Suspicious Run Key Persistence via UpdateCheck Value in Operation TrueChaos

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Priv Esc

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

What it detects

This rule detects creation of an UpdateCheck value under a Windows Run key, the autostart persistence mechanism used in Operation TrueChaos to relaunch the Havoc loader at logon. A masquerading update-check value written to a Run key is an established persistence indicator for this campaign.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious Run Key Persistence via UpdateCheck Value in Operation TrueChaos

Pivot detection · T1547.001 · 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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