What is the MITRE ATT&CK Framework?
Security Analytics
The MITRE ATT&CK Framework is a globally-accessible knowledge base of adversary tactics and techniques based on real-world observations. It is used by cybersecurity professionals to better understand threat actor behaviors and to improve their defensive strategies. It serves the community as a common language to describe threats, something that helps organizations in multiple initiatives, from strategic security planning to operational tasks such as detection engineering and incident response planning.
Understanding the MITRE ATT&CK Framework
The MITRE ATT&CK Framework provides a comprehensive lexicon of the behavior of cyber adversaries, detailing the methods they use to compromise systems. It describes the “what” and the “how” of cyber-attacks, enabling security teams to anticipate and prepare for various attack scenarios.
For instance, consider a common attack technique known as ‘Spear Phishing’, categorized under the ‘Initial Access’ tactic in the MITRE ATT&CK Framework. In this scenario, an attacker crafts a targeted email with malicious attachments or links, aimed at specific individuals within an organization. By understanding this technique through the MITRE ATT&CK lens, security teams can implement tailored anti-phishing training and email filtering technologies to guard against such targeted threats, thereby preemptively blocking the initial step an attacker needs to breach their network.
Where does the data in the MITRE ATT&CK Framework come from?
The framework is the result of years of accumulated knowledge, combining both academic research and practical insights from cybersecurity incidents. It has evolved to include a wide array of tactics and techniques observed in the wild, contributed by a community of security professionals and organizations. The MITRE corporation initially created it as part of its initiative of conducting adversary emulation exercises. After all, if you are planning to emulate an attack, you should be able to describe what that attack would look like.
Components of the MITRE ATT&CK Framework
The MITRE ATT&CK Framework organizes cyber adversary behavior into Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs), which are meticulously detailed to reflect the stages of an attack. The framework is visually represented through the MITRE ATT&CK Matrix, where tactics are organized into categories like Initial Access, Execution, and Persistence. Each cell within these categories delineates techniques—the specific actions threat actors take to achieve the objectives of each tactic. This structure helps clarify the intricate relationships among different components of cyber-attacks.
There are currently 14 types of tactics:
- Reconnaissance: Collecting information to prepare for an attack.
- Resource Development: Acquiring resources needed for attacks, such as tools, infrastructure, and accounts.
- Initial Access: Establishing entry points into a target’s environment.
- Execution: Implementing malicious activity through executable scripts or commands.
- Persistence: Securing continued access within a target’s environment.
- Privilege Escalation: Accessing greater levels of control or permissions.
- Defense Evasion: Implementing methods to avoid detection.
- Credential Access: Capturing usernames, passwords, and other authentication details.
- Discovery: Identifying the configuration and content of target networks.
- Lateral Movement: Expanding access within and across network environments.
- Collection: Compiling data of interest from target networks.
- Command and Control: Establishing a channel to control compromised systems remotely.
- Exfiltration: Transmitting stolen data from the target network.
- Impact: Manipulating, disrupting, or destroying critical information.
By comprehensively understanding these tactics, security teams can more effectively anticipate and mitigate potential cyber threats, tailoring their defenses to address the most pressing vulnerabilities.
How Organizations Use the MITRE ATT&CK Framework
Organizations leverage the MITRE ATT&CK Framework in different ways to support their cybersecurity defenses. By integrating the framework into their security tools and platforms, businesses can enhance their ability to detect, understand, and respond to threats.
For example, Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems use the MITRE ATT&CK Framework to categorize and analyze security events, aligning detected activities with known adversary tactics and techniques, thereby improving threat identification and incident response.
The most typical use of MITRE ATT&CK is a way to normalize Threat Intelligence content. When a TI report describes attacks using the framework, many assumptions required for the proper understanding and consumption of the information in the report are aligned in a common, de-facto standard. By describing certain steps of the attack as part of the “Initial Access” tactic, for example, the writer of the report can ensure the reader will appropriately interpret that information according to the description of such tactic, and the implied attack chain, from the MITRE ATT&CK Framework.
Benefits of Adopting the MITRE ATT&CK Framework
Adopting the MITRE ATT&CK Framework simplifies efforts to improve an organization’s threat detection and response capabilities. It enhances communication across security teams and other organizations, including cybersecurity technology providers such as Securonix, by setting the common language to be used when describing threats and threat actor behavior.
Getting Started with the MITRE ATT&CK Framework
Organizations must first understand what it means to “adopt MITRE ATT&CK”. The framework is not a set of controls or a description of security processes that should be adopted or implemented, so there’s really no “MITRE ATT&CK Implementation”. Adopting it simply means using the framework as the way to describe threats. However, many security functions could benefit by making MITRE ATT&CK a central piece of their initiatives.
Security planning, for example, can leverage the framework to properly map security controls to the tactics and techniques relevant to the organization. Detection engineering can also use the framework to map existing detection capabilities and identify gaps in techniques covered by the existing detection technologies and associated content.
Whatever is done with the Framework, however, it is important to know it shouldn’t be used as a “Bingo card”. An organization does not achieve maximum security benefits by “completing” all squares of the framework. Whatever the use of the matrix, it is important to use it first to understand the threats the organization is facing and which ones are most relevant, so the associated techniques can be identified and prioritized. There is no point in implementing controls about techniques that may be irrelevant to the organization systems and risk profile.
The MITRE ATT&CK Framework is an invaluable resource for understanding and combating cyber threats. By adopting this framework, organizations can take a significant step towards a more secure operational environment.
For more insights and to explore how Securonix utilizes the MITRE ATT&CK Framework to enhance cybersecurity measures, we invite you to book a demo with one of our experts. Discover firsthand how our solutions can protect and optimize your security infrastructure.
