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Detection Strategies DET0378 — Behavioral Detection of Obfuscated Files or Information
DET0378

Behavioral Detection of Obfuscated Files or Information

5 analytic(s) · 1 technique(s) detected

Analytics

5
AN1064 Analytic 1064
Windows

Correlates script execution or suspicious parent processes with creation or modification of encoded, compressed, or encrypted file formats (e.g., .zip, .7z, .enc) and abnormal command-line syntax or PowerShell obfuscation.

WinEventLog:Security EventCode=4688 WinEventLog:Sysmon EventCode=11 WinEventLog:Sysmon EventCode=1
[PayloadEntropyThreshold] Tune entropy threshold to distinguish obfuscation from legitimate compression
[TimeWindow] Adjust correlation window between script execution and encoded file creation
[SuspiciousParentProcessList] Customize based on environment to include LOLBins or admin tools misused for obfuscation
AN1065 Analytic 1065
Linux

Detects use of gzip, base64, tar, or openssl in scripts or commands that encode/encrypt files after file staging or system enumeration.

auditd:SYSCALL execve auditd:SYSCALL open, write linux:cli Shell history logs
[CommandRegex] Customize for tools seen in environment (e.g., gzip, bzip2, xz)
[SensitivePathList] Specify file paths likely targeted for obfuscation (e.g., /etc/, /home/)
AN1066 Analytic 1066
macOS

Monitors use of archive or encryption tools (zip, openssl) tied to user-scripted activity or binaries writing encoded payloads under /Users or /Volumes.

macos:unifiedlog log stream --predicate 'processImagePath contains "zip" OR "base64"' macos:osquery file_events
[FilenameExtensionList] Tunable to identify uncommon or encrypted file formats (e.g., .enc, .b64, .xz)
[UserContext] Tune to prioritize unexpected file access by service accounts
AN1067 Analytic 1067
Network Devices

Identifies transfer of base64, uuencoded, or high-entropy files over HTTP, FTP, or custom protocols in lateral movement or exfiltration streams.

networkdevice:IDS content inspection / PCAP / HTTP body
[EntropyThreshold] Adjust threshold to reduce false positives in compressed but benign data
[ProtocolScope] Refine by enabling inspection of specific exfil vectors (e.g., FTP, HTTP POST)
AN1068 Analytic 1068
ESXi

Detects encoded PowerCLI or Base64-encoded payloads staged via datastore uploads or shell access (e.g., ESXi Shell or backdoored VIBs).

esxi:vmkernel Datastore modification events esxi:hostd Remote access API calls and file uploads
[StagingLocation] Tune based on observed adversary paths (e.g., /vmfs/volumes/...)
[EncodedLengthThreshold] Tune length of encoded payloads before triggering detection

Detected Techniques

1

Details

MITRE ID
DET0378
STIX ID
x-mitre-detection-strategy--e3758cbb-5dd9-4aad-b848-0539a8c56307
Analytics
5
Techniques Detected
1
By Tactic
Stealth
1
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