Malicious Kong RAT Configuration Registry Keys

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
- T1112Modify Registry
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
- T1112Modify Registry
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects writes to the Software Kong Client registry path used by the Kong RAT distributed through a multi-stage SEO poisoning campaign against Chinese-speaking developers. The malware stores its configuration and state under this dedicated key. Presence of this key indicates an active Kong RAT implant on the host.

Reporting behind it

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Malicious Kong RAT Configuration Registry Keys

Pivot detection · T1112 · 9 related

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.

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