166 terms · 75/46/45
166 terms · 75/46/45

Threats

75 pojmova
Threat№ 042applications

API Abuse

API abuse arises when an attacker uses a programming interface in a way the application did not anticipate or did not restrict enough. An API is not merely a technical add-on to the application. It is often the main entrance to the data, the users, the orders, the payments and the administration.

5 techniques4 defenses
Threat№ 065trust

Accidental Data Leak

An accidental data leak is not an attack in the classic sense, but the consequences can look the same. Data becomes available to the wrong people through human error, bad configuration, wrong sharing, a public repository, open cloud storage, or mail sent to the wrong address.

2 techniques10 defenses
Threat№ 021identity

Account Takeover

Account takeover is the moment the attacker gains full control of an account — not only access, but the ability to change the password, the recovery mail address, the phone number and the second factor, while the real owner is shut out with no technical way back in on their own. Takeover is rarely the first stage of an attack. It is usually the destination of what came before: phishing, credential stuffing, token theft.

6 techniques6 defenses
Threat№ 043applications

Authentication Bypass

An authentication bypass means the attacker reaches a protected part of the system without logging in the ordinary way. They need not know a password. Sometimes a flaw in the logic is enough, or an unprotected endpoint, a predictable token, a misconfigured proxy, or a gap between two steps of the login.

5 techniques7 defenses
Threat№ 056availability

BGP Hijacking

BGP hijacking is an attack, or a serious mistake, in which internet traffic is diverted by wrong routing. BGP is the protocol by which autonomous systems on the internet tell each other which path leads to particular IP ranges. If somebody announces another party's range as their own, part of the internet can believe them.

2 techniques3 defenses
Threat№ 006malware

Backdoor

A backdoor is a hidden way in. Once placed or opened, it lets the attacker return to the machine — with no password, no authorization and no entry in the ordinary records. A backdoor can be opened by malware while it runs, but it can equally be a user account nobody watches, or web shell access left on a server.

14 techniques12 defenses
Threat№ 053availability

Botnet Attacks

A botnet is a set of compromised devices the attacker controls remotely. That network can hold computers, servers, routers, cameras, NAS devices, phones and IoT equipment. The owner of the device often does not know that it is carrying out somebody else's requests.

7 techniques6 defenses
Threat№ 015identity

Brute-force attack

A brute-force attack breaks into an account by trying to log in over and over: automated tools work through password after password until one takes. It succeeds against short, weak and common passwords, and against systems that put no limit on failed attempts. It is not clever — it is only fast, and it can run for days.

2 techniques8 defenses
Threat№ 028social eng.

Business Email Compromise

Business email compromise is not an ordinary fake email. The attacker breaks into business correspondence, or imitates it well enough that somebody in the company believes the request comes from the director, from finance, from a supplier, a lawyer or a partner. The aim is usually money, but it can also be a confidential document, a change of payment details, or an opening for the next phase of the attack.

3 techniques6 defenses
Threat№ 075cloud

Cloud IAM misconfiguration

Cloud IAM misconfiguration means a user, a service account, an application or a role holds more rights than it needs. In the cloud an identity is not merely a login. An identity is permission to read data, spin up resources, change networks, assume roles and delete backups.

5 techniques5 defenses
Threat№ 074cloud

Cloud storage exposure

Cloud storage exposure arises when data that ought to be private becomes publicly reachable through a bad configuration of a cloud service. That can be S3 buckets, blob storage, backups, logs, documents, images, database exports or configuration files.

3 techniques5 defenses
Threat№ 063trust

Contractor Abuse

Contractor access abuse arises when a consultant, a contractor, an external firm or a temporarily engaged person uses access more widely or for longer than the work requires. The access is often granted legitimately, but afterwards it is not monitored, not narrowed and not withdrawn in time.

2 techniques4 defenses
Threat№ 017identity

Credential stuffing

Credential stuffing does not go after unknown passwords; it tries known ones. With username and password pairs from databases leaked across the internet, the attacker tries the most-used services such as Facebook and Instagram, counting on people reusing the same credentials on several services — which in most cases holds.

