Suspicious PikaBot Autorun Persistence Pointing to AppData Microsoft Dropzone via registry_set

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
- T1547.001Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder
Priv Esc
- T1547.001Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder
Defense Evasion
- T1036.005Match Legitimate Resource Name or Location
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects PikaBot autorun persistence where a Run key value references an executable planted in the AppData Roaming Microsoft dropzone. PikaBot writes its payload under a Microsoft themed folder and registers it for startup to survive reboots. Legitimate Microsoft software rarely autoruns loose executables directly from this user writable path, making the combination a useful loader persistence heuristic.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious PikaBot Autorun Persistence Pointing to AppData Microsoft Dropzone via registry_set

Pivot detection · T1036.005 · 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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