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Every technique
T1001.002Detection written

Steganography

Command and ControlLinux, macOS, Windows, ESXi

Where this stands

One published detection covers this technique. Every one is unverified — no rule on Siemphony has been executed against real telemetry.

What the technique is

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.

Read it on attack.mitre.org

What MITRE says you would watch

  • AN0651

    Detect the creation or modification of common media file formats (e.g.,.jpg,.png,.wav) following suspicious process activity like compression or encryption, especially when paired with lateral movement or exfiltration behavior.

  • AN0652

    Unusual use of steganographic or media processing binaries (e.g., steghide, ffmpeg, imagemagick) followed by outbound communication to external IPs with high data output and media MIME types.

  • AN0653

    Abnormal usage of Preview, ImageMagick, or binary editors to alter images/documents, followed by exfiltration or outbound connections with mismatched file MIME types or payload structure.

Technique names and descriptions © MITRE ATT&CK®, CC BY 4.0. Not endorsed by MITRE.