Phantom Malware: Ghost Protocol

Challenge Description

During a recent threat-hunting operation, our SOC team intercepted a suspicious Python-based malware sample.

Initial analysis suggests that the malware attempts to:

• Connect to a remote Command & Control (C2) server
• Log user activity
• Deploy an encrypted payload

However, something feels off... The malware behaves strangely, and the payload execution does not reveal anything meaningful.

Your task is to: Analyze the sample carefully and uncover the real hidden payload.

Files