Ransomware defenders are facing a troubling evolution in the threat landscape. According to a recent Dark Reading article, researchers have uncovered a new class of threat dubbed Shanya, a “packer‑as‑a‑service” (PaaS) designed specifically to cloak ransomware and disable endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools before the malicious payload is deployed. Dark Reading
This new threat marks a shift in how ransomware operators achieve stealth and persistence. Understanding how Shanya works is critical for business leaders and security practitioners who are still relying heavily on traditional “detect and respond” endpoint protections.
Traditionally, ransomware‑as‑a‑service (RaaS) helped low‑skill attackers deploy extortionware by providing ready‑made malware families for a fee. Now, we are witnessing the rise of packer‑as‑a‑service offerings such as Shanya, which take existing ransomware and wrap it in layers of obfuscation that make detection by antivirus and EDR tools harder.
Shanya’s core capability goes beyond simple obfuscation. It acts as an EDR killer. In practice, once a Shanya‑packed payload is executed, it:
Drops a legitimate but vulnerable driver along with a malicious unsigned kernel driver into the environment.
Uses the legitimate driver to gain deep system access without triggering alarms.
Terminates and deletes processes and services associated with endpoint security tools, including EDR.
This means that by the time conventional detection technologies might notice something amiss, the EDR protections have already been neutralized. In many observed cases, Shanya has been used by multiple high‑impact ransomware gangs, including Akira, Medusa, Qilin, and Crytox.
For years, organizations have invested in EDR technologies under the assumption that intelligent detection coupled with rapid response could stop or mitigate ransomware outbreaks. Shanya, however, demonstrates a stark limitation of this model:
If the malware kills your detection tools first, then detection and response simply never occurs.
This is not a theoretical problem. Modern malware increasingly uses techniques such as DLL side‑loading, deep obfuscation, API hiding, and kernel‑level driver abuse to evade and disable security controls.
As Sophos researchers noted in their analysis of Shanya, this type of threat will be with us for the foreseeable future, driven by financial incentives and the growing commercialization of malware tools.
EDR solutions rely largely on monitoring execution behavior, telemetry feeds, and signatures to detect malicious activity. They assume that agents remain alive long enough to see and report threats. But when adversaries deploy tools that kill or disable the agent itself, this assumption breaks down.
Even well‑configured EDR can be crippled if a threat actor gains the ability to:
Terminate its processes
Delete its files or services
Uninstall it silently before encryption or data theft begins
This exposes a glaring weakness in the “Detect and Respond” approach: the defender waits to see the attack but can be blinded before that ever happens.
So what is the alternative? In a world where attackers can neutralize detection tools, security must shift to isolation and containment. Instead of primarily trying to detect malicious behavior after it has begun, the focus should be on:
Preventing execution of untrusted code in the first place
Constraining processes so they cannot escalate privileges or tamper with security controls
Creating segmented security boundaries that stop lateral movement and privilege abuse
This is where AppGuard shines.
AppGuard is a proven endpoint protection solution with over a decade of success, now available for commercial use. Unlike traditional EDRs that rely on detection and post‑execution analysis, AppGuard works by isolating and containing threats before they can execute malicious actions.
Key advantages include:
Zero‑trust enforcement: untrusted code is blocked from executing actions that could compromise systems.
Containment‑first logic: suspect behaviors are neutralized at the point of execution, long before they can escalate.
Proven track record: AppGuard has protected environments successfully for ten years, even against sophisticated malware that undermines conventional tools.
With tools like Shanya becoming more common and more effective at bypassing and killing EDRs, the need for a protection model that does not depend on detection comes into sharp focus.
For business owners and security leaders, the risk is clear. Ransomware and malware are evolving faster than many legacy defenses. If your security stack still depends on the hope that threats will be detected and then responded to, you are already at a disadvantage.
The time to adopt an isolation and containment model is now.
Talk with us at CHIPS about how AppGuard can prevent this type of incident. We can help you move beyond outdated detect and respond strategies to a security posture that stops threats before they can harm your business.
Contact CHIPS today to learn more about AppGuard and strengthen your defenses against modern ransomware and evolving malware threats.
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