EKANS
EKANS is ransomware that was first seen December 2019 and later reported to have impacted operations at Honda automotive production facilities.[1][2][3] EKANS has a hard-coded kill-list of processes, including some associated with common ICS software platforms (e.g., GE Proficy historian, Honeywell HMIWeb).[3] If the malware discovers these processes on the target system, it will stop, encrypt, and rename the process to prevent the program from restarting. This malware should not be confused with the “Snake” malware associated with the Turla group. The ICS processes documented within the malware’s kill-list is similar to those defined by the MEGACORTEX software.[4][5][6]The ransomware was initially reported as “Snake”, however, to avoid confusion with the unrelated Turla APT group security researchers spelled it backwards as EKANS.
This ATT&CK object is revoked or deprecated in the current MITRE ATT&CK release.
It remains available for historical context and inbound links. Use current ATT&CK relationships and replacement guidance before basing detection or reporting work on this page.
Analyst summary pending validation
Glexia publishes ATT&CK takes only after source-hash and schema validation. Until then, use the official MITRE definition below and the defensive relationship context on this page.
EKANS
EKANS is ransomware that was first seen December 2019 and later reported to have impacted operations at Honda automotive production facilities.[1][2][3] EKANS has a hard-coded kill-list of processes, including some associated with common ICS software platforms (e.g., GE Proficy historian, Honeywell HMIWeb).[3] If the malware discovers these processes on the target system, it will stop, encrypt, and rename the process to prevent the program from restarting. This malware should not be confused with the “Snake” malware associated with the Turla group. The ICS processes documented within the malware’s kill-list is similar to those defined by the MEGACORTEX software.[4][5][6]The ransomware was initially reported as “Snake”, however, to avoid confusion with the unrelated Turla APT group security researchers spelled it backwards as EKANS.
How security teams should use this page
Treat this object as behavior context, not an attribution claim. Validate the related groups, software, data sources, and mitigations against official ATT&CK relationships and your own telemetry before making control-coverage decisions.
All related ATT&CK context
No relationships are available in the current normalized data for this object.
Object version and sync metadata
The fields below describe the current mirrored snapshot. When Glexia retains multiple ATT&CK source imports, you can open the table to compare the same object across releases (hashes and MITRE timestamps). For MITRE’s own release notes and roadmap, see ATT&CK resources — Updates .
Imported snapshots across ATT&CK releases (1)
| Release | Bundle imported | Object version | Modified | Status | Raw hash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19.1 | 1.0 | Current bundle Deprecated | d4c15518639c… |
Mirrored ATT&CK source object
The raw object is retained through the mirrored ATT&CK source bundle and object hash. The raw endpoint returns the exact object from the mirrored bundle when available.
External references and citations
MITRE external references are preserved separately from Glexia analysis so citations remain traceable to their original source records.
-
[1]
Forbes Snake Ransomware June 2020
Davey Winder. (2020, June 10). Honda Hacked: Japanese Car Giant Confirms Cyber Attack On Global Operations. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
Open source URL -
[2]
MalwareByes Honda and Enel Ransomware June 2020
MalwareBytes. (2020, June 09). Honda and Enel impacted by cyber attack suspected to be ransomware. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
Open source URL -
[3]
Dragos EKANS February 2020
Dragos Threat Intelligence. (2020, February 03). EKANS Ransomware and ICS Operations. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
Open source URL -
[4]
FireEye OT Ransomware July 2020
Nathan Brubaker, Daniel Kapellmann Zafra, Keith Lunden, Ken Proska, Corey Hildebrandt. (2020, July 15). Financially Motivated Actors Are Expanding Access Into OT: Analysis of Kill Lists That Include OT Processes Used With Seven Malware Families. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
Open source URL -
[5]
Pylos January 2020
Joe Slowik. (2020, January 28). Getting the Story Right, and Why It Matters. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
Open source URL -
[6]
Dragos EKANS June 2020
Joe Slowik. (2020, June 18). EKANS Ransomware Misconceptions and Misunderstandings. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
Open source URL -
[7]
mitre-ics-attack S0017Open source URL
Source: MITRE ATT&CK®. © 2026 The MITRE Corporation. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of The MITRE Corporation. MITRE ATT&CK and ATT&CK are registered trademarks of The MITRE Corporation. Glexia is not affiliated with or endorsed by MITRE.