type: attack-pattern
spec_version: 2.1
id: attack-pattern--851e071f-208d-4c79-adc6-5974c85c78f3
created: 2023-08-18T20:50:04.222Z
created_by_ref: identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5
revoked: no
external_references: source_name: mitre-attack
url: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1657
external_id: T1657
source_name: VEC
description: CloudFlare. (n.d.). What is vendor email compromise (VEC)?. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
url: https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/email-security/what-is-vendor-email-compromise/#:~:text=Vendor%20email%20compromise%2C%20also%20referred,steal%20from%20that%20vendor%27s%20customers.
source_name: Crowdstrike-leaks
description: Crowdstrike. (2020, September 24). Double Trouble: Ransomware with Data Leak Extortion, Part 1. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
url: https://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/double-trouble-ransomware-data-leak-extortion-part-1/
source_name: Mandiant-leaks
description: DANIEL KAPELLMANN ZAFRA, COREY HIDELBRANDT, NATHAN BRUBAKER, KEITH LUNDEN. (2022, January 31). 1 in 7 OT Ransomware Extortion Attacks Leak Critical Operational Technology Information. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
url: https://www.mandiant.com/resources/blog/ransomware-extortion-ot-docs
source_name: DOJ-DPRK Heist
description: Department of Justice. (2021). 3 North Korean Military Hackers Indicted in Wide-Ranging Scheme to Commit Cyber-attacks and Financial Crimes Across the Globe. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
url: https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/3-north-korean-military-hackers-indicted-wide-ranging-scheme-commit-cyber-attacks-and
source_name: FBI-BEC
description: FBI. (2022). FBI 2022 Congressional Report on BEC and Real Estate Wire Fraud. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
url: https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/fy-2022-fbi-congressional-report-business-email-compromise-and-real-estate-wire-fraud-111422.pdf/view
source_name: FBI-ransomware
description: FBI. (n.d.). Ransomware. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
url: https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/Ransomware_Trifold_e-version.pdf
source_name: AP-NotPetya
description: FRANK BAJAK AND RAPHAEL SATTER. (2017, June 30). Companies still hobbled from fearsome cyberattack. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
url: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-technology-business-europe-hacking-ce7a8aca506742ab8e8873e7f9f229c2
source_name: Internet crime report 2022
description: IC3. (2022). 2022 Internet Crime Report. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
url: https://www.ic3.gov/Media/PDF/AnnualReport/2022_IC3Report.pdf
source_name: BBC-Ronin
description: Joe Tidy. (2022, March 30). Ronin Network: What a $600m hack says about the state of crypto. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
url: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-60933174
source_name: wired-pig butchering
description: Lily Hay Newman. (n.d.). ‘Pig Butchering’ Scams Are Now a $3 Billion Threat. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
url: https://www.wired.com/story/pig-butchering-fbi-ic3-2022-report/
source_name: NYT-Colonial
description: Nicole Perlroth. (2021, May 13). Colonial Pipeline paid 75 Bitcoin, or roughly $5 million, to hackers.. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
url: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/13/technology/colonial-pipeline-ransom.html
object_marking_refs: marking-definition--fa42a846-8d90-4e51-bc29-71d5b4802168
modified: 2025-04-15T22:36:03.465Z
name: Financial Theft
description: Adversaries may steal monetary resources from targets through extortion, social engineering, technical theft, or other methods aimed at their own financial gain at the expense of the availability of these resources for victims. Financial theft is the ultimate objective of several popular campaign types including extortion by ransomware,(Citation: FBI-ransomware) business email compromise (BEC) and fraud,(Citation: FBI-BEC) "pig butchering,"(Citation: wired-pig butchering) bank hacking,(Citation: DOJ-DPRK Heist) and exploiting cryptocurrency networks.(Citation: BBC-Ronin) 

Adversaries may [Compromise Accounts](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1586) to conduct unauthorized transfers of funds.(Citation: Internet crime report 2022) In the case of business email compromise or email fraud, an adversary may utilize [Impersonation](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1656) of a trusted entity. Once the social engineering is successful, victims can be deceived into sending money to financial accounts controlled by an adversary.(Citation: FBI-BEC) This creates the potential for multiple victims (i.e., compromised accounts as well as the ultimate monetary loss) in incidents involving financial theft.(Citation: VEC)

Extortion by ransomware may occur, for example, when an adversary demands payment from a victim after [Data Encrypted for Impact](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1486) (Citation: NYT-Colonial) and [Exfiltration](https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0010) of data, followed by threatening to leak sensitive data to the public unless payment is made to the adversary.(Citation: Mandiant-leaks) Adversaries may use dedicated leak sites to distribute victim data.(Citation: Crowdstrike-leaks)

Due to the potentially immense business impact of financial theft, an adversary may abuse the possibility of financial theft and seeking monetary gain to divert attention from their true goals such as [Data Destruction](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1485) and business disruption.(Citation: AP-NotPetya)
kill_chain_phases: kill_chain_name: mitre-attack
phase_name: impact
x_mitre_attack_spec_version: 3.2.0
x_mitre_contributors: Blake Strom, Microsoft Threat Intelligence
Pawel Partyka, Microsoft Threat Intelligence
Menachem Goldstein
x_mitre_deprecated: no
x_mitre_domains: enterprise-attack
x_mitre_is_subtechnique: no
x_mitre_modified_by_ref: identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5
x_mitre_platforms: Linux
macOS
Office Suite
SaaS
Windows
x_mitre_version: 1.2
x_mitre_impact_type: Availability