4 techniques7 defenses
Threat№ 041applications

Cross-Site Request Forgery

Cross-site request forgery, or CSRF, exploits the fact that a browser automatically sends existing session cookies to a site where the user is already logged in. The attacker does not need to know the password. It is enough to lead the user down the wrong path.

2 techniques3 defenses
Threat№ 040applications

Cross-Site Scripting

Cross-site scripting, better known as XSS, arises when a web application allows somebody else's script to be displayed and executed in the user's browser. The attacker does not have to break into the web server. It is enough for their code to end up in a page the victim opens as though it were entirely legitimate.

3 techniques3 defenses
Threat№ 037social eng.

Crypto-wallet drainer

A crypto wallet works by signing transactions that move crypto assets. Draining a wallet is the process in which the user, believing they are doing something legitimate, signs a transaction or an approval that hands the attacker control of those assets.

3 techniques3 defenses
Threat№ 013malware

Cryptominer

A cryptominer steals what we rarely think of as a target: our computing power and our electricity. In the background it uses our processors and graphics cards to mine cryptocurrency for the attacker while we pay the bill. It has no interest in our data, only in our resources and how much of them there is.

4 techniques6 defenses
Threat№ 051availability

DNS Amplification

DNS amplification is a reflected DDoS attack in which the attacker uses open DNS resolvers to multiply the traffic aimed at a victim. The attacker sends relatively small DNS queries but forges the victim's address as the source.

2 techniques4 defenses
Threat№ 057availability

DNS Poisoning

DNS poisoning is an attack in which a user or a resolver is given a false answer for a domain. The result is that the user types a familiar address into the browser and DNS takes them to the wrong web server. On paper the name is the same. In reality the road leads somewhere else.

1 technique4 defenses
Threat№ 035social eng.

Deepfake Attack

A deepfake attack uses an artificially generated voice, image or video so that somebody can pose as a real person. In cyber attacks this usually means the director's voice on a call, a colleague's face in a video meeting, or a recording that feels real enough for the victim to accept the request.

2 techniques4 defenses
Threat№ 050availability

Denial of Service / DoS

DoS is a denial-of-service attack that tries to bring a service down or slow it so far that legitimate users can no longer use it. Unlike DDoS it need not come from a large network of compromised devices. Sometimes one source and a well-chosen vulnerability are enough.

2 techniques4 defenses
Threat№ 048applications

Dependency Confusion

Dependency confusion is an attack on the process by which software build platforms find and deliver software dependencies. An attacker can publish a package on a public registry with the same name as an organization's internal package, or with the name of another public and valid package, counting on the fetching tool choosing their version over the real one.

2 techniques3 defenses
Threat№ 049availability

Distributed Denial of Service / DDoS

DDoS is a distributed denial-of-service attack. Instead of attacking from one place, the attacker uses a large number of compromised devices, rented infrastructure and reflected traffic to bury the target in web requests until the server is blocked. The aim is not data theft but choking the service into unavailability.

2 techniques4 defenses
Threat№ 068physical / IoT

Evil Twin

A fake Wi-Fi network, known as an evil twin, imitates a legitimate wireless network so that users connect to an access point the attacker controls. The network name looks familiar, the signal can be stronger, and the device often suggests or restores the connection by itself.

4 techniques5 defenses
Threat№ 011malware

Fileless malware

Fileless malware never writes itself to disk during the attack, so antivirus software has a harder time finding it. While it operates it lives in memory and works with tools the system already has — PowerShell, scripts, built-in commands. Because it delivers its payload through legitimate tools, its activity is not easy to tell apart from normal work.

5 techniques6 defenses
Threat№ 012malware

Infostealer

An infostealer has one basic role: to collect your credentials. Saved browser passwords, cookies and session tokens, autofill data, crypto wallet keys — all of it is of interest. It stays in contact with the attacker and sends on what it gathers. When the job is done it can delete itself and disappear.

6 techniques8 defenses
Threat№ 046applications

Insecure Deserialization

Deserialization is the return of a packed object into a form the application can use. The problem arises when an application accepts an object from an untrusted source and handles it as though it were safe. At that point the attacker is not sending mere data but a specially prepared structure that can change the flow of execution.

