Monster

Monster is a ransomware family associated with the threat actor and ransomware-as-a-service operation tracked as Hyadina. First observed in 2022, it is the earliest known member of a lineage that later rebranded into Beast and then GodDamn, with researchers reporting significant code and tradecraft overlap across the three iterations. Early Monster samples were described as Delphi-based and focused on 32-bit Windows systems, while the broader Hyadina operation reportedly avoided victims in Commonwealth of Independent States countries and primarily targeted organizations in the United States.

Monster is part of a mature intrusion workflow rather than a simple smash-and-encrypt operation. Across campaigns linked to this lineage, operators have used remote administration software for hands-on access, credential theft utilities including NirSoft tools and Mimikatz, network reconnaissance tools, and PsExec for lateral movement before ransomware deployment. The family’s successors also demonstrated increasingly aggressive defense evasion, including disabling security products and, in later iterations, use of a malicious signed kernel driver to impair endpoint protections prior to encryption. This progression indicates sustained development by the same operator set rather than an unrelated family.

Victimology associated with the Hyadina ecosystem includes healthcare, manufacturing, education, and other enterprise sectors. Monster’s operational model and subsequent evolution into Beast and GodDamn place it within a continuing ransomware development track characterized by credential access, expansion across Windows environments, and encryption for impact.