Sub-technique of T1001 Data Obfuscation.View on attack.mitre.org
Adversaries may use steganographic techniques to hide command and control traffic to make detection efforts more difficult. Steganographic techniques can be used to hide data in digital messages that are transferred between systems. This hidden information can be used for command and control of compromised systems. In some cases, the passing of files embedded using steganography, such as image or document files, can be used for command and control.
Rules on DetectionCode tagged with T1001.002.
| Used by | Procedure example |
|---|---|
| MalwareDaserf | Daserf can use steganography to hide malicious code downloaded to the victim. |
| MalwareDuqu | When the Duqu command and control is operating over HTTP or HTTPS, Duqu uploads data to its controller by appending it to a blank JPG file. |
| MalwareHAMMERTOSS | HAMMERTOSS is controlled via commands that are appended to image files. |
| MalwareLightNeuron | LightNeuron is controlled via commands that are embedded into PDFs and JPGs using steganographic methods. |
| MalwareLunarMail | LunarMail can parse IDAT chunks from .png files to look for zlib-compressed and AES encrypted C2 commands. |
| MalwareLunarWeb | LunarWeb can receive C2 commands hidden in the structure of .jpg and .gif images. |
| MalwareRDAT | RDAT can process steganographic images attached to email messages to send and receive C2 commands. RDAT can also embed additional messages within BMP images to communicate with the RDAT operator. |
| ToolSliver | Sliver can encode binary data into a .PNG file for C2 communication. |
| Used by | Procedure example |
|---|---|
| CampaignOperation Ghost | During Operation Ghost, APT29 used steganography to hide the communications between the implants and their C&C servers. |
Data from MITRE ATT&CK® (Enterprise). ATT&CK® is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation.
