{ "id": "96fdf469-4d1c-4aa7-9864-36ec226f96e6", "created_at": "2026-04-06T00:07:57.43918Z", "updated_at": "2026-04-10T03:20:04.327462Z", "deleted_at": null, "sha1_hash": "765909d13085c37d069e7e959fcafa5a21cf7bec", "title": "How CrowdStrike Protects Against Data-Wiping Malware | CrowdStrike", "llm_title": "", "authors": "", "file_creation_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_modification_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_size": 2105662, "plain_text": "How CrowdStrike Protects Against Data-Wiping Malware |\r\nCrowdStrike\r\nBy Sarang Sonawane - Liviu Arsene\r\nArchived: 2026-04-05 21:15:37 UTC\r\nThe Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) warns of potential critical threats similar to\r\nrecent cyberthreats targeting Ukraine\r\nU.S. companies are advised to implement cybersecurity measures to maximize resilience\r\nThe CrowdStrike Falcon®® platform provides continuous protection against wiper-style threats and real-time visibility across workloads\r\nCISA recently advised U.S. business leaders to protect their companies from destructive malware that has been\r\nseen targeting Ukraine. This emphasizes the importance of having the right technologies in place. The automated\r\ndetection and protection capabilities of the CrowdStrike Falcon® platform protect customers from this malware,\r\nprovide them with visibility into their environments and allow for intelligent monitoring of cloud resources.\r\nFalcon customers gain insights into overall security posture and the actions required to prevent potential security\r\nincidents. Following mid-January 2022 incidents involving a series of Ukrainian website defacements and the\r\ndeployment of data-wiping WhisperGate malware, CISA issued guidance on how companies can maximize\r\nresilience against similar incidents. To better understand how WhisperGate malware operates, CrowdStrike\r\nIntelligence recently performed a technical analysis of the malicious bootloader and how the destructive wiping\r\noperation occurs. The Falcon platform uses machine learning and behavior-based detections to provide continuous\r\nprotection from threats — including data-wiping malware — and deliver real-time visibility across workloads.\r\nA Primer on Destructive Malware\r\nDestructive malware includes threats that render compromised systems inoperable by deleting or wiping critical\r\ndata instead of making it inaccessible through encryption. In 2017, two destructive ransomware outbreaks —\r\nNotPetya and WannaCry — leveraged the EternalBlue vulnerability in the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol\r\nto quickly spread and infect vulnerable systems worldwide. The NotPetya ransomware outbreak started in\r\nUkraine, and shortly after security researchers found that a faulty encryption routine made file recovery\r\nimpossible regardless of whether victims paid. The WannaCry ransomware outbreak that followed also made data\r\nrecovery impossible, as the ransomware could not tie payment to a particular victim machine. The recent\r\nWhisperGate threat targeting Ukraine features no decryption or data-recovery mechanism, and only performs\r\ndestructive wiping operations on the infected host’s hard drives. While the threat attempts to masquerade as\r\ngenuine modern ransomware operations, it irrevocably corrupts the affected host’s data. The CISA alert urges\r\ncompanies to immediately implement cybersecurity measures to protect their infrastructures.\r\nGain Visibility and Stop Threats with the Falcon Platform\r\nhttps://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/how-crowdstrike-protects-against-data-wiping-malware/\r\nPage 1 of 4\n\nThe Falcon platform offers unified visibility, threat detection and continuous monitoring and compliance for any\r\nenvironment, enabling security teams to reduce the time it takes to detect and mitigate security risks. The Falcon\r\nsensor employs behavior-based detections using indicators of attack (IOAs) and on-sensor and in-the-cloud\r\nmachine learning to identify and block threats while incorporating intelligence derived by continuously\r\nmonitoring tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) related to threats and threat actors. Data-wiping threats,\r\nincluding the recent WhisperGate, perform destructive operations on the infected host’s hard drive, making data\r\nunrecoverable. CrowdStrike Intelligence performed an analysis on the malicious bootloader, but WhisperGate also\r\nuses a downloader to retrieve the final data-wiping payload. The Falcon platform uses on-sensor machine learning\r\nto detect and prevent the downloader before fetching the data-wiping component, as seen in the screenshot below.