Detecting Ransomware’s Stealthy Boot Configuration Edits

This report outlines detection strategies for ransomware actors modifying Windows Boot Configuration Data (BCD) to ignore boot failures, disable recovery, and enable Safe Mode—tactics used to evade EDR/AV and hinder remediation. It maps the relevant registry keys and GUIDs for Windows 7, 8.1, 10, and 11 and provides ready-to-use detection queries for Carbon Black, CrowdStrike, Microsoft Sentinel/Defender for Endpoint, and SentinelOne to flag suspicious BCD registry value changes.