Data Obfuscation
Sub-techniques (3)
Adversaries may obfuscate command and control traffic to make it more difficult to detect.(Citation: Bitdefender FunnyDream Campaign November 2020) Command and control (C2) communications are hidden (but not necessarily encrypted) in an attempt to make the content more difficult to discover or decipher and to make the communication less conspicuous and hide commands from being seen. This encompasses many methods, such as adding junk data to protocol traffic, using steganography, or impersonating legitimate protocols.
Procedure Examples |
|
Name | Description |
---|---|
Operation Wocao |
Operation Wocao has encrypted IP addresses used for "Agent" proxy hops with RC4.(Citation: FoxIT Wocao December 2019) |
Gamaredon Group |
Gamaredon Group has used obfuscated VBScripts with randomly generated variable names and concatenated strings.(Citation: unit42_gamaredon_dec2022) |
Okrum |
Okrum leverages the HTTP protocol for C2 communication, while hiding the actual messages in the Cookie and Set-Cookie headers of the HTTP requests.(Citation: ESET Okrum July 2019) |
SLOTHFULMEDIA |
SLOTHFULMEDIA has hashed a string containing system information prior to exfiltration via POST requests.(Citation: CISA MAR SLOTHFULMEDIA October 2020) |
Ninja |
Ninja has the ability to modify headers and URL paths to hide malicious traffic in HTTP requests.(Citation: Kaspersky ToddyCat June 2022) |
TrailBlazer |
TrailBlazer can masquerade its C2 traffic as legitimate Google Notifications HTTP requests.(Citation: CrowdStrike StellarParticle January 2022) |
During Operation Wocao, threat actors encrypted IP addresses used for "Agent" proxy hops with RC4.(Citation: FoxIT Wocao December 2019) |
|
FunnyDream |
FunnyDream can send compressed and obfuscated packets to C2.(Citation: Bitdefender FunnyDream Campaign November 2020) |
DarkGate |
DarkGate will retrieved encrypted commands from its command and control server for follow-on actions such as cryptocurrency mining.(Citation: Ensilo Darkgate 2018) |
FRAMESTING |
FRAMESTING can send and receive zlib compressed data within `POST` requests.(Citation: Mandiant Cutting Edge Part 2 January 2024) |
RDAT |
RDAT has used encoded data within subdomains as AES ciphertext to communicate from the host to the C2.(Citation: Unit42 RDAT July 2020) |
FlawedAmmyy |
FlawedAmmyy may obfuscate portions of the initial C2 handshake.(Citation: Proofpoint TA505 Mar 2018) |
SideTwist |
SideTwist can embed C2 responses in the source code of a fake Flickr webpage.(Citation: Check Point APT34 April 2021) |
Axiom |
The Axiom group has used other forms of obfuscation, include commingling legitimate traffic with communications traffic so that network streams appear legitimate. |
Mitigations |
|
Mitigation | Description |
---|---|
Data Obfuscation Mitigation |
Network intrusion detection and prevention systems that use network signatures to identify traffic for specific adversary malware can be used to mitigate activity at the network level. Signatures are often for unique indicators within protocols and may be based on the specific obfuscation technique used by a particular adversary or tool, and will likely be different across various malware families and versions. Adversaries will likely change tool C2 signatures over time or construct protocols in such a way as to avoid detection by common defensive tools. (Citation: University of Birmingham C2) |
Network Intrusion Prevention |
Use intrusion detection signatures to block traffic at network boundaries. |
Detection
Analyze network data for uncommon data flows (e.g., a client sending significantly more data than it receives from a server). Processes utilizing the network that do not normally have network communication or have never been seen before are suspicious. Analyze packet contents to detect communications that do not follow the expected protocol behavior for the port that is being used. (Citation: University of Birmingham C2)
References
- Dantzig, M. v., Schamper, E. (2019, December 19). Operation Wocao: Shining a light on one of China’s hidden hacking groups. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
- Vrabie, V. (2020, November). Dissecting a Chinese APT Targeting South Eastern Asian Government Institutions. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
- Gardiner, J., Cova, M., Nagaraja, S. (2014, February). Command & Control Understanding, Denying and Detecting. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
- Unit 42. (2022, December 20). Russia’s Trident Ursa (aka Gamaredon APT) Cyber Conflict Operations Unwavering Since Invasion of Ukraine. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
- Hromcova, Z. (2019, July). OKRUM AND KETRICAN: AN OVERVIEW OF RECENT KE3CHANG GROUP ACTIVITY. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
- DHS/CISA, Cyber National Mission Force. (2020, October 1). Malware Analysis Report (MAR) MAR-10303705-1.v1 – Remote Access Trojan: SLOTHFULMEDIA. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
- Dedola, G. (2022, June 21). APT ToddyCat. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
- CrowdStrike. (2022, January 27). Early Bird Catches the Wormhole: Observations from the StellarParticle Campaign. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
- Dantzig, M. v., Schamper, E. (2019, December 19). Operation Wocao: Shining a light on one of China’s hidden hacking groups. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
- Adi Zeligson & Rotem Kerner. (2018, November 13). Enter The DarkGate - New Cryptocurrency Mining and Ransomware Campaign. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
- Lin, M. et al. (2024, January 31). Cutting Edge, Part 2: Investigating Ivanti Connect Secure VPN Zero-Day Exploitation. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
- Falcone, R. (2020, July 22). OilRig Targets Middle Eastern Telecommunications Organization and Adds Novel C2 Channel with Steganography to Its Inventory. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
- Proofpoint Staff. (2018, March 7). Leaked Ammyy Admin Source Code Turned into Malware. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
- Check Point. (2021, April 8). Iran’s APT34 Returns with an Updated Arsenal. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
Связанные риски
Каталоги
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