T1679 — Selective Exclusion
Parent technique
Description
Adversaries may intentionally exclude certain files, folders, directories, file types, or system components from encryption or tampering during a ransomware or malicious payload execution. Some file extensions that adversaries may avoid encrypting include `.dll`, `.exe`, and `.lnk`.
Adversaries may perform this behavior to avoid alerting users, to evade detection by security tools and analysts, or, in the case of ransomware, to ensure that the system remains operational enough to deliver the ransom notice.
Exclusions may target files and components whose corruption would cause instability, break core services, or immediately expose the attack. By carefully avoiding these areas, adversaries maintain system responsiveness while minimizing indicators that could trigger alarms or otherwise inhibit achieving their goals.
Detected by EasySIEM
This project's own SigmaHQ-derived detection pipeline tags every compiled rule with the ATT&CK technique(s) it maps to -- if a rule in your install covers this technique, it shows up automatically on your own Grafana Alerts dashboard's "Top ATT&CK Techniques" panel, no lookup needed. This page exists so a click from there always lands here on easysiem.com, not on attack.mitre.org.