MITRE ATT&CK

MITRE ATT&CK

MITRE ATT&CK is an openly documented repository of information regarding the malicious behaviors exhibited by advanced persistent threat (APT) groups throughout various stages of real-world cyberattacks. ATT&CK, an acronym for Adversarial Tactics, Techniques, and Common Knowledge, comprises comprehensive descriptions of the tactics (technical objectives pursued by these groups), techniques (the methods they employ), and procedures (specific instantiations of techniques), often referred to as TTPs.

Is MITRE ATT&ck free?

MITRE ATT&CK is indeed freely available and is intended to be used by the cybersecurity community to enhance their security efforts. MITRE has made it openly accessible to help organizations improve their cybersecurity capabilities and defenses. You can use the MITRE ATT&CK framework without worrying about copyright restrictions, as it is designed for public use and dissemination. However, it's always a good practice to refer to the MITRE website or documentation for the most up-to-date information regarding the terms of use, as policies may change over time.

MITRE ATT&CK vs. the Cyber Kill Chain

The Lockheed Martin Cyber Kill Chain? is a widely recognized framework that helps organizations understand and analyze adversary behavior in the context of a cyber-attack. This model breaks down the stages of a cyber-attack into a sequential chain, allowing for a systematic approach to threat detection and mitigation. Let's take a closer look at each stage of the Cyber Kill Chain:

1. Reconnaissance:In this initial phase, threat actors gather information about their target. This includes harvesting email addresses, collecting conference information, and other data that might be useful for their attack. Reconnaissance is a critical step because it helps attackers identify potential vulnerabilities and targets within an organization.
2. Weaponization:After collecting relevant information, attackers move on to weaponization. This stage involves combining an exploit with a backdoor to create a malicious payload. This payload is designed to compromise the target system when executed.
3. Delivery:The weaponized payload is then delivered to the victim. Attackers use various delivery methods, such as sending malicious emails, compromising websites, or using USB devices to physically introduce the malware into the target environment.
4. Exploitation:Once the victim interacts with the weaponized payload (e.g., by opening an infected email attachment), the attackers exploit a vulnerability in the target system. This allows them to execute their malicious code on the victim's system.
5. Installation:With successful exploitation, the attackers proceed to install malware on the compromised asset. This malware can provide them with persistent access to the victim's system, enabling further actions.
6. Command & Control (C2):To maintain control over the compromised system and facilitate remote manipulation, attackers establish a command and control channel. This channel allows them to send instructions, exfiltrate data, and maintain their presence in the target environment.
7. Actions on Objectives:In the final stage, the attackers, now with "Hands on Keyboards" access, work toward accomplishing their original objectives. These objectives can vary widely and may include data theft, system manipulation, or disruption of critical services. This stage represents the culmination of the cyber-attack, where the attackers achieve their intended goals.

Understanding the Lockheed Martin Cyber Kill Chain? model is essential for organizations to develop effective cybersecurity strategies. By identifying and disrupting the attack chain at an early stage, organizations can better defend against cyber threats and protect their valuable assets and data. This framework serves as a valuable tool in the ongoing battle against cyber adversaries.How to

Understanding Cybersecurity from the Adversary's Perspective: The MITRE Cybersecurity Knowledge Base

In the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity, staying one step ahead of malicious actors is paramount. To achieve this, organizations need more than just defensive strategies; they require a comprehensive understanding of their adversaries' motivations, tactics, and behaviors. This is precisely where the MITRE Cybersecurity Knowledge Base steps in, empowering teams to delve into the minds of cyber adversaries for a more holistic approach to threat detection and response.

Seeing Through the Adversary's Eyes

The MITRE cybersecurity knowledge base is not your typical security resource. It takes a unique approach, encouraging cybersecurity teams to don the mantle of the adversary. By assuming the perspective of potential attackers, organizations can gain critical insights into the "why" behind malicious actions. This shift in focus helps to unmask the adversary's motivations, thereby enabling better-informed decisions in response to emerging threats.

Understanding the Whole Attack

In cybersecurity, it's often said that the devil is in the details. The MITRE knowledge base recognizes this and goes beyond simply identifying attacks. It deconstructs them, providing context to the individual components of an attack. This granular analysis allows teams to understand the various stages and tactics employed by adversaries. Armed with this comprehensive view, organizations are better equipped to predict an adversary's behavior, anticipate their next move, and ultimately enhance their defenses.

Predicting and Responding with Precision

The power of the MITRE Cybersecurity Knowledge Base lies in its ability to bridge the gap between information and action. With a deeper understanding of adversaries and their tactics, cybersecurity teams can predict attack vectors and tailor their response strategies accordingly. This predictive capability is invaluable in today's threat landscape, where the speed and agility of response can mean the difference between containment and catastrophe.

