# PowerPool: threat group profile

> PowerPool is a threat group. Public reporting about it is still limited. This free profile brings together what is known about it, so you can judge the risk to you. It lists the other names the group goes by and links to every public report behind it.

Canonical page: https://www.edgeprotect.io/threat-actors/powerpool
Breadcrumb: [Home](https://www.edgeprotect.io/) > [Threat groups](https://www.edgeprotect.io/threat-actors) > PowerPool

## At a glance

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Attack techniques | 0 |
| Thought to operate from | Not known |
| Other names | 1 |
| Public reports | 2 |

## Who is PowerPool?

PowerPool is a threat group. Public reporting about it is still limited.

### Also known as

IAmTheKing

Security companies each give the same group their own name, so one group can have many.

### What public reporting says

> Malware developers have started to use the zero-day exploit for Task Scheduler component in Windows, two days after proof-of-concept code for the vulnerability appeared online. A security researcher who uses the online name SandboxEscaper on August 27 released the source code for exploiting a security bug in the Advanced Local Procedure Call (ALPC) interface used by Windows Task Scheduler. More specifically, the problem is with the SchRpcSetSecurity API function, which fails to properly check user's permissions, allowing write privileges on files in C:\Windows\Task. The vulnerability affects Windows versions 7 through 10 and can be used by an attacker to escalate their privileges to all-access SYSTEM account level. A couple of days after the exploit code became available (source and binary), malware researchers at ESET noticed its use in active malicious campaigns from a threat actor they call PowerPool, because of their tendency to use tools mostly written in PowerShell for lateral movement. The group appears to have a small number of victims in the following countries: Chile, Germany, India, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Ukraine. The researchers say that PowerPool developers did not use the binary version of the exploit, deciding instead to make some subtle changes to the source code before recompiling it.

## Public reports about PowerPool

- https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/windows-task-scheduler-zero-day-exploited-by-malware/
- https://twitter.com/craiu/status/1311920398259367942

## Frequently asked questions

### Who is PowerPool?

PowerPool is a threat group. Public reporting about it is still limited.

### How do I know if PowerPool is a risk to my business?

Create an account and tell us the software you run. We match it against known flaws, including those linked to threat groups, rank each one from 0 to 100 and tell you as soon as we spot something that affects you.

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