Adversary Threat Emulation Plan

Threat Actor: APT29

Desired Impact: Data Exfiltration

Emulation Plan

Creating an adversary emulation plan for the threat actor APT29 with a focus on Data Exfiltration involves understanding their tactics and tools while focusing on mitigations. Here’s a detailed plan that incorporates known techniques:

Scenario Overview

APT29 is known to engage in complex cyber espionage operations, often targeting financial institutions and government agencies. They are highly skilled at exfiltrating sensitive data using various methods.

Desired Impact: Data Exfiltration

The goal is to capture or steal data from the target systems.

Known Techniques for Data Exfiltration

1. Multi-Factor Authentication Request Generation
   • Generate multi-factor authentication requests that could be used for phishing attacks.
   • Mitigation: Implement robust MFA, regularly update security software, and monitor access logs.
2. Security Account Manager (SAM)
   • Exploit vulnerabilities in SAM databases to steal passwords.
   • Mitigation: Ensure strong password policies, regular audits of user accounts, and use multi-factor authentication.
3. Tool, Domain Fronting
   • Use domain fronting to mask traffic from a legitimate site, making it harder to detect.
   • Mitigation: Implement strict SSL/TLS configurations, enforce DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) policies, and use network segmentation.
4. Steal Application Access Token
   • Steal access tokens that can be used for session hijacking or unauthorized access.
   • Mitigation: Regularly rotate access tokens, implement strict token expiration times, and monitor authentication logs.
5. Dynamic Resolution
   • Use DNS spoofing to redirect traffic to malicious servers.
   • Mitigation: Use a DNSSEC system, employ firewalls with URL filtering, and regularly update the DNS records.
6. Exploitation for Privilege Escalation
   • Exploit vulnerabilities in Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) to gain elevated privileges.
   • Mitigation: Regularly patch systems, use least privilege access principles, and implement strict logging and monitoring of privileged operations.
7. Windows Management Instrumentation Event Subscription
   • Use WMI to subscribe to events that can be used for data exfiltration.
   • Mitigation: Implement strict event filtering and logging policies, and regularly audit permissions.
8. Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder
   • Modify the registry or startup folder to run malicious executables at boot time.
   • Mitigation: Regularly scan systems for unauthorized modifications, use a reliable anti-malware solution, and enable full disk encryption.
9. Cloud Account
   • Gain access to cloud services to exfiltrate data.
   • Mitigation: Use strong IAM policies, regularly audit user access, and implement multi-factor authentication for AWS (Amazon Web Services).
10. Device Registration
    • Register devices for unauthorized access or data exfiltration.
    • Mitigation: Enforce strict device management policies, use network segmentation, and monitor device activity.