Adversaries may communicate using application layer protocols associated with electronic mail delivery to avoid detection/network filtering by blending in with existing traffic. Commands to the remote system, and often the results of those commands, will be embedded within the protocol traffic between the client and server.
Protocols such as SMTP/S, POP3/S, and IMAP that carry electronic mail may be very common in environments. Packets produced from these protocols may have many fields and headers in which data can be concealed. Data could also be concealed within the email messages themselves. An adversary may abuse these protocols to communicate with systems under their control within a victim network while also mimicking normal, expected traffic.(Citation: FireEye APT28)
View in MITRE ATT&CK®| Capability ID | Capability Description | Mapping Type | ATT&CK ID | ATT&CK Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE.AE-02.01 | Event analysis and detection | Mitigates | T1071.003 | Mail Protocols |
Comments
This diagnostic statement provides for implementation of methods to block similar future attacks via security tools such as antivirus and IDS/IPS to provide protection against threats and exploitation attempts.
References
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| DE.CM-01.01 | Intrusion detection and prevention | Mitigates | T1071.003 | Mail Protocols |
Comments
This diagnostic statement protects against adversaries that may try to utilize different protocols, such as SMPT/S, POP3/S and IMAP, to abuse packets produced from these protocols. Network intrusion detection and prevention systems that use network signatures to identify traffic for specific adversary malware can be used to mitigate activity at the network level.
References
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| PR.PS-05.03 | Email and message service protection | Mitigates | T1071.003 | Mail Protocols |
Comments
Network intrusion prevention techniques can be utilized to detect traffic for specific adversary malware, in hopes of being mitigated at the network level.
References
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| PR.IR-01.03 | Network communications integrity and availability | Mitigates | T1071.003 | Mail Protocols |
Comments
This diagnostic statement protects against Mail Protocols through the use of secure network configurations, architecture, implementations of zero trust architecture, and segmentation.
References
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| Capability ID | Capability Description | Mapping Type | ATT&CK ID | ATT&CK Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| action.hacking.variety.Other | Other | related-to | T1071.003 | Mail Protocols |
| Capability ID | Capability Description | Mapping Type | ATT&CK ID | ATT&CK Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| alerts_for_azure_network_layer | Alerts for Azure Network Layer | technique_scores | T1071.003 | Mail Protocols |
Comments
This control can identify connections to known malicious sites. Scored minimal since the malicious sites must be on a block list.
References
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| azure_network_watcher_traffic_analytics | Azure Network Watcher: Traffic Analytics | technique_scores | T1071.003 | Mail Protocols |
Comments
This control can detect anomalous application protocol traffic with respect to network security group (NSG) (though web traffic would be typically too commonplace for this control to be useful).
References
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| Capability ID | Capability Description | Mapping Type | ATT&CK ID | ATT&CK Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| amazon_guardduty | Amazon GuardDuty | technique_scores | T1071.003 | Mail Protocols |
Comments
GuardDuty flags events matching the following finding types that relate to adversaries attempting to communicate using application layer protocols to avoid detection.
UnauthorizedAccess:EC2/MaliciousIPCaller.Custom Backdoor:EC2/C&CActivity.B Backdoor:EC2/C&CActivity.B!DNS Trojan:EC2/BlackholeTraffic Trojan:EC2/BlackholeTraffic!DNS Trojan:EC2/DropPoint Trojan:EC2/DropPoint!DNS Backdoor:EC2/C&CActivity.B Impact:EC2/MaliciousDomainRequest.Reputation Impact:EC2/SuspiciousDomainRequest.Reputation
References
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| aws_network_firewall | AWS Network Firewall | technique_scores | T1071.003 | Mail Protocols |
Comments
AWS Network Firewall has the ability to pass, drop, or alert on traffic based on the network protocol as well as perform deep packet inspection on the payload. This functionality can be used to block malicious or unwanted traffic leveraging application layer protocols. As a result, this mapping is given a score of Significant.
References
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