Zero‑Dwell Threat Intelligence Report
Executive Overview — What We’re Dealing With
This specimen has persisted long enough to matter. Human experts classified it as Malware, and the telemetry confirms a capable, evasive Trojan with real impact potential.
Extended Dwell Time Impact
For 7+ hours, this malware remained undetected — a several-hour window that allowed the adversary to complete initial compromise and begin early-stage persistence establishment.
Comparative Context
Industry studies report a median dwell time closer to 21–24 days. This case represents rapid detection and containment within hours rather than days.
Timeline
| Time (UTC) | Event | Elapsed |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-11-19 13:24:53 UTC | First VirusTotal submission | — |
| 2025-12-03 21:12:34 UTC | Latest analysis snapshot | 14 days, 7 hours, 47 minutes |
| 2025-12-04 08:33:22 UTC | Report generation time | 14 days, 19 hours, 8 minutes |
Why It Matters
Every additional day of dwell time is not just an abstract number — it is attacker opportunity. Each day equates to more time for lateral movement, stealth persistence, and intelligence gathering.
Global Detection Posture — Who Caught It, Who Missed It
VirusTotal engines: 73. Detected as malicious: 68. Missed: 5. Coverage: 93.2%.
Detected Vendors
- Xcitium
- +67 additional vendors (names not provided)
List includes Xcitium plus an additional 67 vendors per the provided summary.
Missed Vendors
- CMC
- SUPERAntiSpyware
- tehtris
- Zillya
Why it matters: if any endpoint relies solely on a missed engine, this malware can operate with zero alerts. Prevention‑first controls close that gap regardless of signature lag.
Behavioral Storyline — How the Malware Operates
Intensive file system activity (47.04% of behavior) indicates data harvesting, file encryption, or dropper behavior. The threat is actively searching for and manipulating files across the system.
Behavior Categories (weighted)
Weight values represent the frequency and intensity of malware interactions with specific system components. Higher weights indicate more aggressive targeting of that category. Each operation (registry access, file modification, network connection, etc.) contributes to the category’s total weight, providing a quantitative measure of the malware’s behavioral focus.
| Category | Weight | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| File System | 147138 | 47.04% |
| Synchronization | 143646 | 45.93% |
| Process | 10250 | 3.28% |
| System | 6137 | 1.96% |
| Registry | 4572 | 1.46% |
| Device | 304 | 0.10% |
| Threading | 252 | 0.08% |
| Misc | 144 | 0.05% |
| Com | 142 | 0.05% |
| Network | 72 | 0.02% |
| Services | 66 | 0.02% |
| Crypto | 19 | 0.01% |
| Windows | 19 | 0.01% |
| __Notification__ | 12 | 0.00% |
| Hooking | 6 | 0.00% |
MITRE ATT&CK Mapping
- T1543.003 – start service
- T1083 – get file size
- T1129 – link function at runtime on Windows
- T1129 – parse PE header
- T1016 – get socket status
- T1543.003 – create service
- T1569.002 – create service
- T1027 – encode data using XOR
- T1543.003 – modify service
- T1569.002 – modify service
- T1027 – encrypt data using RC4 KSA
- T1543.003 – persist via Windows service
- T1569.002 – persist via Windows service
- T1027.005 – contain obfuscated stackstrings
- T1071 – Terminates another process
- T1071 – The PE file contains an overlay
- T1055 – Writes to the memory another process
- T1027 – The binary likely contains encrypted or compressed data
- T1027.002 – The binary likely contains encrypted or compressed data
- T1057 – Enumerates running processes
- T1057 – Expresses interest in specific running processes
Following the Trail — Network & DNS Activity
Outbound activity leans on reputable infrastructure (e.g., CDNs, cloud endpoints) to blend in. TLS sessions and
HTTP calls show routine beaconing and IP‑lookup behavior that can masquerade as normal browsing.
Contacted Domains
| Domain | IP | Country | ASN/Org |
|---|---|---|---|
| www.iuqerfsodp9ifjaposdfjhgosurijfaewrwergwea.com | 104.16.167.228 | United States | Cloudflare, Inc. |
| www.aieov.com | 13.248.169.48 | United States | Amazon Technologies Inc. |
Services Started (Top 15)
| Service |
|---|
| mssecsvc2.0 |
Services Opened (Top 15)
What To Do Now — Practical Defense Playbook
- Contain unknowns: block first‑run binaries by default — signatures catch up, containment works now.
- EDR controls: alert on keyboard hooks, screen capture APIs, VM/sandbox checks, and command‑shell launches.
- Registry watch: flag queries/sets under policy paths (e.g., …\FipsAlgorithmPolicy\*).
- Network rules: inspect outbound TLS to IP‑lookup services and unexpected CDN endpoints.
- Hunt broadly: sweep endpoints for the indicators above and quarantine positives immediately.
Dwell time equals attacker opportunity. Reducing execution privileges and egress shrinks that window even when vendors disagree.