cypherpunk-remote-exec-w-psexesvc

This query was originally published in the threat analytics report, Cypherpunk ransomware leaves wake of tampered AVs. Cypherpunk is a human-operated ransomware campaign named after the unusual .cypherpunk extension given to encrypted files. The attackers often used PSEXESVC, a service that helps the PsExe.exe utility run commands on a remote device. Both PSEXESVC and PsExe.exe are legitimate parts of Windows; however, they can be repurposed by attackers to perform malicious actions. The query below can find instances of PSEXESVC being used to launch batch files, as often occurred in Cypherpunk attacks.