Just like every security solution has a framework to weed out malicious processes, so does every attacker to penetrate an infrastructure or bypass perimeter defenses. The cyber kill chain is a concept that was designed to identify and stop sophisticated attacks before they escalated or impacted organizations. It covers multiple stages of these attacks and showcases the relevance of threats. Cyber kill chains can be used to improve incident management and response models.
They have security benefits when they are understood and implemented right. Security teams can find out about their shortcomings and ask future questions that benefit the business. It also informs an organizations’ cybersecurity strategies and bolsters defenses. This guide will talk about what is a cyber kill chain, highlight common cyber kill chain steps, and discuss more about the framework. If you’re curious about cyber kill chains, then this post is a great starting point.
What is a Cyber Kill Chain?
The Cyber Kill Chain is an intelligence driven defense model that was first created by Lockheed Martin. Its purpose was to help security teams break down cyber attacks, understand them, and divide into stages. It’s a cyber kill chain model that maps out the phases an attacker goes through before they can successfully penetrate defenses.
Cyber kill chain stages outline how long advanced persistent threats (APTs) last and showcase sequences of events. They cover all stages from initial reconnaissance to achieving the attacker’s goals.
Cyber Kill Chain vs MITRE ATT&CK
A cyber kill chain offers a detailed view of adversarial behaviors and tactics. It is often used in red teaming, forensic analysis, and incident response. The MITRE ATT&CK framework is designed to deliver greater insights and provide more adaptability against various threats. Cyber kill chains are used to build solid foundations and develop proactive defense strategies. They work great for organizations that use a mix of intrusion detection systems, firewalls, and modern security solutions.
When a business wants a more in-depth view of how attackers operate on the cloud and across endpoint environments, then the MITRE ATT&CK framework benefits them. A cyber kill chain protocol can halt an attack in its tracks and serve as a valuable tool for enhancing security operations. MITRE ATT&CK is more granular, flexible, and maps out real-world attack techniques, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). MITRE ATT&CK can also be used to respond to threats from any stage of attack, irrespective of where they happen in the attack cycle.
Concerns Related to the Cyber Kill Chain
The cyber kill chain model is unsuitable for detecting multi-vector attacks since it follows a linear approach. It can only chart out threats that take a predictable path. Cyber kill chain processes can be quickly dismantled if any attacks go beyond the sequence. The cyber kill chain also doesn’t consider insider threats and web-based attacks. It’s a static threat detection model that focuses solely on external threats. As it relies on perimeter security and malware detection, it doesn’t work well for cloud-based security environments.
Although the Cyber Kill Chain was framed in 2011, the framework hasn’t been updated to adapt to the changing nature of cyber threats. It’s not particularly effective against ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) level threats and features limited detection profiles. The Cyber Kill Chain is not flexible and cannot handle complex attack scenarios. It also lacks the threat intelligence that is needed to be analyzed from multiple sources. It can even miss less sophisticated attacks, such as “spray and pray” tactics or threats that don’t follow the regular patterns.
How the Cyber Kill Chain Works?
The Cyber Kill Chain will break down an attack into several steps and stages. It takes a structured approach to recognizing how adversaries move and discusses how to disrupt them at every stage. It won’t view an attack as a singular event.
It will continue to seek and counter attackers’ moves as early as possible in the attack cycle. If the organization fails to implement its measures, it may face serious consequences in the long run. Essentially, the Cyber Kill Chain is a roadmap or blueprint that organizations can follow to stay protected and defend against the latest cyber threats.
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7 Stages of the Cyber Kill Chain
There are seven stages to the cyber kill chain and they are as follows:
1. Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the first stage of the Cyber Kill Chain model. It provides insights about potential targets and studies them. You also learn about their vulnerabilities and find out which third parties these targets may be connected to. You will also explore other potential entry points, find new ones, and reconnaissance can happen both online and offline as well.
2. Weaponization
Cyber weapons and killchain tools will be used to attack and penetrate the target’s network. These tools can range from malware, ransomware strains, payloads, and other malicious variants.
