Malware Morphology for Detection Engineers
Channel: NorthSec
Date: 2023-05-19

As Defenders it is easy to view attacker behavior through a Technique lens, but this perspective often causes us to forget about the diversity of implementation, morphology, that exists within a Technique. This often leads to detection rules that are more narrowly focused on specific tools instead of on the underlying behavior(s) themselves. MITRE ATT&CK provides a schema for evaluating inter-technique differences between tools, such as the differences between Kerberoasting and DCSync, but we currently do not have an industry-wide model for evaluating intra-technique differences, such as the how two tools performing LSASS Dumping might differ in approach and thus lead to evasion opportunities.

In this workshop, attendees will be presented with various tools that implement the same Technique, but use different approaches, or Procedures, to do so. We will then walk participants through the process of analyzing these tools to understand exactly where and by how much they differ. Participants will then learn how to model different Procedures to evaluate their similarity and determine the optimal events or logs to serve as a foundation for building resilient detection rules.