Launch your first agent

The first time you open Control Pack after activation, a quick guide will appear. Read it carefully, it will guide you through the initial setup and explain the key concepts behind how Control Pack operates. Understanding these fundamentals will help you make the most out of each available agent and configuration option.

As a first step, choose an agent from the Control Pack menu. Your choice of agent should be determined by the specific target and the desired method of execution. For instance, opting for the Java agent will make it run from a JAR file, or you can convert this file to a PE (EXE) format using Launch4J. This agent runs within the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), which makes it significantly more difficult, if not impossible, for antivirus or EDR solutions to trace the bytecode of the agent during runtime.

Each agent type has its own advantages and limitations, so take a moment to review the guide’s notes and select the one that best fits your operational scenario.

The scope of access is determined by the agent deployed on the target system. For example, selecting a browser shell confines the agent’s capabilities to the context of the web browser; it will only be able to interact with resources and data accessible within that browser session.

In all cases, an agent executes with the privileges of the user account under which it runs, so its rights and permitted actions match those of that user.

Communication between agents and the control infrastructure is transmitted over HTTP and is obfuscated to resemble normal web traffic. This transport method is used consistently across agent types.