According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs) represent the behavioral patterns and methodologies used by cyber attackers to carry out their malicious activities.
TTPs serve as the behavioral blueprint of threat actors, detailing their strategies, specific methods, and step-by-step actions. Understanding these patterns can help organizations gain insights into the attacker’s thinking, helping organizations develop defenses against cyber threats.
What are TTPs?
The NIST Guide to Cyber Threat Information Sharing breaks down TTPs in the following way:
- Tactics: The overarching goals or strategies of attackers. These are the high-level objectives they aim to achieve during a cyberattack, such as gaining initial access, maintaining persistence, or exfiltrating sensitive data.
- Techniques: The attacker's specific methods or approaches to achieve their tactical goals. For example, a technique for gaining initial access could be spear phishing, while a technique for maintaining persistence might involve installing a backdoor.
- Procedures: The specific, detailed steps or actions taken to execute techniques. These are the exact instructions and sequences followed by attackers to carry out their techniques. For instance, the procedure for spear phishing could include crafting a convincing email, selecting targets, and sending the email to induce the target to click a malicious link.
The role of TTPs in cyber threat intelligence
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) outlines the best practices for leveraging frameworks to map and interpret threat actor behavior across various stages of an attack.
In this outline, TTPs are organized hierarchically to offer insights into adversary actions:
- Tactics: Represent the strategic "why"—the adversary’s overarching goals and motivations behind their actions.
- Techniques: Illustrate the "how"—specific methods employed to achieve those tactical objectives.
- Procedures: Detail the "what"—precise instances of how techniques are executed in real-world scenarios.
Advantages of understanding TTPs
- Building comprehensive threat profiles: Mapping adversary behavior to specific TTPs allows security teams to create detailed profiles of threat actors and uncover patterns in their operations.
- Enabling systematic analysis: The structured nature of TTP frameworks ensures methodical examination of cyber incidents, providing consistent and thorough threat assessments across various attack scenarios.
- Improving detection capabilities: With insights into specific TTPs, organizations can craft targeted detection rules that focus on identifying behaviors rather than relying solely on indicators of compromise (IoCs).
- Strengthening defense strategies: Understanding the full spectrum of potential attack methods through TTPs helps organizations prioritize defenses and allocate resources where needed most.
Go deeper: What is the difference between IOCs and IOAs?
Why TTPs matter
- Pattern recognition: By identifying recurring attack patterns, security teams can respond to threats faster and more effectively.
- Gap analysis: Comparing known TTPs to existing defenses helps organizations identify weaknesses and improve their security posture.
- Actionable intelligence: TTPs provide context-rich insights into how and why incidents occur, enabling tailored and effective countermeasures.
- Predictive defense: Familiarity with common TTPs allows organizations to anticipate potential attack methods and take proactive security measures.
How to make TTP-based analysis effective
- Gather sufficient technical context before associating behaviors with specific TTPs.
- Avoid assumptions without clear evidence.
- Collaborate with peers to validate TTP mappings.
- Document intelligence gaps for future refinement.
- Maintain consistent mapping practices across teams and tools.
FAQs
What does it mean when an attacker installs a back door?
When an attacker installs a backdoor, they create a covert method to access a system or network without going through the usual authentication processes. This hidden entry point allows them to maintain persistent access, bypass security measures, and continue their malicious activities undetected. Backdoors can be installed through malware, exploiting vulnerabilities, or manipulating legitimate software.
What challenges are associated with using TTPs?
Challenges include keeping up with evolving adversary methods, ensuring accurate mapping of behaviors, and maintaining collaboration and consistency across teams.
