Suspicious HotPage Driver Drop under ShieldNetWork Directory via File System

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
file_event
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-09-23
Updated
2026-09-23

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Priv Esc
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Defense Evasion

  6. Cred Access

  7. Discovery

  8. Lateral Movement

  9. Collection

  10. C2

  11. Exfiltration

  12. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects file creation under C:\Windows\ShieldNetWork\, the fixed directory where the HotPage installer drops its encrypted, randomly named vulnerable driver. The ShieldNetWork path is a distinctive artifact of this signed ad-injecting driver campaign. Its appearance indicates staging of a BYOVD component intended to run privileged browser injection code.

Related detections9 linkedT1543.003 — drag to rearrange
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Malicious Service Persistence via sc.exe Creating msdnetsvc
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Suspicious HotPage Driver Drop under ShieldNetWork Directory via File System
Pivot detection · T1543.003 · 9 related

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