efvr2id.onion/d/3583680826-DUCYH . 3. Use this code - 0074-XO-GBGV-DNLW - to log into our chat. Keep in mind that the faster you will get in touch, the less damage we cause.
URLs
  • https://akiralkzxzq2dsrzsrvbr2xgbbu2wgsmxryd4csgfameg52n7efvr2id.onion/d/3583680826-DUCYH

Signatures

  • Akira

    Akira is a ransomware first seen in March 2023 and targets several industries, including education, finance, real estate, manufacturing, and consulting.

  • Akira family
  • Process spawned unexpected child process 1 IoCs

    This typically indicates the parent process was compromised via an exploit or macro.

  • Renames multiple (9905) files with added filename extension

    This suggests ransomware activity of encrypting all the files on the system.

  • Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Active Setup 2 TTPs 1 IoCs

    Adversaries may achieve persistence by adding a Registry key to the Active Setup of the local machine.

  • Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell 1 TTPs 1 IoCs

    Run Powershell command to delete shadowcopy.

  • Drops startup file 1 IoCs
  • Reads user/profile data of web browsers 3 TTPs

    Infostealers often target stored browser data, which can include saved credentials etc.

  • Drops desktop.ini file(s) 30 IoCs
  • Enumerates connected drives 3 TTPs 2 IoCs

    Attempts to read the root path of hard drives other than the default C: drive.

  • Drops file in Program Files directory 64 IoCs
  • Enumerates physical storage devices 1 TTPs

    Attempts to interact with connected storage/optical drive(s).

  • Checks SCSI registry key(s) 3 TTPs 58 IoCs

    SCSI information is often read in order to detect sandboxing environments.

  • Checks processor information in registry 2 TTPs 4 IoCs

    Processor information is often read in order to detect sandboxing environments.

  • Enumerates system info in registry 2 TTPs 2 IoCs
  • Modifies registry class 53 IoCs
  • Suspicious behavior: EnumeratesProcesses 64 IoCs
  • Suspicious use of AdjustPrivilegeToken 42 IoCs
  • Suspicious use of FindShellTrayWindow 37 IoCs
  • Suspicious use of SendNotifyMessage 64 IoCs
  • Suspicious use of SetWindowsHookEx 4 IoCs
  • Uses Task Scheduler COM API 1 TTPs

    The Task Scheduler COM API can be used to schedule applications to run on boot or at set times.

  • Uses Volume Shadow Copy service COM API

    The Volume Shadow Copy service is used to manage backups/snapshots.

Processes

  • C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Temp\2026-01-13_a5775938fb23a1c405585b0248558323_akira_cobalt-strike_icedid_njrat_satacom_vidar.exe
    "C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Temp\2026-01-13_a5775938fb23a1c405585b0248558323_akira_cobalt-strike_icedid_njrat_satacom_vidar.exe"
    1⤵
    • Drops startup file
    • Drops desktop.ini file(s)
    • Drops file in Program Files directory
    • Suspicious behavior: EnumeratesProcesses
    PID:2676
  • C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe
    powershell.exe -Command "Get-WmiObject Win32_Shadowcopy | Remove-WmiObject"
    1⤵
    • Process spawned unexpected child process
    • Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell
    • Suspicious behavior: EnumeratesProcesses
    • Suspicious use of AdjustPrivilegeToken
    PID:4944
  • C:\Windows\system32\vssvc.exe
    C:\Windows\system32\vssvc.exe
    1⤵
    • Suspicious use of AdjustPrivilegeToken
    PID:5112
  • C:\Windows\explorer.exe
    explorer.exe
    1⤵
    • Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Active Setup
    • Enumerates connected drives
    • Checks SCSI registry key(s)
    • Modifies registry class
    • Suspicious use of AdjustPrivilegeToken
    • Suspicious use of FindShellTrayWindow
    • Suspicious use of SendNotifyMessage
    • Suspicious use of SetWindowsHookEx
    PID:5800
  • C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\StartMenuExperienceHost.exe
    "C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\StartMenuExperienceHost.exe" -ServerName:App.AppXywbrabmsek0gm3tkwpr5kwzbs55tkqay.mca
    1⤵
    • Checks processor information in registry
    • Modifies registry class
    • Suspicious use of SetWindowsHookEx
    PID:4372
  • C:\Windows\SystemApps\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy\SearchHost.exe
    "C:\Windows\SystemApps\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy\SearchHost.exe" -ServerName:CortanaUI.AppXstmwaab17q5s3y22tp6apqz7a45vwv65.mca
    1⤵
    • Enumerates system info in registry
    • Modifies registry class
    • Suspicious use of SetWindowsHookEx
    PID:3856

Network

        MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v16

        Replay Monitor

        Loading Replay Monitor...

