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T1570 · lateral-movement · 14 actors · 3 correlated reports

Lateral Tool Transfer

Adversaries may transfer tools or other files between systems in a compromised environment. Once brought into the victim environment (i.e., Ingress Tool Transfer) files may then be copied from one system to another to stage adversary tools or other files over the course of an operation. Adversaries may copy files between internal victim systems to support lateral movement using inherent file sharing protocols such as file sharing over SMB/Windows Admin Shares to connected network shares or with authenticated connections via Remote Desktop Protocol. Files can also be transferred using native or otherwise present tools on the victim system, such as scp, rsync, curl, sftp, and ftp. In some cases, adversaries may be able to leverage Web Services such as Dropbox or OneDrive to copy files from one machine to another via shared, automatically synced folders.

Open detection, hunting, mitigation, and evidence workspace

Detection logic

Monitor for file creation and files transferred within a network using protocols such as SMB or FTP. Unusual processes with internal network connections creating files on-system may be suspicious. Consider monitoring for abnormal usage of utilities and command-line arguments that may be used in support of remote transfer of files. Considering monitoring for alike file hashes or characteristics (ex: filename) that are created on multiple hosts.

Observed actors

Correlated CTI and IR reports

Cyber Knowledge context

Use these routes to move from the ATT&CK behavior into explanation, implementation, evidence handling, validation, and defensive operations. Relevance is generated from explicit identifiers/names and governed topic mappings; it is not attribution evidence.

MITRE mitigations

M1037 · Filter Network Traffic

Employ network appliances and endpoint software to filter ingress, egress, and lateral network traffic. This includes protocol-based filtering, enforcing firewall rules, and blocking or restricting traffic based on predefined conditions to limit adversary movement and data exfiltration. This mitigation can be implemented through the following measures: Ingress Traffic Filtering: - Use Case: Configure network firewalls to allow traffic only from authorized IP addresses to public-facing servers. - Implementation: Limit SSH (port 22) and RDP (port 3389) traffic to specific IP ranges. Egress Traffic Filtering: - Use Case: Use firewalls or endpoint security software to block unauthorized outbound traffic to prevent data exfiltration and command-and-control (C2) communications. - Implementation: Block outbound traffic to known malicious IPs or regions where communication is unexpected. Protoc…

MITRE mitigation source
M1031 · Network Intrusion Prevention

Use intrusion detection signatures to block traffic at network boundaries.

MITRE mitigation source

MITRE detection strategies and analytics

DET0183 · Detection Strategy for Lateral Tool Transfer across OS platforms
  • AN0516 · Analytic 0516 — Correlate suspicious file transfers over SMB or Admin$ shares with process creation events (e.g., cmd.exe, powershell.exe, certutil.exe) that do not align with normal administrative behavior. Detect remote file writes followed by execution of transferred binaries.
  • AN0517 · Analytic 0517 — Monitor scp, rsync, curl, sftp, or ftp processes initiating transfers to internal systems combined with file creation events in unusual directories. Correlate transfer activity with subsequent execution of those binaries.
  • AN0518 · Analytic 0518 — Detect anomalous use of scp, rsync, curl, or third-party sync apps transferring executables into user directories. Correlate new file creation with immediate execution events.
  • AN0519 · Analytic 0519 — Identify lateral transfer via datastore file uploads or internal scp/ssh sessions that result in new VMX/VMDK or script files. Correlate transfer with VM execution or datastore modification.
MITRE detection source

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