What are the recommended detection and defense methods against this INF-based persistence technique?

Defenders should monitor the registry location `HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Ieak\GroupPolicy\PendingGPOs`, as this key is not present by default. Any appearance of this registry path with values like `Path1` and `Section1` indicates potential abuse of the IEAK Group Policy mechanism. Note that modifying the equivalent `HKLM` path does not trigger the backdoor, so focusing on HKCU is critical. Event logging and endpoint detection rules can alert on suspicious INF execution or registry modifications in this branch.