Adversaries may steal data by exfiltrating it over a different protocol than that of the existing command and control channel. The data may also be sent to an alternate network location from the main command and control server.
Alternate protocols include FTP, SMTP, HTTP/S, DNS, SMB, or any other network protocol not being used as the main command and control channel. Different protocol channels could also include Web services such as cloud storage. Adversaries may also opt to encrypt and/or obfuscate these alternate channels.
Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol can be done using various common operating system utilities such as Net/SMB or FTP.(Citation: Palo Alto OilRig Oct 2016) On macOS and Linux <code>curl</code> may be used to invoke protocols such as HTTP/S or FTP/S to exfiltrate data from a system.(Citation: 20 macOS Common Tools and Techniques)
View in MITRE ATT&CK®| Capability ID | Capability Description | Mapping Type | ATT&CK ID | ATT&CK Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cloud_ids | Cloud IDS | technique_scores | T1048 | Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol |
Comments
Often used by adversaries to compromise sensitive data, Palo Alto Network's spyware signatures is able to detect data exfiltration attempts over command and control communications.
Although there are ways an attacker could still exfiltrate data from a compromised system, this technique was scored as significant based on Palo Alto Network's advanced threat detection technology which constantly updates to detect against the latest known variations of these attacks.
References
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| beyondcorp_enterprise | BeyondCorp Enterprise | technique_scores | T1048 | Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol |
Comments
This control can help mitigate adversaries that may try to steal data over network protocols. Data loss prevention can detect and block sensitive data being uploaded via web browsers. In Beyond Corp Enterprise, Data Loss Prevention (DLP) features to use with Chrome to implement sensitive data detection for files that are uploaded and downloaded, and for content that is pasted or dragged and dropped. An example includes a rule setting that is used to block files from being uploaded via Chrome browser.
References
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| chronicle | Chronicle | technique_scores | T1048 | Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol |
Comments
Chronicle is able to trigger an alert based off suspicious system processes that could indicate exfiltration attempts using cURL from Windows machines (e.g., C:\\Windows\\System32\\curl.exe).
This technique was scored as minimal based on low or uncertain detection coverage factor.
https://github.com/chronicle/detection-rules/blob/783e0e5947774785db1c55041b70176deeca6f46/soc_prime_rules/threat_hunting/windows/suspicious_curl_usage.yaral
References
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| firewalls | Firewalls | technique_scores | T1048 | Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol |
Comments
Google Cloud Firewalls can allow or deny traffic based on the traffic's protocol, destination ports, sources, and destinations. This functionality can be used to block adversaries from accessing resources from which to exfiltrate data as well as prevent resources from communicating with known-bad IP addresses and domains that might be used to receive exfiltrated data. This mapping is given a score of Partial because the known-bad IP addresses and domains would need to be known in advance and AWS Network Firewall wouldn't have deep packet inspection visibility into encrypted non-C2 protocols.
References
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