2 techniques4 defenses
Threat№ 058trust

Insider Threat

An insider threat comes from a person who has, or once had, legitimate access to an organization's systems, data or premises. That can be an employee, a former employee, an administrator, an associate, a supplier or a partner. The trouble is that the access was not necessarily unauthorized to begin with.

6 techniques18 defenses
Threat№ 067physical / IoT

IoT Device Compromise

IoT device compromise hits cameras, routers, sensors, smart televisions, locks, controllers and all the equipment connected to a network that does not behave like a classic computer. The problem is that these devices are often forgotten the moment they are switched on.

4 techniques6 defenses
Threat№ 022identity

Kerberoasting

Kerberoasting is an attack specific to Windows domain networks and Active Directory (AD). User logins are handled by the Kerberos protocol, which issues tickets as proof of identity. In a domain environment there are non-user accounts — service accounts — under which most background tasks and services run, such as databases and business applications. Service accounts are set up so that any user can request a ticket for access to a given service. The catch is that the ticket is encrypted with the service account's password.

4 techniques4 defenses
Threat№ 004malware

Keylogger

A keylogger is a program or hardware device that records every keystroke. Software keyloggers run covertly in the background, while hardware variants can be physically attached between the keyboard and the computer.

4 techniques5 defenses
Threat№ 005malware

Loader / Dropper

Loaders and droppers are couriers. Their only job is to deliver the infection to the machine. A dropper carries the payload with it and writes it to the system; a loader is usually smaller and pulls the payload from the internet only once it has landed. Neither does anything more than that — and that is their advantage.

7 techniques5 defenses
Threat№ 024identity

MFA Fatigue

MFA fatigue is social-engineering pressure applied to two-factor authentication. The attacker has the password, leaked or phished, but is stopped at the second factor — a confirmation the user has to approve on their phone. So the attacker starts the login over and over, burying the phone in approval requests. The arithmetic is simple: out of irritation, confusion, or the thought that it must be some glitch, the user approves one at some point — and the attacker is through the whole authentication.

2 techniques4 defenses
Threat№ 032social eng.

Malvertising

Malvertising uses ad networks as a delivery channel for attacks. The user does not have to be on a dubious site; a malicious advert can appear on a legitimate portal too, because ad space often arrives through several intermediaries.

3 techniques5 defenses
Threat№ 073AI / ML

Model theft / extraction

Model theft and extraction means an attacker obtains a model an organization trained, bought or adapted to its own needs. That can be direct theft of the files, the weights and the configuration, but also controlled extraction through an API, where the model is queried enough times to build an approximate copy.

2 techniques5 defenses
Threat№ 023identity

Pass-the-Hash

So that it does not keep the password in readable form, Windows remembers its cryptographic fingerprint — the hash. With older Windows authentication (NTLM), the password is not required to prove identity; the hash is enough. Pass-the-hash abuses exactly that: if the attacker obtains a user's hash, they can log in with it without ever learning the real password.

3 techniques4 defenses
Threat№ 016identity

Password spraying

Password spraying is brute force turned around. Instead of trying many passwords on one account, the attacker tries common passwords across many accounts. That avoids lockout, because each individual account sees only an attempt or two.

3 techniques6 defenses
Threat№ 047applications

Path Traversal

Path traversal is an attack in which the attacker tries to step out of the permitted directory and reach files the application should never display. The best-known pattern is a sequence such as `../`, which walks the path back up the file system level by level.

2 techniques3 defenses
Threat№ 026social eng.

Phishing

Phishing is the most widespread form of social-engineering attack and, in a great many cases, the first link in any serious break-in. The attacker sends a message that appears to come from a known organization — a bank, a courier, a government service, a colleague — and leads the victim into doing one of three things: clicking a link, opening an attachment, or entering their credentials somewhere.

4 techniques8 defenses
Threat№ 071physical / IoT

Physical Access Attack

Physical access is the oldest form of compromise: the attacker reaches the device, the room, a port, a cable or a piece of paper. Once somebody can sit down at a computer, walk up to a server, put a device into a port or carry a laptop away, digital protection no longer helps.

3 techniques4 defenses
Threat№ 031social eng.

Pretexting

Pretexting is social engineering with a prepared story. The attacker does not simply send a link and wait for a click; they build a scenario in which what they are doing looks normal. They present themselves as a colleague, technical support, an auditor, a bank, a supplier, a courier or an official.

