T1561 - Disk Wipe

Tactics:
Impact
Platforms:
Linux macOS Windows Network Devices
Detection:
Not specified
Description:
Adversaries may wipe or corrupt raw disk data on specific systems or in large numbers in a network to interrupt availability to system and network resources. With direct write access to a disk, adversaries may attempt to overwrite portions of disk data. Adversaries may opt to wipe arbitrary portions of disk data and/or wipe disk structures like the master boot record (MBR). A complete wipe of all disk sectors may be attempted.

To maximize impact on the target organization in operations where network-wide availability interruption is the goal, malware used for wiping disks may have worm-like features to propagate across a network by leveraging additional techniques like [Valid Accounts](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1078), [OS Credential Dumping](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1003), and [SMB/Windows Admin Shares](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1021/002).(Citation: Novetta Blockbuster Destructive Malware)

On network devices, adversaries may wipe configuration files and other data from the device using [Network Device CLI](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1059/008) commands such as `erase`.(Citation: erase_cmd_cisco)
Sub-techniques (2)
ID ATT&CK Actions
T1561.001 Disk Content Wipe
T1561.002 Disk Structure Wipe
Metadata
MITRE ID: T1561
STIX ID: attack-pattern--1988cc35-ced8-...
Platforms: Linux, macOS, Windows, Network Devices
Created: 13/01/2026 17:48
Updated: 14/03/2026 04:00