EnigmaProtector1XSukhovVladimirSergeNMarkin

Hunt Hypothesis

This detection identifies the presence of the Enigma Protector 1X software packer, which adversaries often utilize to obfuscate malicious payloads and evade signature-based analysis. Proactive hunting for this indicator within Azure Sentinel is essential to uncover hidden threats that may be concealed by this specific packing mechanism before they execute their attack logic.

YARA Rule

rule EnigmaProtector1XSukhovVladimirSergeNMarkin
{
      meta:
		author="malware-lu"
strings:
		$a0 = { 00 00 00 56 69 72 74 75 61 6C 41 6C 6C 6F 63 00 00 00 56 69 72 74 75 61 6C 46 72 65 65 00 00 00 47 65 74 4D 6F 64 75 6C 65 48 61 6E 64 6C 65 41 00 00 00 47 65 74 50 72 6F 63 41 64 64 72 65 73 73 00 00 00 45 78 69 74 50 72 6F 63 65 73 73 00 00 00 4C 6F 61 64 4C 69 62 72 61 72 79 41 00 00 00 4D 65 73 73 61 67 65 42 6F 78 41 00 00 00 52 65 67 43 6C 6F 73 65 4B 65 79 00 00 00 53 79 73 46 72 65 65 53 74 72 69 6E 67 00 00 00 43 72 65 61 74 65 46 6F 6E 74 41 00 00 00 53 68 65 6C 6C 45 78 65 63 75 74 65 41 00 00 }

condition:
		$a0
}

Deployment Notes

This YARA rule can be deployed in the following contexts:

• Microsoft Defender for Endpoint — Custom indicators / advanced hunting
• Email Gateway — Attachment scanning
• File Share Monitoring — Periodic scanning of shared drives
• YARA CLI — Manual threat hunting on endpoints

This rule contains 1 string patterns in its detection logic.

• Source Rule

False Positive Guidance

Here are 4 specific false positive scenarios for the EnigmaProtector1XSukhovVladimirSergeNMarkin detection rule, including targeted filters and exclusions:

• Scenario: Antivirus Engine Scanning of Protected Archives

  • Context: The enterprise endpoint protection solution (e.g., CrowdStrike Falcon or Microsoft Defender for Endpoint) performs scheduled deep scans on large .7z or .exe archives stored in the C:\Data\Backups directory. These files often contain embedded EnigmaProtector signatures that mimic the rule’s detection logic, triggering alerts during nightly maintenance windows (02:00–04:00 UTC).
  • Suggested Filter: Exclude processes where the parent process is MsMpEng.exe or FalconSensor.exe and the file path contains \Backups\. Additionally, suppress alerts generated between 01:00 and 05:00 local time for files with extensions .7z, .cab, and .msi.

• Scenario: Deployment of Internal Line-of-Business (LOB) Applications

  • Context: The IT Operations team utilizes Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) or Ivanti Neurons to push updates for internal financial reporting tools. These applications are wrapped with EnigmaProtector licensing modules, causing the YARA rule to flag every deployment event as a potential new executable injection when the SMS_EXECUTIVE service runs the installer.
  • Suggested Filter: Create an exclusion based on the process name ccmsetup.exe or IvantiAgent.exe. Furthermore, whitelist specific file hashes for the known internal application binaries (e.g., FinanceReportApp_v4.exe) to prevent recurring alerts during patch cycles.

• Scenario: Automated Build and Release Pipeline Execution