Molerats is a politically-motivated threat group that has been operating since 2012. The group's victims have primarily been in the Middle East, Europe, and the United States.
Disclaimer: We present this mapping to stimulate thinking about active defense options to combat this adversary, not to present all possibilities. We invite you to use this as a guide and add your own use cases for applying Shield techniques to counter each adversary action.
Note: All ATT&CK Group sub-technique mappings have been remapped to their parent technique and were derived from Group Technique mappings in ATT&CK v8.
ATT&CK Technique | Opportunity Space | AD Technique | Use Case |
---|---|---|---|
T1027 - Obfuscated Files or Information | In an adversary engagement scenario, there is an opportunity to introduce decoy systems that can influence an adversary's behavior or allow you to observe how they perform a specific task. | DTE0017 - Decoy System | A defender could implement a decoy system to study how and when an adversary obfuscate files and hides information. |
T1057 - Process Discovery | There is an opportunity for the defender to observe the adversary and control what they can see, what effects they can have, and/or what data they can access. | DTE0036 - Software Manipulation | A defender can modify commands such that the true list of running processes is not revealed, hiding necessary active defense processes from the adversary. |
T1057 - Process Discovery | There is an opportunity to present decoy processes to an adversary to influence their behaviors, test their interest, or add legitimacy to a system or environment. | DTE0016 - Decoy Process | A defender can run decoy processes on a system to entice an adversary. |
T1059 - Command and Scripting Interpreter | There is an opportunity for the defender to observe the adversary and control what they can see, what effects they can have, and/or what data they can access. | DTE0036 - Software Manipulation | A defender can manipulate the output of system commands issued to alter information the adversary might use during their activity. |
T1059 - Command and Scripting Interpreter | There is an opportunity for the defender to observe the adversary and control what they can see, what effects they can have, and/or what data they can access. | DTE0036 - Software Manipulation | A defender can modify the functionality of commands used to delete files so that the files are copied to a safe location before they are deleted. |
T1059 - Command and Scripting Interpreter | There is an opportunity for the defender to observe the adversary and control what they can see, what effects they can have, and/or what data they can access. | DTE0034 - System Activity Monitoring | A defender can detect the presence of an adversary by monitoring for processes that are created by commands and/or scripts they execute on a system. |
T1105 - Ingress Tool Transfer | There is an opportunity to collect network data and analyze the adversary activity it contains. | DTE0028 - PCAP Collection | Collecting full packet capture of all network traffic allows you to review what happened over the connection and identify command and control traffic and/or exfiltration activity. |
T1140 - Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information | There is an opportunity for the defender to observe the adversary and control what they can see, what effects they can have, and/or what data they can access. | DTE0003 - API Monitoring | A defender can monitor and analyze operating system functions calls for detection and alerting. |
T1204 - User Execution | There is an opportunity to study the adversary and collect first-hand observations about them and their tools. | DTE0018 - Detonate Malware | A defender can execute adversary malware on a decoy system and examine its behaviors or potentially engage with the adversary to obtain further intelligence. |
T1547 - Boot or Logon Autostart Execution | There is an opportunity to use tools and controls to stop an adversary's activity. | DTE0006 - Baseline | A defender can store good copies of registry startup keys and restore them on a frequent basis. This can prevent an adversary from using them to launch malware on system startup. |
T1553 - Subvert Trust Controls | There is an opportunity to determine adversary capabilities or preferences by controlling aspects of the engagement environment. | DTE0032 - Security Controls | In an adversary engagement scenario, a defender can implement weak security controls that an adversary could subvert in order to further their attack. |
T1553 - Subvert Trust Controls | There is an opportunity for the defender to observe the adversary and control what they can see, what effects they can have, and/or what data they can access. | DTE0003 - API Monitoring | A defender can monitor and analyze operating system functions calls for detection and alerting. |
T1555 - Credentials from Password Stores | In order to prolong an adversary engagement operation or enable detections, there is an opportunity to introduce credentials to an adversary that you want them to collect and use. | DTE0012 - Decoy Credentials | A defender can plant decoy credentials across an array of locations to increase the chances of an adversary finding and using them. |
T1566 - Phishing | A phishing email can be detected and blocked from arriving at the intended recipient. | DTE0019 - Email Manipulation | A defender can intercept emails that are detected as suspicious or malicious by email detection tools and prevent deliver to the intended target. |
T1566 - Phishing | A phishing email can be detected and moved from the intended recipient to a decoy account for reading and execution. | DTE0023 - Migrate Attack Vector | A defender can move suspicious emails to a decoy system prior to opening and examining the email. |
T1566 - Phishing | Users trained and encouraged to report phishing can detect attacks that other defenses do not. | DTE0035 - User Training | A program to train and exercise the anti-phishing skills of users can create "Human Sensors" that help detect phishing attacks. |
T1566 - Phishing | There is an opportunity to discover who or what is being targeting by an adversary. | DTE0015 - Decoy Persona | A defender can seed information about the decoy persona's personal accounts on systems to see if the adversary collects and uses that information in future activity. |