APT / THREAT GROUP

HijackLoader

aliases

Last seen:Mar 17, 2026

Intelligence Profile

According to Rapid7, this is a loader first spotted in July 2023. It implements several evasion techniques including Process Doppelgänging, DLL Search Order Hijacking, and Heaven's Gate. It has been observed to store its malicious payload in the IDAT chunk of PNG file format.

Threat Analysis

HijackLoader is a known-sophistication threat actor of undetermined national origin, engaged in cyber operations with a primary motivation of unknown activity patterns.

Intelligence Reports Mentioning HijackLoader

The game is over: when “free” comes at too high a price. What we know about RenEngine

Securelist (Kaspersky)· Feb 11, 2026

External References

→https://alpine-sec.medium.com/hijackloader-targets-hotels-a-technical-analysis-c2795fc4f3a3

→https://blog.gdata.de/2026/02/38376-pivigames-verbreitet-hijackloader

→https://blog.gdatasoftware.com/2026/02/38373-pivigames-spreads-hijackloader

→https://blog.morphisec.com/unveiling-uac-0184-the-remcos-rat-steganography-saga

→https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/peaklight-decoding-stealthy-memory-only-malware/

Quick Facts

TypeAPT / Threat Group

Aliases6

Also Known As

win.hijackloaderGHOSTPULSEHijackLoaderDOILoaderSHADOWLADDERIDAT Loader

External Intelligence

Malpedia: win.hijackloader

Research Links

MITRE ATT&CK VirusTotal Google (news) Twitter/X search

Data sourced from Malpedia, Ransomware.live, RansomLook, and CTIWATCH OSINT collection. Actor attribution is based on available intelligence and may be incomplete.

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