2 techniques4 defenses
Threat№ 020identity

Privilege Escalation

Privilege escalation is the attempt by an attacker who already holds some level of access to widen their rights in order to move through the network. Escalation is rarely the first stage — it comes after entry through, say, an ordinary user account or a compromised service. It takes the attacker from the crack they slipped through to control of the whole system. There are two directions: vertical escalation, from an ordinary user to domain administrator, and horizontal, moving from one account to another user's resources at the same level of rights.

8 techniques4 defenses
Threat№ 061trust

Privilege Misuse

Privilege misuse arises when somebody uses rights they genuinely hold for actions they have no business reason to take. Unlike privilege escalation, the attacker or insider here does not have to acquire new authority. The trouble is that the existing authority is enough to do damage.

3 techniques5 defenses
Threat№ 072AI / ML

Prompt injection

Prompt injection exploits the weakness of language models in telling an instruction apart from the content they are processing. When a model reads an email, a document, a page, a ticket or a message, the attacker can put text into that content which reads like an instruction.

2 techniques5 defenses
Threat№ 034social eng.

QR phishing - Quishing

Quishing is phishing through a QR code. Instead of a visible link, the user is given an image to scan with their phone. The QR code then takes them to a fake page for a login, a payment, a document download or an account confirmation.

3 techniques5 defenses
Threat№ 055availability

Ransom DDoS

Ransom DDoS joins an attack on availability to extortion. The attackers threaten to bring the service down, or first run a short demonstration attack, and then ask for money for the attack to stop or for a larger one not to happen.

1 technique3 defenses
Threat№ 001malware

Ransomware

Ransomware locks a company's data and demands payment to release it. The ransom is asked in cryptocurrency because it makes the money harder to follow — which is exactly why attackers use it.

17 techniques18 defenses
Threat№ 038applications

Remote Code Execution

Remote code execution is one of the most dangerous classes of vulnerability, because it lets an attacker run their own code on a vulnerable system from somewhere else entirely. If the application runs on a server, the attacker is no longer merely a user on the outside; they gain a way to influence what the server executes.

5 techniques9 defenses
Threat№ 014malware

Remote access trojan - RAT

A RAT gives the attacker remote control of your machine. Once inside they can browse files, switch on the camera and microphone, record what you type and run commands — all of it live, as if sitting in front of your screen. It resembles remote support tools, only on the wrong side of the law.

12 techniques8 defenses
Threat№ 052availability

Resource Exhaustion

Resource exhaustion targets what a system cannot work without: processor, memory, disk, network connections, threads, the database or processing queues. The aim is not necessarily to send enormous traffic but to make the system spend what it has.

2 techniques3 defenses
Threat№ 010malware

Rootkit

A rootkit is hard to see, and that is its most important property. It can settle beneath the operating system and beneath the layer where antivirus software can look: sometimes in drivers or in the kernel, out of reach of protective mechanisms, sometimes in the boot phase, even in the motherboard firmware. From there it hides itself and everything else the attacker does, so an infected system looks perfectly clean.

6 techniques5 defenses
Threat№ 070physical / IoT

SCADA/OT Attack

An attack on SCADA and OT systems targets industrial processes, not only data. These are the systems that run manufacturing, energy, water, transport, buildings, sensors, PLC controllers and HMI stations. When such a system stops or starts working wrongly, the consequences can be fatal.

3 techniques6 defenses
Threat№ 025identity

SIM Swapping

SIM swapping does not attack the phone but the phone number. The attacker persuades, or bribes, a mobile operator to move the number to a new SIM card, citing a lost phone or a damaged card. They usually come armed with personal details from leaked databases and phishing. The moment the number moves to their card, the real phone loses signal and every call and message goes to the attacker.

2 techniques4 defenses
Threat№ 030social eng.

SMS phishing - Smishing

Smishing is phishing over SMS or messaging apps. The attacker sends a short message with a link, a request to confirm something, or an instruction for an urgent action, counting on messages being read quickly on a phone and without much checking.

