Akira
Also tracked as GOLD SAHARA, PUNK SPIDER, Howling Scorpius
Akira is a ransomware variant and ransomware deployment entity active since at least March 2023. Akira uses compromised credentials to access single-factor external access mechanisms such as VPNs for initial access, then various publicly-available tools and techniques for lateral movement. Akira operations are associated with "double extortion" ransomware activity, where data is exfiltrated from victim environments prior to encryption, with threats to publish files if a ransom is not paid. Technical analysis of Akira ransomware indicates variants capable of targeting Windows or VMWare ESXi hypervisors and multiple overlaps with Conti ransomware.
- Documented techniques
- 17
- Assessed motivation
- Financial gain, Data theft
- Basis
- MITRE ATT&CK
How they break in
Techniques MITRE has documented this group using, grouped by the stage of an attack they belong to. This is the actionable half: each one is a behaviour you can look for in your own logs, and a control you can test.
execution1
persistence1
credential access1
lateral movement1
command and control1
exfiltration1
defense impairment1
Malware
Families MITRE records this group deploying. Detection names for these are a reasonable place to start.
Tools
Legitimate or dual-use software the group is documented using. Most of it is software your own administrators use too, which is the point.