DEFCON 3 · ELEVATED OBSERVATORY STATUS
04:24:00 UTC
EXPLORE DIRECTORY
LAST SYNCHRONIZED: 2026-08-27
malware

BlackCat (ALPHV / Sphynx)

EXECUTIVE INTELLIGENCE SUMMARY

Highly customizable Rust-based ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) specializing in VMware ESXi hypervisor destruction and massive double-extortion exfiltration.

Engineered entirely in Rust for cross-platform speed and evasion, BlackCat utilizes AES-256 and ChaCha20 encryption routines, automated privilege elevation via token duplication, and custom CLI flags for disabling Windows recovery environments and stopping ESXi guest VM daemons.

SOURCE CITATIONS & ATTESTATIONS (1)
FBI & CISA Joint Cybersecurity Advisory: ALPHV/BlackCatCISA / FBI

ALPHV BlackCat Ransomware IOCs and TTPs

TELEMETRY CARDID: malware-blackcat
ENTITY TYPE
malware
INDEXED TAGS
#ransomware#raas#rust#esxi_encryption#double_extortion