{
  "family": "huntpos",
  "sample_count": 2,
  "category": "advanced_threat",
  "description": "Malware:Win32/Huntpos is a highly destructive and specialized Point-of-Sale (PoS) malware family. It is engineered specifically to target retail, hospitality, and food service environments. Its primary objective is to scrape the volatile memory (RAM) of infected PoS terminals to extract unencrypted credit card Track 1 and Track 2 data before the transaction is encrypted and sent to the payment processor. This stolen data is then exfiltrated and sold on dark web carding forums (like Joker's Stash).<br><br><b>Understanding Huntpos (PoS RAM Scrapers)</b><br>To a retail employee using the register, the machine functions normally, allowing transactions to process. However, to a security operations center (SOC) or a forensic investigator, a Huntpos infection represents a catastrophic PCI-DSS breach, leading to massive financial liability, brand damage, and regulatory fines (`T1005`).<br><br><b>Execution and Memory Scraping Mechanics</b><br>Huntpos is typically deployed after attackers gain initial access to the corporate network (often via compromised Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) - `T1133` - or phishing) and move laterally to the isolated PoS VLAN. Once executed on a terminal, Huntpos establishes persistence as a Windows Service (`T1543.003`). It operates by continuously iterating through the memory space of running processes (specifically targeting the payment application executable). It uses regular expressions (Regex) to identify data patterns matching the format of credit card magnetic stripe data (Track 1/Track 2) (`T1005`). Once identified, the data is dumped to a hidden, encrypted log file on disk (`T1074.001`) and periodically exfiltrated to an external C2 server via HTTP POST requests (`T1041`).<br><br><b>Indicators of Compromise & Impact</b><br>The impact is massive financial fraud resulting from compromised customer payment cards. Host-based IoCs include the presence of unexpected Windows Services on PoS terminals, anomalous DLLs injected into the payment application process, and the existence of encrypted, hidden log files (often disguised with generic names like `syslog.dat` or `winstat.tmp`) in system directories. Network IoCs include the PoS terminal making unexpected outbound HTTP connections to external, non-whitelisted IP addresses.",
  "cta": "Published by the SystemHelpdesk team.",
  "aliases": [],
  "enrichment_level": "expert-seo",
  "faq": [],
  "faq_count": 0,
  "mitre_attack": [
    "T1074.001",
    "T1543.003",
    "T1005",
    "T1041"
  ],
  "cisa_advisory": null,
  "last_updated": "2026-06-09",
  "mitre_attack_detail": [
    {
      "id": "T1005",
      "name": "Data from Local System (Scraping RAM for Track 1/Track 2 data)",
      "tactic": "Collection"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1543.003",
      "name": "Create or Modify System Process: Windows Service (Persistence mechanism)",
      "tactic": "Persistence"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1074.001",
      "name": "Data Staged: Local Data Staging (Storing scraped cards in a hidden file)",
      "tactic": "Collection"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1041",
      "name": "Exfiltration Over C2 Channel",
      "tactic": "Exfiltration"
    }
  ],
  "containment_steps": [
    "Immediately disconnect the infected PoS terminals from the network (unplug the Ethernet cable) to halt the exfiltration of stolen credit card data.",
    "Do NOT reboot or power off the PoS terminal; volatile memory (RAM) contains critical forensic evidence, including the malware's active processes and potentially unencrypted card data.",
    "Engage a specialized Incident Response (IR) firm and a PCI Forensic Investigator (PFI) immediately, as required by PCI-DSS regulations.",
    "Perform a massive enterprise hunt across the entire PoS network VLAN for similar indicators of compromise; PoS malware is rarely deployed to a single machine."
  ],
  "what_to_avoid": [
    "Do not attempt to 'clean' the PoS terminal with standard antivirus; the machine is compromised and must be forensically imaged and then securely wiped.",
    "Avoid communicating about the breach on the compromised corporate network; use out-of-band communication."
  ],
  "target_industries": [
    "Global / Opportunistic"
  ],
  "motivation": "Opportunistic",
  "threat_actors": [
    "Unknown / Cybercriminal"
  ],
  "target_geographies": [
    "Global"
  ]
}