Suspicious Shadow Copy Deletion via Vssadmin by Kraken Ransomware

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-09-11
Updated
2026-09-11

ATT&CK techniques

Impact
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Defense Evasion

  8. Cred Access

  9. Discovery

  10. Lateral Movement

  11. Collection

  12. C2

  13. Exfiltration

What it detects

This rule detects deletion of Volume Shadow Copies using vssadmin with the delete shadows and all flags. This behavior is associated with the Kraken ransomware group which inhibits system recovery prior to encryption. Removing shadow copies prevents victims from restoring files without paying the ransom.

Related detections9 linkedT1490 — drag to rearrange
Malicious Volume Shadow Copy Deletion via wmic and vssadmin (via process_creation)
Malicious System Recovery Inhibition via bcdedit and vssadmin in Mallox
Malicious Shadow Copy Deletion via WMIC via Process Creation (via process_creation)
Suspicious Anti-Recovery Zeroing via fsutil setZeroData (via process_creation)
Malicious Shadow Copy Removal via WMI PowerShell
Malicious Volume Shadow Copy Deletion via vssadmin
Malicious Inhibit System Recovery via Shadow Copy and Boot Config Tampering (via process_creation)
Malicious Recovery Disablement via Bcdedit RecoveryEnabled No
Suspicious Volume Shadow Copy Deletion via vssadmin or wmic
Suspicious Shadow Copy Deletion via Vssadmin by Kraken Ransomware
Pivot detection · T1490 · 9 related

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