No Keys, No Mercy: The Rise of Wiperware Disguised as Ransomware
Imagine this your files are gone, your systems wiped, and the ransom note was just smoke and mirrors.That’s the chilling twist I uncovered during a midnight recon session, buried in fresh threat intel feeds. As an independent cybersecurity blogger and part-time penetration tester, I’ve dissected my fair share of ransomware strains. But none of them hit like this one. Anubis isn’t here to encrypt and negotiate it’s built to burn everything down, cross-platform. Windows. Android. Doesn’t matter.Even if you pay? It can still wipe you clean.This post takes a hard look at Anubis from a red team lens how the malware is deployed, what makes its architecture so dangerous, and how modern penetration testing needs to evolve beyond just containment drills. This is about destructive simulation. This is about preparing for a threat actor that doesn’t care if you comply.If you’re in cybersecurity blue team, red team, or somewhere in between this is the threat profile you need to internalize now. No backups. No keys. Just total digital annihilation.Let’s break it down.
Penetration Testers Need to Simulate Anubis
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Dual-threat model: Encryption plus irreversible data destruction demands modeling of destructive failure cases.
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Modular CLI interaction: Pen testers must script edge cases like missing flags, elevated privileges checks, or path exclusions.
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Industry-agnostic targeting: Victims span healthcare, engineering, hospitality, and construction in countries worldwide meaning every RaaS scenario should include cross-platform attacks
Technical Breakdown: Anubis Kill Chain
| Stage | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Initial Access | Spear-phishing via macro or malicious link |
| Execution | Launch via CLI with flags that control encryption and authorization |
| Privilege Escalation | Admin check via physical drive access; falls back gracefully if insufficient |
| Discovery & Evasion | Skips Windows system dirs & dev folders to avoid crashing; deletes shadow copies |
| Impact | Encrypts files and optionally zeros them reducing size to 0 KB while preserving metadata |
1. CLI-Driven Payload Mock
Create a script mirroring behavior, toggling wipe vs. encrypt paths. Test how detection systems flag flag misuse or abnormal behavior.
2. Privilege Escalation Probing
Write code that attempts access to simulate the privilege check logic and observe the application's fallback behavior on Windows.
3. Controlled Wipe Execution
In test environments, write dummy files to be zeroed (sized zero bytes) to practice detection, backup response, and content validation failures.
4. Phishing + Payload Drill
Deploy spear-phishing campaigns via Burp Suite deliver macro-enabled executables that chain into mock Anubis logic; measure click-to-payload conversion and logging fidelity.
5. Affiliate Emulation Scenarios
Model RaaS affiliate dashboards simulate leak site publication, negotiation tracking, and role-based access misuse to understand pressure flows and evidence generation.
AI & Supply Chain Considerations
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AI-generated social engineering: Create context-aware phishing templates using LLMs (mimicking affiliates crafting custom campaigns).
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Supply-chain impact: Tools used in DevSecOps pipelines could be abused for payload delivery—emulate malicious packages or CI/CD runners compromised via update servers.
Threat Hunting: What to Look For
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CLI arguments with
WIPEMODE,elevated, long/KEY=strings -
Volume Shadow Copies deleted via
vssadmin -
Execution flows skipping system directories or using abnormal tokens
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Hidden web panel/activity logs tied to affiliate handles.
Essential Tools for Emulation
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Shodan: detect exposed ESXi or NAS management interfaces
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Burp Suite: proxy phishing/infection URLs
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Metasploit / custom scripts: simulate affiliate-driven payload deployment
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Trivy / OSV: identify vulnerable targets before simulation
Expert Insight
James Knight, Senior Principal at Digital Warfare said,“Affiliates deploying customizable wiping ransomware requires pen testers to simulate both payload logic and post-impact persuasion flows. Our case studies provide real-world frameworks for such modeling.”
Final Takeaways for Penetration Testers
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Anubis is a destructive, cross-platform RaaS; its wipe mode elevates extortion pressure to irreversible data loss.
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Simulate real-world attack paths: phishing → privilege escalation → encryption or destruction.
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Model affiliate behavior to test not just payloads, but response scenarios and negotiation flow.
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Incorporate AI and supply-chain assumptions when designing high-fidelity test cases.
Call to Action
If you’re a pen tester, blue team lead, or security operations engineer:
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Build adversary simulation exercises with both encryption and wiping path logic.
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Audit your incident response workflows to handle cases where even paying won’t recover files.
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Attend threat modeling conferences and engage in workshops that simulate double‑extortion and destructive ransomware attacks.
Because today’s ransomware game isn’t just about breaking systems it’s about erasing them on command. Test deeper. Think broader. Stay prepared.
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