3 techniques4 defenses
Threat№ 039applications

SQL Injection

SQL injection usually arises when a web application passes user input blindly to the database on the web server. Instead of ordinary text, the attacker can put part of an SQL command into a login, search or filter field. If the application does not stop it, the database can execute something the designer never had in mind, and certainly never intended.

4 techniques7 defenses
Threat№ 045applications

SSRF

SSRF is a vulnerability in which the attacker gets a web server to send a request to an address of the attacker's choosing. The distinction matters: the request is not sent by the user's browser but by the server. That opens the door to internal services which from the outside ought to remain invisible.

3 techniques5 defenses
Threat№ 054availability

Service Abuse

Service abuse uses legitimate functions of a system in an unforeseen way. The attacker does not have to find a classic vulnerability. It is enough to work out how a normal function can be automated, overloaded, or turned against the service and its users.

3 techniques3 defenses
Threat№ 019identity

Session Hijacking

When you log in, the service opens a session — a state that remembers you are you, together with everything that goes with it, such as your preferences and settings. The main benefit is that you do not have to type a password every few minutes as you move through the features. That session is marked by an identifier, usually held in a browser cookie. Session hijacking is the taking over of a session that is already open. The attacker does not attack the login; they slip into a session that has already passed authentication and carry on operating the service in your name.

5 techniques5 defenses
Threat№ 064trust

Shadow IT

Shadow IT is the use of applications, cloud services, accounts and tools without the knowledge or approval of the IT team. Employees usually do not bring them in to cause a problem but to get the work done faster: a file needs sharing, a team needs a chat, marketing needs a tool, sales needs a PDF now.

3 techniques7 defenses
Threat№ 062trust

Shared Account Abuse

Shared account abuse begins wherever several people use the same username and password. The system then no longer knows who actually did something. It knows only that a particular account was used, which for accountability is the same as knowing nothing.

3 techniques5 defenses
Threat№ 027social eng.

Spear Phishing

Spear phishing is phishing cut to fit one person or a small group of users. Instead of sending the same message to thousands of addresses, the attacker first gathers information about the victim — where they work, who they work with, what they are working on right now, how the company addresses its clients — and then writes a message that reads as if it came from that world.

6 techniques8 defenses
Threat№ 003malware

Spyware

Spyware watches the user and what they do. Hidden, it can spend months collecting what you type, what is on your screen, where you are, who calls you, and what you say through the microphone and camera. The point is not damage to the device but a record of the person, which can later be turned to any number of uses.

5 techniques5 defenses
Threat№ 060trust

Supply Chain Attack

A supply chain attack does not always aim at the final victim directly. The attacker compromises software, hardware, a supplier, a build process or an update mechanism before the product or service reaches the user. The victim then carries the problem into their own environment, because it comes from a source they trust.

5 techniques10 defenses
Threat№ 059trust

Third-Party Compromise

Third-party compromise happens when the attacker does not go at an organization directly but at a supplier, a partner, a service provider or an external associate who already holds some form of trust and authorized access. Instead of forcing the front door, the attacker looks for a side entrance somebody else has already opened.

3 techniques6 defenses
Threat№ 018identity

Token Theft

A token is proof that you have already logged in. When you sign in and confirm your identity with a second factor, the service issues a token, stored in the browser, which vouches that you have already been checked the next time round. The token is sent automatically with every further request, so you do not have to type the password again. Token theft is the taking of that proof. With it in hand, the attacker presents themselves as you — without your password and without the second factor, because both have already been approved.

6 techniques5 defenses
Threat№ 002malware

Trojan

A Trojan does not break in; the victim opens the door. It usually presents itself as something useful — a program or a document, a fake installer, a cracked application, or a harmless-looking tool for speeding up the computer. The user runs what they meant to run, and the attacker gets what they were after.

8 techniques6 defenses
Threat№ 066trust

Typosquatting

Typosquatting exploits small mistakes in typing, reading or recognizing a name. The attacker registers a domain, an account or a software package that resembles a legitimate name, counting on a user, a developer or a system to miss one letter, swap a character or overlook the difference.

3 techniques4 defenses
Threat№ 069physical / IoT

USB Drop Attack

A USB drop attack uses human curiosity and the habit of plugging an unknown device into a computer to see what is on it. The attacker leaves a USB stick or device where an employee will notice it: a car park, a corridor, a reception desk, a meeting room, a bag of promotional material.

