T1583 Acquire Infrastructure — Attack Pattern

Description

Adversaries may buy, lease, rent, or obtain infrastructure that can be used during targeting. A wide variety of infrastructure exists for hosting and orchestrating adversary operations. Infrastructure solutions include physical or cloud servers, domains, and third-party web services.(Citation: TrendmicroHideoutsLease) Some infrastructure providers offer free trial periods, enabling infrastructure acquisition at limited to no cost.(Citation: Free Trial PurpleUrchin) Additionally, botnets are available for rent or purchase. Use of these infrastructure solutions allows adversaries to stage, launch, and execute operations. Solutions may help adversary operations blend in with traffic that is seen as normal, such as contacting third-party web services or acquiring infrastructure to support Proxy, including from residential proxy services.(Citation: amnesty_nso_pegasus)(Citation: FBI Proxies Credential Stuffing)(Citation: Mandiant APT29 Microsoft 365 2022) Depending on the implementation, adversaries may use infrastructure that makes it difficult to physically tie back to them as well as utilize infrastructure that can be rapidly provisioned, modified, and shut down.

MITRE ATT&CK Detection Strategies
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DET0895 Detection of Acquire Infrastructure

AN2027 PRE

Monitor for contextual data about an Internet-facing resource gathered from a scan, such as running services or ports that may buy, lease, or rent infrastructure that can be used during targeting. Detection efforts may be focused on related stages of the adversary lifecycle, such as during Command and Control. Once adversaries have provisioned infrastructure (ex: a server for use in command and control), internet scans may help proactively discover adversary acquired infrastructure. Consider looking for identifiable patterns such as services listening, certificates in use, SSL/TLS negotiation features, or other response artifacts associated with adversary C2 software.(Citation: ThreatConnect Infrastructure Dec 2020)(Citation: Mandiant SCANdalous Jul 2020)(Citation: Koczwara Beacon Hunting Sep 2021) Detection efforts may be focused on related stages of the adversary lifecycle, such as during Command and Control. Monitor for queried domain name system (DNS) registry data that may buy, lease, or rent infrastructure that can be used during targeting. Detection efforts may be focused on related stages of the adversary lifecycle, such as during Command and Control. Monitor for logged domain name system (DNS) data that may buy, lease, or rent infrastructure that can be used during targeting. Detection efforts may be focused on related stages of the adversary lifecycle, such as during Command and Control. Consider use of services that may aid in tracking of newly acquired infrastructure, such as WHOIS databases for domain registration information. Detection efforts may be focused on related stages of the adversary lifecycle, such as during Command and Control.

Internet Scan Internet Scan Domain Name Domain Name Domain Name

MITRE ATT&CK Mitigations
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M1056

Pre-compromise

Pre-compromise mitigations involve proactive measures and defenses implemented to prevent adversaries from successfully identifying and exploiting weaknesses during the Reconnaissance and Resource Development phases of an attack. These activities focus on reducing an organization's attack surface, identify adversarial preparation efforts, and increase the difficulty for attackers to conduct successful operations. This mitigation can be implemented through the following measures: Limit Information Exposure: - Regularly audit and sanitize publicly available data, including job posts, websites, and social media. - Use tools like OSINT monitoring platforms (e.g., SpiderFoot, Recon-ng) to identify leaked information. Protect Domain and DNS Infrastructure: - Enable DNSSEC and use WHOIS privacy protection. - Monitor for domain hijacking or lookalike domains using services like RiskIQ or DomainTools. External Monitoring: - Use tools like Shodan, Censys to monitor your external attack surface. - Deploy external vulnerability scanners to proactively address weaknesses. Threat Intelligence: - Leverage platforms like MISP, Recorded Future, or Anomali to track adversarial infrastructure, tools, and activity. Content and Email Protections: - Use email security solutions like Proofpoint, Microsoft Defender for Office 365, or Mimecast. - Enforce SPF/DKIM/DMARC policies to protect against email spoofing. Training and Awareness: - Educate employees on identifying phishing attempts, securing their social media, and avoiding information leaks.

Acquire Infrastructure

Description

MITRE ATT&CK Detection Strategies 1

MITRE ATT&CK Mitigations 1

Details

MITRE ATT&CK Detection Strategies
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MITRE ATT&CK Mitigations
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