\r\nFigure 1. Falcon on-sensor machine learning coverage for the WhisperGate downloader component (Click to\r\nenlarge)\r\nThe data-wiping payload reads the file name and adds a random integer at the end of file. It then replaces the\r\n0x100000 bytes of the file with hex 0xcc and renames the file, making the data unrecoverable, as seen in Figure 2.\r\nhttps://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/how-crowdstrike-protects-against-data-wiping-malware/\r\nPage 2 of 4\n\nFigure 2. Data-wiping and file-renaming code (Click to enlarge)\r\nThe Falcon platform automatically detects and prevents the final data-wiping payload, using machine learning and\r\nbehavior-based detection. Figure 3 reveals that the Falcon sensor immediately detects and protects from any data-wiping activity.\r\nhttps://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/how-crowdstrike-protects-against-data-wiping-malware/\r\nPage 3 of 4\n\nFigure 3. Falcon machine learning and IOA coverage for the data-wiping payload (Click to enlarge)\r\nBy accurately identifying malicious activity, gaining visibility into suspicious behaviors and prioritizing threats,\r\nthe Falcon platform eliminates noise and reduces alert fatigue, allowing organizations to respond faster to\r\npotential threat incidents and gain deep visibility of potential security blind spots.\r\nMaximize Resilience\r\nOrganizations that face risk from cyber incidents, including data-wiping threats, are strongly encouraged to take\r\nappropriate measures to protect their business from any significant impact on their operations. CISA recommends\r\nthat organizations take cyber risk and operational resilience seriously and take steps to reduce potential damages,\r\ndetect intrusions and respond to potential threats. The Falcon platform protects customers against sophisticated\r\nadversaries and sophisticated threats, accelerating response and offering visibility into the overall security posture\r\nof the organization. Organizations leveraging the power of the Falcon platform can detect and protect themselves\r\nfrom ransomware, data-wiping malware and other sophisticated threats and adversaries.\r\nAdditional Resources\r\nRead more about WhisperGate in this CrowdStrike Intelligence blog: Technical Analysis of the\r\nWhisperGate Malicious Bootloader.\r\nLearn about the powerful, cloud-native CrowdStrike Falcon® platform by visiting the product webpage.\r\nGet a full-featured free trial of CrowdStrike Falcon® Prevent™ to see for yourself how true next-gen AV\r\nperforms against today’s most sophisticated threats.\r\nSource: https://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/how-crowdstrike-protects-against-data-wiping-malware/\r\nhttps://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/how-crowdstrike-protects-against-data-wiping-malware/\r\nPage 4 of 4\n\nenlarge) The data-wiping payload reads the file name and adds a random integer at the end of file. It then replaces the\n0x100000 bytes of the file with hex 0xcc and renames the file, making the data unrecoverable, as seen in Figure 2.\n Page 2 of 4", "extraction_quality": 1, "language": "EN", "sources": [ "Malpedia" ], "references": [ "https://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/how-crowdstrike-protects-against-data-wiping-malware/" ], "report_names": [ "how-crowdstrike-protects-against-data-wiping-malware" ], "threat_actors": [], "ts_created_at": 1775434077, "ts_updated_at": 1775791204, "ts_creation_date": 0, "ts_modification_date": 0, "files": { "pdf": "https://archive.orkl.eu/765909d13085c37d069e7e959fcafa5a21cf7bec.pdf", "text": "https://archive.orkl.eu/765909d13085c37d069e7e959fcafa5a21cf7bec.txt", "img": "https://archive.orkl.eu/765909d13085c37d069e7e959fcafa5a21cf7bec.jpg" } }