What is the MITRE ATT&CK Framework?
The MITRE ATT&CK framework is a carefully selected knowledge base documenting network attack strategies and techniques throughout the attack lifecycle. The framework is intended not only for data collection, but also for use as a tool that can strengthen security processes in organizations.
Because MITRE ATT&CK sees cyberattacks from the opponent's point of view, it makes it easier possible for security operations teams to infer the motivation of specific actions that make up an attack, understand the relationship between these actions, and apply the appropriate level of defenses.
MITRE ATT&CK data is primarily obtained through public threat intelligence and incident reports, as well as research by network security analysts and threat hunters. Security teams can use it to better understand the different ways malicious actors work, and to detect and stop hostile behavior.
Using the MITRE ATT&CK Framework
The MITRE ATT&CK framework can have several important benefits for security organizations:
To implement MITRE ATT&CK, organizations typically integrate with security tools or perform manual mapping. The following are cybersecurity tools that are commonly integrated with MITRE ATT&CK data:
What is XDR?
Enhanced Detection and Response (XDR) solutions are used to automatically detect and repair security issues in hybrid systems. XDR tools analyze data and manage responses to attacks on networks, endpoints, cloud services and applications. The main advantage of XDR is that it can protect complex mixed environments, while existing detection and response solutions are limited to a single layer of the IT environment, such as endpoint security or network security.
XDR solutions provide a single system for managing any security issue, regardless of its source. It can also be used to simplify detection and remediation for security teams by merging multiple alerts from different detection technologies into one, coherent attack story.
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) software and Network Detection and Response (NDR) software work the same way as XDR, but are limited to specific systems. For example, many NDR solutions can analyze and troubleshoot local networks, but cannot support the detection and response of cloud workloads or remote endpoints. XDR can extend security across all these environments and provide visibility using a single, unified interface.
Mitre ATT&CK and XDR: Mapping TTPs to Live Security Events
According to Gartner (News - Alert), one of the biggest problems with XDR platforms is the fact that it does not have sufficiently diverse threat intelligence sources. Integrating XDR with MITRE data can resolve this problem, providing several benefits:
Putting the MITRE ATT&CK framework into the hands of an incident response team provides a clear, standardized, reliable methodology for identifying hostile behavior. Combining this with XDR, MITRE ATT&CK can integrate with automated SOC workflows, helping XDR solutions determine what constitutes an attack and how to mitigate specific attacker tactics and techniques.
XDR also facilitates the direct mapping and correlation of ATT&CK tactics, skills and procedures with live security events, to improve situational awareness. XDR provides visualizations, reducing the burden on analysts to identify patterns and evaluate recommended preventive measures.
I hope this will be of help as you implement more advanced threat intelligence, detection and response solutions in your organization.