3. Delivery
The adversaries will try to reach users and send a wide variety of phishing means that contain malicious links. The subject lines in these emails will try to coax or prompt the victim into taking action. After delivery is successful, the adversary can hack into the organization’s network and exploit hardware and software vulnerabilities further.
4. Exploitation
Attackers will try to penetrate networks deeper and take advantage of the vulnerabilities that they discovered and exploited in the previous steps. They will try to advance in their objectives and attempt to move laterally across networks to reach bigger targets. If any targets are responsible for the network and have not deployed necessary security measures, then attackers will go after them.
5. Installation
The installation phase involves attempting to install malware and other ransomware variants on the target networks. The attackers will try to take control over your systems and exfiltrate sensitive data. They may also install other cyberweapons, trojan horses, backdoors, and command-line interfaces.
6. Command-and-Control (C2)
In the command-and-control phase of the cyberkill chain, attackers will try to communicate with the malware they’ve just planted onto your networks. They will instruct the tools to carry out specific tasks remotely. The attackers will use communication channels to control computers that have been infected with their malware and botnets. They can try to overload websites with traffic or instruct C2 servers to carry out their mission.
7. Actions on Goals
This is the final stage where attackers will try to carry out their objectives and succeed in them. Their goals can vary depending on the type of cyber attack that they are launching. Some attackers will try to interrupt your services, take them down or make the organization go completely online. They might distribute malware to steal sensitive data, launch denial of service attacks, or use ransomware as a means of extorting the organization.
Limitations of the Cyber Kill Chain
Here are some cons and limitations of cyber kill chains:
- One of the biggest weaknesses of cyber killchain phases is that they cannot detect insider threats. Attacks that use compromised credentials by unauthorized parties also can’t be detected. Web-based attacks go unnoticed by the cyber killchain framework. Some examples of these are SQL injections, DOS and DDOS attacks, cross-site scripting, and zero-day exploits.
- Cyber killchain models can also miss attacks that are not too complicated. These can include examples such as attacks which don’t involve a lot of research and lack sophistication.
- The cyber killchain framework can miss basic variants, especially spray-and-pray attack tactics that can craftily avoid the best laid-out detection schemes by pure accident.
Real-World Examples of Cyber Kill Chain in Action
Here are some real-world examples of cyber kill processes in action:
Target Data Breach (2013)
Attackers began reconnaissance with the discovery of vulnerabilities in Target’s third-party HVAC vendor Fazio Mechanical. Following the malware weaponization of phishing emails, they delivered the payload to Fazio employees and used legitimate vendor credentials to penetrate Target’s network. Memory-scraping malware was loaded onto point-of-sale machines, and via command-and-control communication, stole 70 million customer records and 40 million credit card numbers.
Sony Pictures Entertainment Hack (2014)
Attackers performed extensive reconnaissance of Sony’s infrastructure prior to wiper malware and backdoors being weaponized. Spear-phishing messages carried the malware tools, using stolen administrator credentials, to disseminate malicious payloads across the network. Command-and-control channels persisted for months, resulting in data destruction, stolen films, and ransom demands to prevent The Interview’s release.
SolarWinds Supply Chain Compromise (2020)
Threat actors used the SolarWinds update process for spying, using legitimate updates as weapons through the SUNBURST backdoor. Malware spread to 18,000 users via hijacked builds using silent update vectors to deliver payloads, and command-and-control communications made use of domain generation algorithms for evasion purposes in order to allow access to both commercial and governmental networks containing sensitive information.
Colonial Pipeline Ransomware Attack (2021)
DarkSide ransomware attackers took advantage of Colonial Pipeline’s VPN vulnerabilities during the reconnaissance phase and employed payloads tailored to operational technology environments. Stolen credentials provided initial access, taking advantage of password reuse and lack of multi-factor authentication. Installation of ransomware interrupted pipeline operations, with command-and-control channels observing encryption status until a $4.4 million ransom was paid.