2 techniques3 defenses
Threat№ 009malware

Virus

A virus embeds itself in other executable files and runs together with them. It starts when the user launches the application or opens the infected file, and often attaches itself to other running processes and applications. That is what separates it from a worm: a virus needs a host and a user, while a worm spreads on its own.

3 techniques5 defenses
Threat№ 036social eng.

Watering Hole Attack

A watering hole attack does not chase the victim directly. The attacker first finds a site the target group visits regularly, then compromises that site or the content loaded through it. The victim then comes to the place of the attack on their own, doing what they normally do.

4 techniques4 defenses
Threat№ 033social eng.

Whaling

Whaling is targeted phishing aimed at senior management, owners, directors and people who can approve large decisions. The target is not chosen by chance. The attacker knows who they are after and why that person is worth more than an ordinary account.

4 techniques6 defenses
Threat№ 007malware

Wiper

A wiper does not exist to steal or to extort — a wiper destroys data. It erases and overwrites, breaks file systems, and combined with worms and zero-day vulnerabilities it can bring down hundreds or thousands of networks within hours. Unlike ransomware it offers no ransom; recovery was never part of the plan, because the aim is damage, not money.

5 techniques7 defenses
Threat№ 008malware

Worm

A worm spreads on its own. Unlike a virus it needs no host file and no click from the user — once it is on one machine it immediately looks for the next, and the next, and thousands of devices can be infected within minutes. Replication is its purpose, speed is its weapon, and whatever it carries is the real threat.

4 techniques7 defenses
Threat№ 044applications

Zero-Day Exploitation

Zero-day exploitation uses a vulnerability for which the vendor has no patch yet, or does not know exists. The name says how much time the defense had to prepare: zero days. In practice a victim can be doing everything right, keeping systems and applications up to date, and still be exposed.

6 techniques15 defenses
Threat№ 029social eng.

voice phishing - Vishing

Vishing is phishing over the telephone. Instead of an email and a link, the attacker uses a voice, a phone number and the pressure of the moment. They present themselves as a bank, technical support, a courier, the police, the tax office, or somebody from the company, while trying to extract details or lead the victim into doing something they otherwise would not.

3 techniques3 defenses

Techniques

46 pojmova
Technique№ 020privileges

Access Token Manipulation

Token abuse involves stealing or manipulating authentication tokens, session cookies, or access keys to assume the identity of a legitimate user or service. The attacker can use a token without knowing the password.

2 threats4 defenses
Technique№ 009initial access

AiTM

AiTM sits between the user and the real service. Classic phishing steals a password; AiTM steals the live session. The victim gets a link, lands on a proxy that looks exactly like the real login (because it forwards everything to the real site), enters credentials and even the MFA code — the proxy passes them through, the real service issues a session token, and the attacker captures that token.

3 threats6 defenses
Technique№ 027discovery

Automation & Scripting

Automation and scripting involves using scripts, tools, and automated procedures to accelerate and scale activities within a compromised environment. Attackers leverage system scripting interpreters, configuration management tools, and custom scripts.

6 threats7 defenses
Technique№ 004initial access

Brute Force

Brute force as a technique involves the systematic testing of a large number of credential combinations to gain unauthorized access. It includes classic exhaustive testing, dictionary attacks with common passwords, and password spraying.

4 threats6 defenses
Technique№ 024privileges

Cloud lateral movement

In the cloud, identities can assume roles — temporarily take on another identity's rights. It's built for legitimate delegation, but it becomes lateral movement when an attacker who got one identity chains the steps: identity A can become B, B can become C with more rights, C reaches another account. No new password at each step — just inherited delegation.

4 threats5 defenses
Technique№ 039C2

Command & Control

Command and control communication involves establishing a persistent channel between the attacker and the compromised system for sending commands and receiving results. The attacker uses this channel to manage malware, launch new attack phases, and retrieve data.

12 threats12 defenses
Technique№ 026discovery

Configuration Abuse

Configuration abuse involves exploiting misconfigured systems, services, or security controls. Attackers look for default passwords, overly broad permissions, open ports, and services without authentication.

