How the Gentlemen Ransomware Disables Security Tools

A newly documented ransomware strain called Gentlemen is taking endpoint evasion to a new level. According to reporting on the threat, the malware deploys a kernel driver that systematically terminates nearly 180 security processes before it ever begins encrypting files. Because the driver operates at the kernel level, the deepest and most privileged layer of an operating system, it can shut down antivirus engines, endpoint detection and response (EDR) agents, and other monitoring tools that would normally flag or block the encryption routine.

This sequencing matters. Traditional ransomware often triggers security alerts the moment it starts touching files, giving defenders a narrow window to isolate a machine or kill the process. By disabling security software first, Gentlemen removes that early warning system entirely. The encryption phase that follows happens largely unopposed, since the tools designed to detect it have already been silenced.

Why Killing EDR and Antivirus Processes Raises Enterprise Risk

For organizations that rely heavily on endpoint security as their primary line of defense, this approach is particularly damaging. EDR platforms are built on the assumption that they will keep running and reporting even while under attack. When a kernel-level driver can strip that visibility away in one move, the entire detection model is undermined at the moment it's needed most.

This is not an isolated technique. It fits into a broader pattern documented across the ransomware landscape, where groups increasingly prioritize disabling defensive tooling as a first step rather than an afterthought. The Halcyon Q2 2026 report on ransomware groups disabling EDR found that even as overall ransomware attack volume declined, the sophistication of techniques used to blind security software actually increased. Gentlemen's kernel-driver method appears to be part of that same trend: fewer attacks overall, but each one designed to hit harder once it gets a foothold.

For enterprises, the takeaway is that endpoint security cannot be the only line of defense. If a single technique can neutralize dozens of security processes at once, then the rest of the security stack, network segmentation, access controls, and monitoring outside the endpoint itself, needs to be strong enough to catch what the endpoint misses.

Where VPNs and Network-Level Defenses Fit Into Ransomware Prevention

This is where network-level tools, including VPNs, play a supporting role in a layered defense strategy. A VPN will not stop ransomware from encrypting files once it's already running on a device, and it should never be marketed as a standalone fix for a threat like Gentlemen. But VPNs and other network-access controls do serve a real purpose in limiting how attackers move laterally across a network and how they establish the initial access that leads to a ransomware deployment in the first place.

Many ransomware intrusions begin with compromised credentials or exposed remote access points, not with the malware itself. Restricting and encrypting remote connections, segmenting network traffic, and requiring authenticated access before a device can reach sensitive systems all reduce the number of paths an attacker has to reach a machine where they can eventually run something like a malicious kernel driver. In other words, VPNs matter most before an attack starts, not after security software has already been disabled.

Consumer Takeaways: Backups, Layered Security, and Early Detection

While Gentlemen is being discussed primarily in the context of enterprise attacks, the underlying lesson applies to individual users and small businesses too. No single security tool, whether it's antivirus software, an EDR agent, or a VPN, can be treated as a complete solution on its own.

What This Means For You

If you manage IT security for a business, or simply want to protect your own devices more effectively, a few practical steps reduce your exposure to attacks like this:

  • Maintain offline or immutable backups. If encryption does happen, a clean backup that ransomware cannot reach is still the fastest way to recover without paying anyone.
  • Layer your defenses. Combine endpoint protection with network-level controls like VPNs, firewalls, and access segmentation so that no single disabled tool leaves you fully exposed.
  • Monitor for early warning signs. Unusual driver installations, unexpected process terminations, or security software going silent unexpectedly are all signals worth investigating immediately rather than dismissing.
  • Patch and restrict driver installation privileges. Kernel drivers require elevated permissions to load, so limiting who and what can install drivers on a system closes off one of Gentlemen's key entry points.

The Gentlemen ransomware's kernel-driver technique is a clear reminder that attackers are actively engineering ways around the tools defenders rely on most. Staying protected means thinking beyond any single product and building overlapping layers of defense, so that when one safeguard fails, another is still standing between your data and an attacker.