ENIGMAProtectorV11V12SukhovVladimir

Hunt Hypothesis

This hunt hypothesis targets adversaries utilizing the ENIGMA Protector V11/V12 packer to obfuscate malicious payloads and evade static signature-based detection. A proactive search in Azure Sentinel is essential to identify these packed executables early, as they often serve as a delivery mechanism for advanced threats that may bypass initial security controls due to their low severity classification.

YARA Rule

rule ENIGMAProtectorV11V12SukhovVladimir
{
      meta:
		author="malware-lu"
strings:
		$a0 = { 60 E8 00 00 00 00 5D 83 ED 06 81 }

condition:
		$a0 at pe.entry_point
}

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 5 specific false positive scenarios for the ENIGMAProtectorV11V12SukhovVladimir detection rule, including suggested filters and exclusions:

• Scenario: Legitimate Software Deployment via SCCM/Intune

  • Context: Enterprise IT teams frequently deploy protected applications (e.g., SAP, Oracle, or custom internal tools) using Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (SCCM) or Microsoft Intune. These deployments often utilize ENIGMA Protector v11/v12 to package and sign the installers, causing the YARA rule to trigger on every deployment event across hundreds of endpoints.
  • Suggested Filter: Create an exclusion based on the Process Name and Parent Process. Exclude alerts where the parent process is ccmsetup.exe (SCCM) or Microsoft.IntuneManagementAgent.exe (Intune), provided the file path resides within standard deployment directories like C:\Windows\CCM\ or C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Intune Management Extension\.

• Scenario: Scheduled Antivirus Database Updates

  • Context: Third-party endpoint protection suites, such as Symantec Endpoint Protection or McAfee Total Protection, often use ENIGMA Protector to wrap their update agents. During scheduled maintenance windows (e.g., nightly at 02:00 AM), these tools download and unpack new definition databases, triggering the rule repeatedly on all managed workstations.
  • Suggested Filter: Implement a time-based exclusion or path-based filter. Exclude alerts occurring between 01:30 and 04:00 local time where the file extension is .exe or .dll located in vendor-specific directories (e.g., C:\Program Files\Symantec Endpoint Protection\ or C:\ProgramData\McAfee\).