MITRE ATT&CK® Techniques
MITRE ATT&CK Detection Training
Master detection for 85+ MITRE ATT&CK® techniques across all major tactics. Each technique includes real detection strategies, example alerts from SIEM, XDR, and Firewall tools, and links to hands-on training in SOCSimulator Operations.
What is MITRE ATT&CK®?
- MITRE ATT&CK® Framework
- MITRE ATT&CK® (Adversarial Tactics, Techniques, and Common Knowledge) is a globally accessible knowledge base of adversary tactics and techniques based on real-world observations. SOC analysts use the framework to classify threats, build detection rules, assess security coverage, and communicate about attack behavior in a common language.
Each technique describes a specific method adversaries use to achieve their goals: from gaining initial access to exfiltrating data and causing impact. SOCSimulator maps its training operations and shift mode scenarios directly to MITRE ATT&CK® techniques, so every alert you investigate teaches you something real. Start free.
“ATT&CK is used by defenders, threat intelligence teams, and red teamers worldwide to improve their understanding of adversary behavior and strengthen organizational security posture.”
Tactics
Browse by Tactic
MITRE ATT&CK® organizes techniques into 14 tactical categories representing an adversary's objectives during an attack.
Initial Access
7 techniquesPhishing
For a SOC analyst, phishing surfaces as the opening move of most intrusions: a crafted email, SMS, or chat message that ...
Exploit Public-Facing Application
This technique matters to defenders because it turns an internet-exposed service into an entry point: an adversary sends...
External Remote Services
Detection here centers on the legitimate doors into the network: VPNs, RDP gateways, Citrix, and similar remote-access s...
Valid Accounts
Valid Accounts is among the hardest abuses to spot because nothing is technically broken, the adversary simply authentic...
Supply Chain Compromise
Supply Chain Compromise plants the threat upstream, by tampering with development tools, source repositories, build pipe...
Trusted Relationship
Trusted Relationship abuses an organization indirectly, through a third party that already holds access, such as a manag...
Drive-by Compromise
Drive-by Compromise (T1189) is initial access with no click on anything obviously malicious: a user visits a legitimate ...
Execution
7 techniquesCommand and Scripting Interpreter
Because interpreters such as PowerShell, cmd.exe, bash, WMI, and Python ship on every host and are trusted by most contr...
User Execution
User Execution depends on a human taking the final step, enabling a macro, double-clicking an attachment, or running a d...
Scheduled Task/Job
Scheduled tasks give adversaries timed or recurring execution that survives reboots, making them a favorite for both exe...
Windows Management Instrumentation
WMI is a trusted, built-in Windows management layer, which is exactly why adversaries use it to execute code locally and...
System Services
This technique executes code by creating or starting system services and daemons, which run with high privilege and can ...
Exploitation for Client Execution
Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203) is code execution bought with a document, not a login: the attacker weaponizes...
Container Administration Command
Container Administration Command (T1609) covers attackers using kubectl exec, docker exec, or a direct call to the kubel...
Persistence
8 techniquesBoot or Logon Autostart Execution
This persistence class abuses the built-in startup plumbing of the operating system so a payload relaunches at every boo...
Create Account
Creating a new account gives an adversary credentialed access that outlives the original foothold and needs no implanted...
Account Manipulation
Account Manipulation keeps an already-compromised account usable by changing its properties rather than creating a new o...
Scheduled Task
The Windows-specific Scheduled Task sub-technique abuses Task Scheduler, via schtasks, the COM API, or the management co...
Create or Modify System Process
Create or Modify System Process establishes persistence by installing a new service or altering an existing one so a pay...
Hijack Execution Flow
Hijack Execution Flow tricks the operating system into loading attacker code by abusing how it resolves programs and lib...
Server Software Component
Server Software Component (T1505) covers attackers extending a legitimate server application, IIS module, mail transport...
Software Extensions
Software Extensions (T1176) covers persistence through malicious browser and IDE add-ons: a Chrome extension force-loade...
Privilege Escalation
4 techniquesAbuse Elevation Control Mechanism
Here the adversary does not exploit a bug but abuses the legitimate elevation controls themselves, such as Windows UAC, ...
Access Token Manipulation
Windows uses access tokens to decide which security context a process runs under, and this technique manipulates them so...
Exploitation for Privilege Escalation
This technique exploits a software or kernel vulnerability to run attacker-controlled code at a higher privilege level, ...
Process Injection
Process Injection runs adversary code inside the address space of another live process, so execution hides behind a legi...
Defense Evasion
8 techniquesIndicator Removal
Indicator Removal is the cleanup step: an adversary deletes or alters the artifacts that would expose the intrusion, cle...
Masquerading
Masquerading dresses malicious artifacts as benign ones to slip past users and tooling, renaming a payload to svchost.ex...
