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Add new rule to detect ransomware disabling backup/recovery services #1122

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Add new rule to detect ransomware disabling backup/recovery services #1122

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19069b8
Add new rule to detect ransomware disabling backup/recovery services
0ameyasr Feb 22, 2026
fd443a5
Updated ransomware stop service rule name to use 'stop' rather than '…
0ameyasr Feb 22, 2026
b2d5da8
Updated rule to reduce false positive breadth and enforce string loca…
0ameyasr Feb 22, 2026
687068d
Add missing empty line at end for format
0ameyasr Feb 22, 2026
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24 changes: 24 additions & 0 deletions impact/inhibit-system-recovery/stop-backup-or-recovery-services.yml
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rule:
meta:
name: stop backup or recovery services
namespace: impact/inhibit-system-recovery
authors:
- srivastava.ameya@gmail.com
description: the sample attempts to stop backup or recovery services
scopes:
static: file
dynamic: unsupported
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@mr-tz mr-tz Feb 22, 2026

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Does the rule also work for function and call/span of calls scopes?

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@0ameyasr 0ameyasr Feb 22, 2026 •
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So I initially had tested the rule with scope static: function, and the rule failed to detect numerous obvious stop attempts in the Ryuk sample (because they were distributed across functions in the file), which I was using to verify whether it worked. I designed this rule for static analysis only (also primarily why I marked dynamic as unsupported, if that is acceptable) rather than runtime API calls, though a separate one for the latter could be written too.

att&ck:
- Impact::Inhibit System Recovery [T1490]
- Impact::Service Stop [T1489]
references:
- https://media.kasperskycontenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/63/2024/09/16054035/Common-TTPs-of-the-modern-ransomware_low-res.pdf
examples:
- B87E9DD18A5533A09D3E48A7A1EFBCF6
features:
- or:
- string: /\bnet\s+stop\s+["']?(veeam|vss|oracle|sqlwriter|sqlsafe|sqltelemetry|acronis|sophos|mssql)\b/i
- string: /\bsc(\.exe)?\s+stop\s+["']?(veeam|vss|oracle|sqlwriter|sqlsafe|sqltelemetry|acronis|sophos|mssql)\b/i
- string: /\bsc(\.exe)?\s+config\s+["']?(veeam|vss|oracle|sqlwriter|sqlsafe|sqltelemetry|acronis|sophos|mssql)\b.*start=\s*disabled\b/i
- string: /\bstop\s+["']?(veeam|vss|oracle|sqlwriter|sqlsafe|sqltelemetry|acronis|sophos|mssql)\b.*\/y\b/i
- string: /\btaskkill\b[^"\r\n]\/f\b[^"\r\n]\b(veeam|sqlservr|oracle|acronis|sophos|iis)\b/i