        Downloads

        akira_readme.txt

        • Path C:\Program Files (x86)\akira_readme.txt
        • Size 3KB
        • SHA256 6a98c669a7d413058f1f57037f95459e8485ec0dbda01509f7a5b4065a82a6c8
        • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

        powershell.exe.log

        • Path C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Microsoft\CLR_v4.0\UsageLogs\powershell.exe.log
        • Size 3KB
        • SHA256 c1424375b9fa6450ae009c90f52445d8aef8f5dc77015c373cc9bba52fabf2cf
        • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

        KnownGameList.bin

        • Path C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Microsoft\GameDVR\KnownGameList.bin
        • Size 568KB
        • SHA256 21f9db88689a8cf0008fd3b7e6c11b520892b17b9194ac03e29197d591b21535
        • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

        StartUnifiedTileModelCache.dat

        • Path C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\TempState\StartUnifiedTileModelCache.dat
        • Size 32KB
        • SHA256 1585b8ec3b54e5e55b343e64596494560c52213278abf4fa5482c305b9693e5f
        • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

        StartUnifiedTileModelCache.dat

        • Path C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\TempState\StartUnifiedTileModelCache.dat
        • Size 33KB
        • SHA256 d60c4536263c9060163de71a337915e9087e6ba895b6f7d0dffc202e1809aa64
        • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

        StartUnifiedTileModelCache.dat

        • Path C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\TempState\StartUnifiedTileModelCache.dat
        • Size 26KB
        • SHA256 5cf34746da8d4cc5bdf811d55f06167b365e707c2299c84491f8ef24b6cf68b8
        • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

        www.bing[1].xml

        • Path C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Packages\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy\AC\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\DOMStore\6VR13JS9\www.bing[1].xml
        • Size 96B
        • SHA256 87d6a1ba167097d599b8169f40617aeb56e13d256892b1787f2dfbacd6fa259d
        • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

        www.bing[1].xml

        • Path C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Packages\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy\AC\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\DOMStore\6VR13JS9\www.bing[1].xml
        • Size 8KB
        • SHA256 77ce4b75166f056146b2f8d19f4244d338f2cd1d33e03d24a97ce259771ee0ab
        • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

        SearchUnifiedTileModelCache.dat

        • Path C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Packages\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy\TempState\SearchUnifiedTileModelCache.dat
        • Size 25KB
        • SHA256 ca7040b4e27c9ddc85d8ced0e5708babede3b4dbe9666830f9cd927c9278eabe
        • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

        SearchUnifiedTileModelCache.dat

        • Path C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Packages\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy\TempState\SearchUnifiedTileModelCache.dat
        • Size 23KB
        • SHA256 40de628e5eb46248434a740265d02f7239cf7ea137629e99ab6728a0b2450d12
        • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

        SettingsCache.txt

        • Path C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Packages\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy\TempState\SettingsCache.txt
        • Size 846KB
        • SHA256 9111e9a5093f97e15510bf3d3dc36fd4a736981215f79540454ce86893993fdc
        • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

        __PSScriptPolicyTest_tl44mwwj.00v.ps1

        • Path C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Temp\__PSScriptPolicyTest_tl44mwwj.00v.ps1
        • Size 60B
        • SHA256 96ad1146eb96877eab5942ae0736b82d8b5e2039a80d3d6932665c1a4c87dcf7
        • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

        memory/3856-15631-0x000001F74F800000-0x000001F74F900000-memory.dmp

        memory/3856-15698-0x000001F74FE20000-0x000001F74FF20000-memory.dmp

        memory/3856-15656-0x000001F850B90000-0x000001F850BB0000-memory.dmp

        memory/3856-15634-0x000001F74FFA0000-0x000001F74FFC0000-memory.dmp

        memory/3856-15633-0x000001F750060000-0x000001F750080000-memory.dmp

        memory/4372-15512-0x0000026671F70000-0x0000026671F71000-memory.dmp

        memory/4372-15507-0x0000026671F70000-0x0000026671F71000-memory.dmp

        memory/4372-15518-0x0000026671F70000-0x0000026671F71000-memory.dmp

        memory/4372-15506-0x0000026671F70000-0x0000026671F71000-memory.dmp

        memory/4372-15508-0x0000026671F70000-0x0000026671F71000-memory.dmp

        memory/4372-15515-0x0000026671F70000-0x0000026671F71000-memory.dmp

        memory/4372-15516-0x0000026671F70000-0x0000026671F71000-memory.dmp

        memory/4372-15517-0x0000026671F70000-0x0000026671F71000-memory.dmp

        memory/4372-15513-0x0000026671F70000-0x0000026671F71000-memory.dmp

        memory/4372-15514-0x0000026671F70000-0x0000026671F71000-memory.dmp

        memory/4944-7-0x000001E145090000-0x000001E1450B2000-memory.dmp

        memory/4944-1-0x000001E12CDD0000-0x000001E12CDE0000-memory.dmp

        memory/4944-9-0x000001E12CDD0000-0x000001E12CDE0000-memory.dmp

        memory/4944-0-0x000001E12CDD0000-0x000001E12CDE0000-memory.dmp