Obfuscated Files or Information
Obfuscation makes a payload hard to read or scan by encoding, encrypting, compressing, or packing its contents on disk o...
Impair Defenses
Impair Defenses is the adversary blinding the defenders, disabling or reconfiguring firewalls, antivirus, EDR, and loggi...
System Binary Proxy Execution
This technique proxies malicious execution through signed, trusted system binaries, the so-called LOLBins, so the activi...
Modify Registry
Modify Registry covers adversaries reading from or writing to the Windows Registry to hide configuration, erase traces, ...
Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information
Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information (T1140) is the step that turns a smuggled blob back into a working payload: cert...
Indirect Command Execution
Indirect Command Execution (T1202) is command execution without a command-line interpreter in the process chain: attacke...
Credential Access
10 techniquesBrute Force
Brute Force covers any guess-driven path to credentials: classic password guessing, password spraying a few common passw...
OS Credential Dumping
Credential dumping harvests hashes or plaintext secrets from where the OS stores them: LSASS memory, the SAM hive, cache...
Steal or Forge Kerberos Tickets
This technique subverts Kerberos by stealing tickets from memory or forging them from domain secrets, enabling Pass-the-...
Credentials from Password Stores
This technique loots the places that deliberately concentrate secrets, browser-saved passwords, the Windows Credential M...
Unsecured Credentials
Unsecured Credentials is the adversary harvesting secrets that were left in the clear, in configuration files, source co...
Modify Authentication Process
Modify Authentication Process tampers with the components that verify identity, LSASS and authentication packages on Win...
Multi-Factor Authentication Request Generation
Multi-Factor Authentication Request Generation (T1621) is what an attacker does with an already-stolen password: instead...
Adversary-in-the-Middle
Adversary-in-the-Middle (T1557) is when an attacker sits between two systems to intercept, relay, or steal session data,...
Steal Web Session Cookie
Steal Web Session Cookie (T1539) is credential access without credentials: an infostealer, a malicious browser extension...
Steal Application Access Token
Steal Application Access Token (T1528) is OAuth abuse: an attacker registers a rogue app in Entra ID, then phishes a use...
Discovery
8 techniquesAccount Discovery
Account Discovery is reconnaissance: after gaining a foothold the adversary lists local, domain, or cloud accounts to ma...
Network Service Discovery
Here an adversary scans hosts and network devices to find listening services and exploitable versions, typically with Nm...
File and Directory Discovery
File and Directory Discovery is the adversary surveying the filesystem to decide what is worth taking and whether to kee...
Remote System Discovery
Remote System Discovery is the adversary mapping other hosts, by IP, hostname, or directory identifier, to choose latera...
Process Discovery
Process Discovery lists the processes running on a host so the adversary can identify installed security tools, find sof...
System Information Discovery
System Information Discovery gathers details about the host, OS version, patch level, hardware, and architecture, so the...
System Network Connections Discovery
This technique enumerates current network connections and listening ports so the adversary can map topology, find paths ...
Cloud Infrastructure Discovery
Cloud Infrastructure Discovery (T1580) is an attacker mapping an IaaS tenant with its own APIs: DescribeInstances, ListB...
Lateral Movement
3 techniquesRemote Services
Remote Services lateral movement reuses valid credentials against services built to accept remote sessions, RDP, SSH, VN...
Lateral Tool Transfer
Once inside, adversaries copy their tooling from host to host to support lateral movement, commonly over SMB admin share...
Use Alternate Authentication Material
Use Alternate Authentication Material (T1550) is how an attacker moves laterally without ever learning a password: repla...
Collection
9 techniquesData from Local System
This is the collection step on a single host: the adversary searches local drives, configuration files, the registry, an...
Email Collection
Email Collection targets mailboxes for the sensitive data they hold, by reading local PST files, pulling messages in bul...
Archive Collected Data
Archive Collected Data is the staging step where the adversary compresses and often encrypts gathered files before exfil...
Data Staged
Data Staged is the adversary consolidating collected data into one central location, a temp folder, hidden directory, or...
Data from Information Repositories
Data from Information Repositories (T1213) is the collection step after access: an adversary mines SharePoint, Confluenc...
Data from Cloud Storage
Data from Cloud Storage (T1530) is the theft itself: an adversary who already holds a valid credential or token pulls ob...
Input Capture
Input Capture (T1056) is malware reading what the user types before it ever hits an application: a hidden process regist...
Screen Capture
Screen Capture (T1113) is how an infostealer or RAT grabs what it cannot read from disk: whatever is on the victim's mon...
Clipboard Data
Clipboard Data (T1115) is the quiet assist behind crypto theft and credential leakage: malware reads the OS clipboard wi...
Command and Control
7 techniquesApplication Layer Protocol
Adversaries run command and control inside common application protocols, HTTP, HTTPS, DNS, and mail, so the traffic blen...