Benefits of the MITRE Approach

1. Contextual Awareness: By looking at cybersecurity through the eyes of an adversary, organizations gain a deeper understanding of the threats they face. This context allows for more informed decision-making.
2. Proactive Defense: Armed with insights into an adversary's likely moves, organizations can proactively strengthen their defenses and plug vulnerabilities before they are exploited.
3. Faster Response: The ability to predict an adversary's behavior translates into quicker and more effective response times, reducing the potential impact of attacks.
4. Holistic Threat Management: The MITRE Cybersecurity Knowledge Base promotes a comprehensive approach to threat detection and response, ensuring that no aspect of an attack is overlooked.

In a world where cyber threats are constantly evolving, the MITRE Cybersecurity Knowledge Base stands as a beacon of knowledge and understanding. By adopting the perspective of the adversary, organizations can better anticipate, prepare for, and defend against the ever-present dangers of the digital realm. It's not just about knowing what's out there; it's about knowing why, how, and when it may strike, ultimately strengthening our collective cybersecurity posture.

How to use MITRE ATT&CK?

Threat Detection and Response with LogRhythm

The goal of the MITRE cybersecurity knowledge base is to enable teams to take on an adversary’s perspective to better understand the motivation behind an attacker’s actions and tactics for holistic threat detection and response. This approach provides context to the individual parts of an attack to help teams predict an adversary’s behavior and next move, and quickly and effectively respond to an attack.

Where to access its Framework?

https://attack.mitre.org/

Five Common MITRE ATT&CK TECHNIQUES

1. Process Injection

One of the most common forms of malware attacks in the matrix, process injection involves inserting active code or applications into a system for malicious purposes. The code will then do several things, such as disable systems for ransomware purposes or automatically steal data. Simulating process injection is a great place to start for new ATT&CK users.

2. PowerShell Attacks

PowerShell attacks are extremely popular amongst hackers because it's the interface the system administrators use to manage and configure operating systems. PowerShell is a command-line shell and scripting language installed by default on Windows, so any company leaning on Windows should strongly consider using PowerShell exercises using MITRE ATT&CK.

3. Forced Authentication

Hackers today possess extremely powerful tools - such as Mimikatz - designed to either guess passwords or bypass login and authentication processes altogether. Hackers gather credential material by invoking or forcing a user to automatically provide authentication information through methods like phishing or social engineering.

4. Masquerading

Hackers often change the features of their malicious code or other artifacts so that they appear legitimate and trusted. Code signatures, names, and location of malware files, names of tasks, and services are just a few examples. Conducting MITRE ATT&CK exercises can help you discover how hackers might masquerade in your system and how to weed them out more effectively.

5. Credential Dumping

Once adversaries gain access to a system, one of their primary objectives is finding credentials to access other resources and systems in the environment. Credential dumping is a key mechanism to obtaining account login and password information, making it one of the top tactics to utilize in the ATT&CK matrix to guard against unauthorized access.

Top ATT&CK Tools and Resources

The following list of helpful tools and resources when utilizing the ATT&CK framework:

• Caldera ?-- MITRE's automated attach technique emulation tool
• DatAlert ?--?Data-centric threat detection solution from Varonis
• Cascade ?-- This is MITRE's Blue Team automation toolset
• DatAdvantage ?-- Audit, and protection for hybrid environments
• Oilrig ?-- An adversary Playbook built on the ATT&CK model.

MITRE ATT&CK Uses

Once you decide which tactics, techniques, and vectors to test, you're ready to put the MITRE ATT&CK matrix into action. Here are the top ways you can utilize ATT&CK:

• Plan your cyber security strategy.?Build your defense to counter the known techniques and equip your monitoring to detect evidence of ATT&CK techniques in your network.
• Reference your?Incident Response teams. Your IR team can use ATT&CK to determine the nature of potential threats and methods needed to mitigate them.
• Future IR Planning Reference. Your IR team can use ATT&CK as a reference for new cybersecurity threats, and plan ahead.
• Overall Cyber Defense Assessment.?ATT&CK can help you assess your overall cybersecurity strategy and close any gaps that you discover.

Get Free Certification Course Here

MITRE ATT&CK Defender (MAD) ATT&CK Cyber Threat Intelligence Certification Training

Analysts and researchers gain hands-on instruction directly from MITRE’s experts in this MITRE ATT&CK Defender (MAD) ATT&CK Cyber Threat Intelligence Certification course. Prepare for the certification and learn how to map raw data to ATT&CK, as well as how to operationalize the intelligence through recommendations to defenders.

TIME

2 hours 24 minutes

Register Here