Suspicious HeartCrypt Sandbox Detection DLL Load

ATT&CK techniques

Defense Evasion → Discovery

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
- T1497.001System Checks
Cred Access
Discovery
- T1497.001System Checks
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects loading of the decoy modules k7rn7l32.dll and ntd3ll.dll used by the HeartCrypt packer for sandbox and analysis detection. This behavior matches HeartCrypt packed samples that attempt to load these non-existent typosquatted DLLs to probe emulated environments. These filenames are unique artifacts of the packer and provide a reliable signal of HeartCrypt-protected malware.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious HeartCrypt Sandbox Detection DLL Load

Pivot detection · T1497.001 · 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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