Adversaries may communicate using application layer protocols associated with web traffic 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 HTTP and HTTPS that carry web traffic may be very common in environments. HTTP/S packets have many fields and headers in which data can be concealed. 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®Capability ID | Capability Description | Mapping Type | ATT&CK ID | ATT&CK Name | Notes |
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action.malware.variety.C2 | Command and control (C2) | related-to | T1071.001 | Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols | |
action.malware.variety.Unknown | Unknown | related-to | T1071.001 | Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols |
Capability ID | Capability Description | Mapping Type | ATT&CK ID | ATT&CK Name | Notes |
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amazon_guardduty | Amazon GuardDuty | technique_scores | T1071.001 | Web 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_web_application_firewall | AWS Web Application Firewall | technique_scores | T1071.001 | Web Protocols |
Comments
AWS WAF protects against this by inspecting incoming requests and blocking malicious traffic. AWS WAF uses the following rule sets to provide this protection.
AWSManagedRulesCommonRuleSet AWSManagedRulesAdminProtectionRuleSet AWSManagedRulesKnownBadInputsRuleSet AWSManagedRulesSQLiRuleSet AWSManagedRulesLinuxRuleSet AWSManagedRulesUnixRuleSet AWSManagedRulesWindowsRuleSet AWSManagedRulesPHPRuleSet AWSManagedRulesWordPressRuleSet AWSManagedRulesBotControlRuleSet
This is scored as Minimal because the rule sets only protect against the web protocols sub-technique.
References
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aws_network_firewall | AWS Network Firewall | technique_scores | T1071.001 | Web 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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