FIN7 — Adversary Emulation Playbook
Tier-2 financially-motivated crew that evolved from point-of-sale theft to big-game-hunting
ransomware (REvil / DarkSide / Black Basta links). Signature traits: revenue-selected
targets, convincing business-themed spearphishing reinforced by phone calls, and mature
EDR-evasion tooling (AvNeutralizer / AuKill). Authorized red-team emulation only.
When to emulate FIN7
- The client wants a realistic ransomware-precursor test: phishing resilience, EDR
tamper-resistance, AD attack-path hardening, and backup/recovery readiness.
- Retail, hospitality, financial, software, medical, or other high-revenue targets (see the
industry → actor map in
../../references/apt-groups.md).
ThreatProfile seed (plan/threat-profile.json)
{
"engagement_name": "<fill>",
"actor_name": "FIN7-like (Carbon Spider / Sangria Tempest)",
"actor_aliases": ["Carbon Spider", "Sangria Tempest", "GOLD NIAGARA", "ELBRUS", "ITG14"],
"group_id": "G0046",
"tier": "tier-2",
"sophistication": "high",
"motivation": "financial",
"initial_access": ["T1566.001", "T1566.002", "T1204.002"],
"key_ttps": ["T1059.001", "T1547.001", "T1053.005", "T1562.001", "T1003.001", "T1558.003", "T1021.001", "T1486", "T1567.002"],
"tools": ["Phishing kit + phone follow-up", "Sliver", "NetExec", "Impacket", "EDR-test/BYOVD (authorized)", "canary encryptor"],
"infrastructure": ["Business-themed lure domains", "Sliver HTTPS C2", "Engagement-owned exfil bucket"],
"recent_cti_delta": "Since 2020 shifted to big-game-hunting ransomware (REvil/DarkSide; Black Basta TTP overlap); AvNeutralizer/AuKill EDR-killer; targets shortlisted by revenue via Crunchbase/D&B/ZoomInfo, ransom sized to revenue.",
"confidence": "probable"
}
Kill-chain emulation
| # |
Phase |
MITRE |
Emulated action |
Executing agent → skill |
| 1 |
Recon |
T1591 |
Revenue-based target + staff shortlist (Crunchbase/D&B/ZoomInfo) |
recon → /skills/standard/recon/osint/SKILL.md, /skills/standard/osint/SKILL.md |
| 2 |
Initial Access |
T1566.001 |
Business-themed spearphish attachment + phone follow-up |
phisher → /skills/standard/phisher/SKILL.md |
| 3 |
Execution / C2 |
T1204.002 / T1059.001 |
Macro → loader → Sliver beacon |
post-exploit → /skills/standard/post-exploit/c2-sliver/SKILL.md |
| 4 |
Persistence |
T1547.001 / T1053.005 |
Run key + scheduled task |
post-exploit → /skills/standard/post-exploit/privilege-escalation/SKILL.md |
| 5 |
Defense Evasion |
T1562.001 |
EDR tamper / BYOVD (AvNeutralizer pattern, authorized) |
post-exploit → /skills/standard/post-exploit/privilege-escalation/SKILL.md (shared defense-evasion auto-loaded) |
| 6 |
Credential Access |
T1003.001 |
LSASS dump |
post-exploit → /skills/standard/post-exploit/credential-access/SKILL.md |
| 7 |
Discovery / AD |
T1558.003 |
BloodHound the domain; Kerberoast |
ad → /skills/standard/ad/bloodhound-query/SKILL.md, /skills/standard/ad/kerberoasting/SKILL.md |
| 8 |
Lateral |
T1021.001 / T1570 |
RDP/SMB + lateral tool transfer |
post-exploit → /skills/standard/post-exploit/lateral-movement/SKILL.md; /skills/standard/ad/netexec/SKILL.md |
| 9 |
Priv Esc to DA |
T1003.006 |
DCSync to domain dominance |
ad → /skills/standard/ad/dcsync/SKILL.md |
| 10 |
Exfiltration |
T1567.002 |
Stage + exfil to engagement bucket |
post-exploit → /skills/standard/post-exploit/reporting/SKILL.md |
| 11 |
Impact (CANARY) |
T1486 |
Demonstrate ransomware capability on canary only |
post-exploit → /skills/standard/post-exploit/reporting/SKILL.md |
CONOPS kill_chain (copy into conops.json)
recon — revenue-based target + staff selection (1).
initial-access — spearphish attachment + phone follow-up (2).
post-exploit — loader exec, EDR tamper, LSASS, AD recon/Kerberoast, lateral, DA via DCSync (3-9).
c2 — Sliver (within 3).
exfiltration — data theft + canary ransomware impact (10-11).