9 threats11 defenses
Technique№ 023privileges

Container Escape

Containers are meant to isolate an application from the host and from other containers. Container escape is when an attacker controlling a process inside a container breaks that isolation and reaches the host (or other containers). From an application-level foothold they get host-level reach.

4 threats5 defenses
Technique№ 003initial access

Credential Abuse

Credential abuse involves using stolen, leaked, or otherwise obtained login data to gain unauthorized access to systems and services. The attacker impersonates a legitimate user.

40 threats15 defenses
Technique№ 016execution

DLL Sideloading

Technique of loading a malicious DLL through a legitimate program that requests it.

4 threats5 defenses
Technique№ 036exfiltration / impact

DNS Tunneling

Technique of exfiltrating data or C2 communication through DNS queries.

4 threats7 defenses
Technique№ 034exfiltration / impact

Data Destruction

Technique of permanently deleting or corrupting data on a compromised system.

3 threats5 defenses
Technique№ 031exfiltration / impact

Data Exfiltration

Data exfiltration involves transferring stolen information from the compromised environment to an attacker-controlled location. Data can be sent through encrypted channels, legitimate cloud services, email, or even physical media.

21 threats12 defenses
Technique№ 029discovery

Domain Account Discovery

Mapping users, groups, permissions, and Active Directory structure.

2 threats5 defenses
Technique№ 040C2

Domain Fronting

Technique of hiding C2 traffic behind legitimate CDN domains.

3 threats3 defenses
Technique№ 037exfiltration / impact

Double Extortion

Technique where data is first exfiltrated, then encrypted for ransom.

2 threats4 defenses
Technique№ 007initial access

Drive-by Download

Drive-by download is automatic malware download when visiting a compromised site.

4 threats4 defenses
Technique№ 042C2

Encrypted C2 Channels

Using HTTPS, DNS-over-HTTPS, or other encrypted protocols for C2.

4 threats5 defenses
Technique№ 010execution

Exploitation

Exploitation involves leveraging a flaw in software, hardware, or configuration to execute unauthorized code or bypass security controls. Vulnerabilities can exist in operating systems, applications, network services, or firmware.

22 threats16 defenses
Technique№ 041C2

Fast-Flux DNS

Rapid rotation of IP addresses associated with a C2 domain.

4 threats4 defenses
Technique№ 022privileges

Forge Kerberos Tickets

A set of techniques exploiting the Kerberos protocol in Active Directory.

3 threats4 defenses
Technique№ 012execution

Impair Defenses

Defense evasion encompasses techniques by which an attacker conceals their activity from security tools, analysts, and automated detection systems. The goal is to remain undetected for as long as possible in the compromised environment.

8 threats7 defenses
Technique№ 014execution

In-Memory Execution

Executing malicious code in memory without writing files to disk.

4 threats6 defenses
Technique№ 046evasion

Indicator Removal

A set of techniques for hindering or preventing digital forensics.

4 threats4 defenses
Technique№ 019privileges

Lateral Movement

Lateral movement involves an attacker moving from one compromised system to another within the same network. The goal is to expand access to systems containing more valuable data or enabling further escalation.

8 threats17 defenses
Technique№ 015execution

Living off the Land

Using legitimate system tools to execute malicious actions.

3 threats5 defenses
Technique№ 043evasion

Log Tampering

Deleting, modifying, or disabling logs to hide activity.

3 threats4 defenses
Technique№ 038C2

Malware Delivery

Malware delivery encompasses the methods by which malicious software is transferred to a target system. This includes infected attachments, compromised websites, malicious ads, removable media, and compromised software updates.

18 threats11 defenses
Technique№ 028discovery

Network Sniffing

Passively intercepting network traffic to collect sensitive data.

2 threats6 defenses
Technique№ 030discovery

OSINT

Gathering information about targets from publicly available sources before an attack.

3 threats5 defenses
Technique№ 021privileges

Pass-the-Hash

Using NTLM hashes instead of plaintext passwords for authentication.

1 threat4 defenses
Technique№ 013execution

Payload Obfuscation

Payload obfuscation involves applying techniques to conceal the content and intent of malicious code. Attackers use encryption, compression, encoding, polymorphism, and packing to evade detection by security tools.

