Adversaries may use an existing, legitimate external Web service as a means for sending commands to and receiving output from a compromised system over the Web service channel. Compromised systems may leverage popular websites and social media to host command and control (C2) instructions. Those infected systems can then send the output from those commands back over that Web service channel. The return traffic may occur in a variety of ways, depending on the Web service being utilized. For example, the return traffic may take the form of the compromised system posting a comment on a forum, issuing a pull request to development project, updating a document hosted on a Web service, or by sending a Tweet.
Popular websites and social media acting as a mechanism for C2 may give a significant amount of cover due to the likelihood that hosts within a network are already communicating with them prior to a compromise. Using common services, such as those offered by Google or Twitter, makes it easier for adversaries to hide in expected noise. Web service providers commonly use SSL/TLS encryption, giving adversaries an added level of protection.
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 | T1102.002 | Bidirectional Communication |
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 | T1102.002 | Bidirectional Communication |
Comments
Network intrusion detection and prevention systems that use network signatures to identify traffic for specific adversary malware that can be used to mitigate malicious activity and identify adversaries that use web services to obfuscate domains or IP addresses over web service channel.
References
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| DE.CM-01.05 | Website and service blocking | Mitigates | T1102.002 | Bidirectional Communication |
Comments
This diagnostic statement helps mitigate web service techniques through the implementation of tools and measures to detect and block access to unauthorized, inappropriate, or malicious websites and services.
References
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| PR.IR-01.03 | Network communications integrity and availability | Mitigates | T1102.002 | Bidirectional Communication |
Comments
This diagnostic statement protects against Bidirectional Communication 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CA-07 | Continuous Monitoring | mitigates | T1102.002 | Bidirectional Communication | |
| CM-06 | Configuration Settings | mitigates | T1102.002 | Bidirectional Communication | |
| SI-03 | Malicious Code Protection | mitigates | T1102.002 | Bidirectional Communication | |
| CM-02 | Baseline Configuration | mitigates | T1102.002 | Bidirectional Communication | |
| CM-07 | Least Functionality | mitigates | T1102.002 | Bidirectional Communication | |
| SI-04 | System Monitoring | mitigates | T1102.002 | Bidirectional Communication | |
| AC-04 | Information Flow Enforcement | mitigates | T1102.002 | Bidirectional Communication | |
| SC-07 | Boundary Protection | mitigates | T1102.002 | Bidirectional Communication |