OPSEC & signature fidelity
- Phone-reinforced phishing is the fidelity-defining move — pair the email lure with a
follow-up call (authorized) to mirror FIN7's hands-on approach.
- EDR evasion is the headline. The test is whether the EDR survives a BYOVD/tamper attempt;
mirror AvNeutralizer's intent (disable endpoint telemetry) using an authorized test driver.
- Dwell days-to-weeks; double extortion (exfil before encrypt).
RoE / safety gates
- Phishing + phone pretext require explicit authorization + lure-deconfliction
(
/skills/standard/phisher/lure-deconfliction/SKILL.md); name in-scope staff.
- EDR tampering / BYOVD can destabilize endpoints — authorize it, run on a lab/canary host
first, and confirm rollback. Add an
EMERGENCY abort: "production endpoint protection
disabled outside the authorized test host, or production data encrypted/exfiltrated."
- Ransomware impact is canary-only.
Deconfliction
- Record lure domains, the Sliver implant, EDR-tamper test host, and exfil destination in
deconfliction.json + cleanup.json.
- Agree an EDR-tamper window with the SOC; the DA-path and ransomware-readiness findings are
the deliverable, not a surprise outage.
Fidelity notes (deviations)
- No real Carbanak/AvNeutralizer binaries — emulate the loader chain with Sliver and the
EDR-tamper with an authorized test, or simulate when no lab host is available.
- Impact is a canary marker proving DA + deploy capability; the deliverable distinguishes
"ransomware-ready (canary proven)" from "production encryption" (never the latter).
1---2name: fin73description: FIN7 (Carbon Spider / Sangria Tempest) adversary-emulation playbook — revenue-targeted spearphishing with phone follow-up, EDR-evasion tradecraft, AD compromise, and big-game-hunting ransomware. Use when emulating a high-end financially-motivated crew that graduated from POS theft to ransomware. Triggers on: 'emulate FIN7', 'Carbanak', 'Carbon Spider', 'Sangria Tempest', 'big game hunting', 'EDR evasion', 'AvNeutralizer'.4---56# FIN7 — Adversary Emulation Playbook78> Tier-2 financially-motivated crew that evolved from point-of-sale theft to **big-game-hunting9> ransomware** (REvil / DarkSide / Black Basta links). Signature traits: revenue-selected10> targets, convincing business-themed spearphishing reinforced by **phone calls**, and mature11> **EDR-evasion** tooling (AvNeutralizer / AuKill). Authorized red-team emulation only.1213## When to emulate FIN71415- The client wants a realistic **ransomware-precursor** test: phishing resilience, EDR16 tamper-resistance, AD attack-path hardening, and backup/recovery readiness.17- Retail, hospitality, financial, software, medical, or other high-revenue targets (see the18 industry → actor map in `../../references/apt-groups.md`).1920## ThreatProfile seed (`plan/threat-profile.json`)2122```json23{24 "engagement_name": "<fill>",25 "actor_name": "FIN7-like (Carbon Spider / Sangria Tempest)",26 "actor_aliases": ["Carbon Spider", "Sangria Tempest", "GOLD NIAGARA", "ELBRUS", "ITG14"],27 "group_id": "G0046",28 "tier": "tier-2",29 "sophistication": "high",30 "motivation": "financial",31 "initial_access": ["T1566.001", "T1566.002", "T1204.002"],32 "key_ttps": ["T1059.001", "T1547.001", "T1053.005", "T1562.001", "T1003.001", "T1558.003", "T1021.001", "T1486", "T1567.002"],33 "tools": ["Phishing kit + phone follow-up", "Sliver", "NetExec", "Impacket", "EDR-test/BYOVD (authorized)", "canary encryptor"],34 "infrastructure": ["Business-themed lure domains", "Sliver HTTPS C2", "Engagement-owned exfil bucket"],35 "recent_cti_delta": "Since 2020 shifted to big-game-hunting ransomware (REvil/DarkSide; Black Basta TTP overlap); AvNeutralizer/AuKill EDR-killer; targets shortlisted by revenue via Crunchbase/D&B/ZoomInfo, ransom sized to revenue.",36 "confidence": "probable"37}38```3940## Kill-chain emulation4142| # | Phase | MITRE | Emulated action | Executing agent → skill |43|---|-------|-------|-----------------|-------------------------|44| 1 | Recon | T1591 | Revenue-based target + staff shortlist (Crunchbase/D&B/ZoomInfo) | recon → `/skills/standard/recon/osint/SKILL.md`, `/skills/standard/osint/SKILL.md` |45| 2 | Initial Access | T1566.001 | Business-themed spearphish attachment + phone follow-up | phisher → `/skills/standard/phisher/SKILL.md` |46| 3 | Execution / C2 | T1204.002 / T1059.001 | Macro → loader → Sliver beacon | post-exploit → `/skills/standard/post-exploit/c2-sliver/SKILL.md` |47| 4 | Persistence | T1547.001 / T1053.005 | Run key + scheduled task | post-exploit → `/skills/standard/post-exploit/privilege-escalation/SKILL.md` |48| 5 | Defense Evasion | T1562.001 | EDR tamper / BYOVD (AvNeutralizer pattern, authorized) | post-exploit → `/skills/standard/post-exploit/privilege-escalation/SKILL.md` (shared `defense-evasion` auto-loaded) |49| 6 | Credential Access | T1003.001 | LSASS dump | post-exploit → `/skills/standard/post-exploit/credential-access/SKILL.md` |50| 7 | Discovery / AD | T1558.003 | BloodHound the domain; Kerberoast | ad → `/skills/standard/ad/bloodhound-query/SKILL.md`, `/skills/standard/ad/kerberoasting/SKILL.md` |51| 8 | Lateral | T1021.001 / T1570 | RDP/SMB + lateral tool transfer | post-exploit → `/skills/standard/post-exploit/lateral-movement/SKILL.md`; `/skills/standard/ad/netexec/SKILL.md` |52| 9 | Priv Esc to DA | T1003.006 | DCSync to domain dominance | ad → `/skills/standard/ad/dcsync/SKILL.md` |53| 10 | Exfiltration | T1567.002 | Stage + exfil to engagement bucket | post-exploit → `/skills/standard/post-exploit/reporting/SKILL.md` |54| 11 | Impact **(CANARY)** | T1486 | Demonstrate ransomware capability on canary only | post-exploit → `/skills/standard/post-exploit/reporting/SKILL.md` |5556## CONOPS kill_chain (copy into `conops.json`)57581. `recon` — revenue-based target + staff selection (1).592. `initial-access` — spearphish attachment + phone follow-up (2).603. `post-exploit` — loader exec, EDR tamper, LSASS, AD recon/Kerberoast, lateral, DA via DCSync (3-9).614. `c2` — Sliver (within 3).625. `exfiltration` — data theft + canary ransomware impact (10-11).6364## OPSEC & signature fidelity6566- **Phone-reinforced phishing** is the fidelity-defining move — pair the email lure with a67 follow-up call (authorized) to mirror FIN7's hands-on approach.68- **EDR evasion is the headline.** The test is whether the EDR survives a BYOVD/tamper attempt;69 mirror AvNeutralizer's intent (disable endpoint telemetry) using an authorized test driver.70- Dwell days-to-weeks; double extortion (exfil before encrypt).7172## RoE / safety gates7374- Phishing + phone pretext require explicit authorization + lure-deconfliction75 (`/skills/standard/phisher/lure-deconfliction/SKILL.md`); name in-scope staff.76- **EDR tampering / BYOVD can destabilize endpoints** — authorize it, run on a lab/canary host77 first, and confirm rollback. Add an `EMERGENCY` abort: *"production endpoint protection78 disabled outside the authorized test host, or production data encrypted/exfiltrated."*79- Ransomware impact is **canary-only**.8081## Deconfliction8283- Record lure domains, the Sliver implant, EDR-tamper test host, and exfil destination in84 `deconfliction.json` + `cleanup.json`.85- Agree an EDR-tamper window with the SOC; the DA-path and ransomware-readiness findings are86 the deliverable, not a surprise outage.8788## Fidelity notes (deviations)8990- **No real Carbanak/AvNeutralizer binaries** — emulate the loader chain with Sliver and the91 EDR-tamper with an authorized test, or simulate when no lab host is available.92- Impact is a canary marker proving DA + deploy capability; the deliverable distinguishes93 "ransomware-ready (canary proven)" from "production encryption" (never the latter).