4 threats3 defenses
Technique№ 011execution

Persistence

Persistence encompasses techniques by which an attacker ensures their access or malicious code survives system reboots, password changes, or other interruptions. The goal is to maintain a foothold in the environment over an extended period.

8 threats6 defenses
Technique№ 001initial access

Phishing

Phishing as a technique involves sending fraudulent emails, SMS messages, or chat messages to trick the victim into clicking a malicious link, opening an infected attachment, or entering credentials on a fake page.

14 threats10 defenses
Technique№ 008initial access

Physical Access

Using physical access to a device or space as an attack vector.

4 threats7 defenses
Technique№ 018privileges

Privilege Escalation

Privilege escalation is a technique by which an attacker with limited access gains a higher level of authorization. Vertical escalation means reaching administrator or root level, while horizontal escalation means accessing another user's resources at the same privilege level.

11 threats8 defenses
Technique№ 045evasion

Process Injection

Injecting malicious code into the address space of a legitimate process.

3 threats5 defenses
Technique№ 025discovery

Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance involves the systematic gathering of information about the target environment, both externally before the attack and internally after compromise. The goal is to understand the topology, identify targets, and plan the next stages.

5 threats12 defenses
Technique№ 032exfiltration / impact

Resource Exhaustion

Resource exhaustion as a technique involves deliberately overloading target systems to make them unavailable to legitimate users. The attacker targets CPU, memory, network bandwidth, disk, or connection limits.

8 threats4 defenses
Technique№ 017execution

Rootkit Installation

Technique of installing a rootkit to deeply hide presence on a system.

2 threats4 defenses
Technique№ 033exfiltration / impact

Service Abuse

Service abuse as a technique involves using legitimate system functionalities in unintended ways to cause damage, gain unauthorized access, or achieve financial gain.

3 threats4 defenses
Technique№ 002initial access

Social Engineering

Social engineering as a technique involves manipulating human behavior to obtain information, access, or the execution of actions that benefit the attacker. It relies on trust, authority, urgency, or fear.

16 threats10 defenses
Technique№ 006initial access

Supply Chain Compromise

Technique of injecting malicious code into the software supply chain.

4 threats5 defenses
Technique№ 044evasion

Timestomping

Changing file timestamps to hide when they were created or modified.

3 threats4 defenses
Technique№ 005initial access

Watering Hole

Technique of compromising websites that the target group regularly visits.

2 threats4 defenses
Technique№ 035exfiltration / impact

Website Defacement

Unauthorized modification of website content to send a message.

3 threats4 defenses

Defenses

8 / 45 · monitoring-response
Defense№ 021monitoring / response

Digital Forensics

Collecting, preserving, and analyzing digital evidence after a cyber incident.

3 threats4 techniques
Defense№ 022monitoring / response

IDS/IPS

IDS/IPS are systems that monitor network traffic (or host activity) for patterns indicating an attack. An IDS (Intrusion Detection System) only reports suspicious activity; an IPS (Intrusion Prevention System) sits inline and can block it immediately.

8 threats7 techniques
Defense№ 020monitoring / response

Incident Response

A planned process of identifying, containing, eradicating, and recovering from cyber incidents.

7 threats4 techniques
Defense№ 016monitoring / response

Logging & Monitoring

Logging and monitoring involves the systematic recording of activities and events on systems, networks, and applications, along with regular analysis of those records to detect anomalies and security incidents.

60 threats41 techniques
Defense№ 017monitoring / response

MDR

MDR (Managed Detection and Response) is a service where an external security team provides continuous monitoring, threat detection, and incident response on behalf of an organization. It combines technology with human expertise.

6 threats7 techniques
Defense№ 015monitoring / response

SIEM

SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) is a system that collects logs and events from diverse sources across the entire infrastructure, centralizes them, and applies correlation rules to detect suspicious patterns and security incidents.

6 threats14 techniques
Defense№ 018monitoring / response

SOAR

Security Orchestration, Automation and Response — automating security operations.

3 threats4 techniques
Defense№ 019monitoring / response

Threat Intelligence

Collecting, analyzing, and applying data about current cyber threats.

6 threats5 techniques