MITRE ATT&CK / Techniques / T1561.001

Disk Wipe: Disk Content Wipe

ID
T1561.001
Tactics
TA0040 Impact
Sub-technique of
T1561 Disk Wipe
Platforms
Linux, macOS, Network Devices, Windows
Data sources
User Account Metadata, Drive Modification, Driver Load, Drive Access, Process Creation, Command Execution, User Account Authentication
Source
attack.mitre.org
MITRE last modified
12 May 2026

Adversaries may erase the contents of storage devices on specific systems or in large numbers in a network to interrupt availability to system and network resources.

Adversaries may partially or completely overwrite the contents of a storage device rendering the data irrecoverable through the storage interface.[2][3][4] Instead of wiping specific disk structures or files, adversaries with destructive intent may wipe arbitrary portions of disk content. To wipe disk content, adversaries may acquire direct access to the hard drive in order to overwrite arbitrarily sized portions of disk with random data.[3] Adversaries have also been observed leveraging third-party drivers like RawDisk to directly access disk content.[2][3] This behavior is distinct from Data Destruction because sections of the disk are erased instead of individual files.

To maximize impact on the target organization in operations where network-wide availability interruption is the goal, malware used for wiping disk content may have worm-like features to propagate across a network by leveraging additional techniques like Valid Accounts, OS Credential Dumping, and SMB/Windows Admin Shares.[3]

Detection

Mitigations (1)

M1053 Data Backup

Consider implementing IT disaster recovery plans that contain procedures for taking regular data backups that can be used to restore organizational data.[1] Ensure backups are stored off system and is protected from common methods adversaries may use to gain access and destroy the backups to prevent recovery.

Groups (3)

Software (14)

References

  1. Ready.gov IT DRP
  2. Novetta Blockbuster
  3. Novetta Blockbuster Destructive Malware
  4. DOJ Lazarus Sony 2018