Ingress Tool Transfer
Ingress Tool Transfer is the adversary pulling additional tools into the victim environment from outside, over the C2 ch...
Protocol Tunneling
Protocol Tunneling hides traffic by encapsulating one protocol inside another, for example wrapping C2 inside DNS, ICMP,...
Remote Access Tools
Remote Access Tools (T1219) is command-and-control hiding in plain sight: instead of custom malware, the adversary drive...
Proxy
Proxy (T1090) is how attackers add distance between themselves and their command-and-control: chaining internal tunnels ...
Data Encoding
Data Encoding (T1132) is how malware disguises command and control traffic as normal web or DNS activity: base64, hex, o...
Encrypted Channel
Encrypted Channel (T1573) covers malware that wraps its command-and-control traffic in its own encryption, either a symm...
Exfiltration
4 techniquesExfiltration Over C2 Channel
Here stolen data leaves through the same channel already used for command and control, encoded into the existing C2 prot...
Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol
In contrast to exfil over the C2 channel, this technique sends data out over a different protocol and often a different ...
Exfiltration Over Web Service
Exfiltration Over Web Service (T1567) is data theft that hides inside traffic your firewall already allows: instead of a...
Transfer Data to Cloud Account
Transfer Data to Cloud Account (T1537) is exfiltration that never crosses the network perimeter: the attacker shares an ...
Impact
6 techniquesData Encrypted for Impact
This is the ransomware payload stage: the adversary encrypts files across local and network drives and withholds the key...
Service Stop
Service Stop is the adversary turning off services to clear the way for damage or to hinder response, frequently halting...
System Shutdown/Reboot
Adversaries shut down or reboot systems to cut off legitimate access or to finalize destructive actions such as boot or ...
Inhibit System Recovery
Inhibit System Recovery (T1490) is the move right before ransomware encrypts: the attacker destroys the backups a victim...
Resource Hijacking
Resource Hijacking (T1496) is an attacker stealing your compute for their profit: dropping a cryptominer like XMRig, ren...
Financial Theft
Financial Theft (T1657) is MITRE's Impact-tactic umbrella for the payout stage of an intrusion: BEC wire fraud, ransomwa...
Reconnaissance
2 techniquesPhishing for Information
Phishing for Information (T1598) is reconnaissance dressed as routine email: the attacker asks for credentials, a callba...
Gather Victim Identity Information
Gather Victim Identity Information (T1589) is the reconnaissance step before the real attack: an adversary collects empl...
Resource Development
2 techniquesAcquire Infrastructure
Acquire Infrastructure (T1583) is how an adversary builds the domains, servers and cloud accounts they will attack from,...
Stage Capabilities
T1608 Stage Capabilities is Resource Development: before any user is touched, the adversary uploads malware, installs a ...
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about MITRE ATT&CK® detection training and SOCSimulator.
- What is the MITRE ATT&CK® framework and why do SOC analysts need it?
- MITRE ATT&CK® is a globally accessible knowledge base of adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) based on real-world observations. SOC analysts use it to classify threats, build detection rules, measure security coverage gaps, and communicate about attack behavior in a standardized language that teams and vendors understand.
- How does SOCSimulator teach MITRE ATT&CK® techniques?
- SOCSimulator maps every training scenario and alert to specific MITRE ATT&CK® techniques. When you investigate alerts in Operations or Shift Mode, you practice detecting real techniques like T1566 Phishing or T1059 Command-Line Interface using realistic SIEM, XDR, and Firewall interfaces. Each technique page includes detection strategies, example alerts, and links to hands-on practice.
- Do I need prior experience to start learning ATT&CK detection?
- No. SOCSimulator is designed for analysts at all levels. Techniques are tagged by difficulty (easy, medium, hard) so beginners can start with foundational detection scenarios like phishing triage and progress to advanced techniques like lateral movement and defense evasion. The platform is free.
- How many MITRE ATT&CK® techniques does SOCSimulator cover?
- SOCSimulator currently covers 50+ MITRE ATT&CK® techniques across all 12 major tactics, from Initial Access through Impact. Each technique includes multiple detection strategies, realistic example alerts across SIEM, XDR, and Firewall tools, and hands-on training scenarios in Operations.
- Can I use SOCSimulator to prepare for SOC analyst certifications?
- Yes. SOCSimulator provides hands-on experience that complements certifications like CompTIA CySA+, GIAC GSOC, and BTL1. Practicing MITRE ATT&CK®-mapped detection scenarios builds the practical skills that certification exams test, including alert triage, threat investigation, and incident response decision-making.
Practice Detecting These Techniques
SOCSimulator puts you in the analyst seat with real alerts, real pressure, and zero consequences. Investigate MITRE ATT&CK®-mapped scenarios in our guided Operations or face a full shift in Shift Mode. Start free.