Improve Security with the Cyber Kill Chain and SentinelOne
SentinelOne’s AI threat detection platform can apply the Cyber Kill Chain model and put it in action. You can detect reconnaissance operations with SentinelOne’s network monitoring features. SentinelOne’s Offensive Security Engine stays multiple steps ahead of adversaries and can detect threats before they occur, even predicting them. During the delivery and weaponization stages, SentinelOne’s behavioral AI engines identify malicious URLs and files before they execute on endpoints. You will have signature-free, real-time detection for identifying new threats.
Once attackers have reached the exploitation stage, SentinelOne’s ActiveEDR technology monitors system activity to identify and block malicious activity. You should implement SentinelOne’s automated response capabilities to isolate affected endpoints immediately when suspicious activities occur. For the installation phase, SentinelOne provides rollback capabilities that can revert malicious changes. You can get comprehensive visibility into all system activities through SentinelOne’s unified management console. SentinelOne can map out assets, resources, accounts, and other events across entire cloud estates.
As attackers conduct command-and-control communications, SentinelOne detects and blocks outgoing connections to malicious servers. SentinelOne can block lateral movements across networks and prevent escalating privileges. It can quarantine threats and fight against ransomware, malware, shadow IT, zero-days, social engineering, and more. You can also use SentinelOne to safely backup your sensitive data and ensure strong data security. SentinelOne’s forensic tools allow for detailed post-incident investigation, helping you understand attack patterns and strengthen defenses against future attempts.
Conclusion
Understanding the Cyber Kill Chain empowers security teams to disrupt attacks at any stage, maximizing protection against evolving threats. You can turn this framework into actionable defense strategies by mapping security controls to each phase. SentinelOne transforms this theoretical model into practical protection through its autonomous platform, providing visibility and response capabilities across all stages of an attack. If you need comprehensive protection against sophisticated threats, SentinelOne delivers the tools necessary for modern defense.
Deploy SentinelOne today. Stop attacks immediately.
FAQs
The Cyber Kill Chain is an intelligence-driven defense framework created by Lockheed Martin that breaks down cyber attacks into seven steps that occur sequentially. You can apply this framework to understand attack sequences and build targeted defenses at each step. It shows how the attackers move from initial reconnaissance to achieving the goal.
The seven phases are: 1) Reconnaissance – target information gathering, 2) Weaponization – development of malicious payloads, 3) Delivery – delivering weapons to targets, 4) Exploitation – execution of malicious code, 5) Installation – gaining persistence, 6) Command-and-Control – creating remote access channels, and 7) Actions on Objectives – carrying out attacker objectives such as data theft or destruction.
Organizations implement the Kill Chain model by aligning defense measures with each stage of attack. They can install early warning monitoring tools at reconnaissance, email filters for blocking delivery, endpoint protection for exploitation and installation phases, network monitoring for C2 detection, and data protection controls in the last step.
The Cyber Kill Chain helps you find threats by providing a systematic means to look for attack indicators in every stage. You can look for reconnaissance through unusual scanning, delivery through suspicious email, and installation through new files or registry changes. If you are looking for these stage-specific indicators, you’ll detect attacks earlier in their cycle.
You can stop attacks by interrupting them at any point along the Cyber Kill Chain. By stopping reconnaissance through network hardening, removing malicious email attachments, patching vulnerabilities to avoid exploitation, or intercepting C2 communications, you’ll interrupt attacks before they are finished. You will require several layers of security aimed at different phases to have optimal protection.
Critics point out the Cyber Kill Chain is too structured for contemporary attacks. You will find it less effective in combating insider threats, web attacks, and cloud environments. The model presupposes linear advancement when actual attacks hop around. You should be aware it has not been revised extensively since 2011, thus less relevant against newer threats such as ransomware-as-a-service.
Lockheed Martin developed the Cyber Kill Chain methodology in 2011 as one of their Intelligence-Driven Defense initiatives. You may remember that it was based on the military theory of “kill chain” operations, but adapted to cybersecurity. The methodology was developed to help organizations better understand and fight Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) by breaking down attacks into specific, addressable phases.