Velociraptor: When the Hunter Becomes the Hunted

Imagine a cybersecurity tool designed to catch hackers being hijacked by the hackers themselves. This isn’t fiction. This is Velociraptor, a digital forensics tool that has now become a weapon for ransomware. The hunter has become the hunted. Velociraptor was supposed to be every incident responder’s best friend, a powerful open-source tool for analyzing malware infections and tracking breaches.

But in the wrong hands, it has become the ultimate insider threat, a digital scalpel transformed into a cyber sword. And what’s terrifying is that it all started quietly. 

The Silent Takeover

Cisco Talos investigators noticed strange Velociraptor connections on compromised systems. The logs looked legitimate, except the queries weren’t coming from the defenders, but from the attackers.

Someone had modified Velociraptor’s forensic scripts to act like malware. It was hiding in plain sight. The attackers weren’t deploying custom malware. They were using Velociraptor itself, running commands to scan for sensitive files, dump credentials, and move laterally within corporate networks. Think of it as a cyber wolf in sheep’s clothing.

From Defense Tool to Ransomware Weapon

Hackers are now using the Velociraptor DFIR tool in ransomware attacks targeting Windows and VMware systems. Researchers say a China-based group called Storm-2603 is behind these campaigns, deploying LockBit and Babuk ransomware. The attackers exploited an older version of Velociraptor that contained a known vulnerability, allowing them to gain control of compromised hosts.

They also disabled security protections and used PowerShell scripts to steal data before encrypting files for double extortion.

Because Velociraptor is trusted and often whitelisted, the attacks bypassed antivirus and EDR defenses. Soon, this technique spread like wildfire. Ransomware groups saw their potential and began using Velociraptor to stealthily spy before encrypting systems. They could study the victim’s defenses, identify backups, and attack with surgical precision.

And because everything looked like normal forensic traffic, blue teams were blind. The very tools designed to protect companies were now being used to destroy them? In some cases, forensic teams investigating ransomware attacks found that their own tools were being used against them. Imagine walking into a digital crime scene and discovering that the fingerprint kit itself is the weapon.

The biggest twist? The attackers didn’t even need zero-day exploits. They used open-source intelligence and legitimate software. The threat isn’t always the code. Sometimes, it’s the creativity behind it.

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