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T1071.003 Mail Protocols Mappings

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.

View in MITRE ATT&CK®

Mappings

Capability ID Capability Description Mapping Type ATT&CK ID ATT&CK Name Notes
AC-4 Information Flow Enforcement Protects T1071.003 Mail Protocols
CA-7 Continuous Monitoring Protects T1071.003 Mail Protocols
CM-2 Baseline Configuration Protects T1071.003 Mail Protocols
CM-6 Configuration Settings Protects T1071.003 Mail Protocols
CM-7 Least Functionality Protects T1071.003 Mail Protocols
SC-10 Network Disconnect Protects T1071.003 Mail Protocols
SC-20 Secure Name/address Resolution Service (authoritative Source) Protects T1071.003 Mail Protocols
SC-21 Secure Name/address Resolution Service (recursive or Caching Resolver) Protects T1071.003 Mail Protocols
SC-22 Architecture and Provisioning for Name/address Resolution Service Protects T1071.003 Mail Protocols
SC-23 Session Authenticity Protects T1071.003 Mail Protocols
SC-31 Covert Channel Analysis Protects T1071.003 Mail Protocols
SC-37 Out-of-band Channels Protects T1071.003 Mail Protocols
SC-7 Boundary Protection Protects T1071.003 Mail Protocols
SI-3 Malicious Code Protection Protects T1071.003 Mail Protocols
SI-4 System Monitoring Protects T1071.003 Mail Protocols
azure_alerts_for_network_layer Azure Alerts for 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
    cloud_app_security_policies Cloud App Security Policies technique_scores T1071.003 Mail Protocols
    Comments
    This control can identify some evidence of potential C2 via a specific application layer protocol (mail). Relevant alerts include "Suspicious inbox forwarding" and "Suspicious inbox manipulation rule".
    References
      azure_network_traffic_analytics Azure Network 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