# T1048 - Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol

## SOC Recommendation
Investigate Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol activity in the context of Exfiltration: confirm scope, affected host/identity, and whether it matches expected administrative behaviour before deciding this is benign.

## D3FEND Mappings
| D3FEND Technique | Relationship | Practical SOC Action |
|---|---|---|
| User Geolocation Logon Pattern Analysis | Detect | Monitor for User Geolocation Logon Pattern Analysis indicators relevant to this technique. |
| File Encryption | Harden | Apply File Encryption to reduce this technique's viability before an incident occurs. |
| File Eviction | Evict | Use File Eviction to remove the adversary's foothold once this technique is confirmed. |
| Network Traffic Filtering | Isolate | Apply Network Traffic Filtering to contain the blast radius once this technique is observed. |

## Investigation Steps
1. order by BytesSent desc

## Evidence to Collect
- Host or resource affected
- Account or identity involved
- Timestamp of the activity
- Related process, file, or network artifact
- Any preceding or follow-on alerts

## Response Actions
| Action | Risk | Automation Safe | Approval Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Block destination IP/domain at firewall and Sentinel TI watc | Medium | No | Yes |
| Identify and inventory all transferred files | Low | No | Yes |
| Notify customer DPO if personal data involved — ICO 72h cloc | Low | Yes | No |
| Preserve transfer logs as forensic evidence | Low | No | Yes |

## KQL
```kql
let Baseline = (
    CommonSecurityLog
    | where TimeGenerated between (ago(30d) .. ago(1d))
    | where DeviceAction !in ("deny", "block", "drop")
    | where DestinationIP !startswith "10." and DestinationIP !startswith "192.168."
    | summarize AvgHourlyBytes = avg(SentBytes), StdDev = stdev(SentBytes) by SourceIP
);
CommonSecurityLog
| where TimeGenerated >= ago(1h)
| where DeviceAction !in ("deny", "block", "drop")
| where DestinationIP !startswith "10." and DestinationIP !startswith "192.168."
| summarize RecentBytes = sum(SentBytes) by SourceIP, DeviceName
| join kind=inner Baseline on SourceIP
| where AvgHourlyBytes > 0
| where RecentBytes > (AvgHourlyBytes + 4 * StdDev)
| extend AnomalyRatio = round(RecentBytes / AvgHourlyBytes, 1)
| where AnomalyRatio > 5
| project SourceIP, DeviceName, RecentBytes, AvgHourlyBytes, AnomalyRatio
| extend timestamp = now(), HostCustomEntity = DeviceName, IPCustomEntity = SourceIP
| order by AnomalyRatio desc
```
```kql
//TOR Node Network Indicators - Block Recommended
let timeFrame= 5m;
CyfirmaIndicators_CL 
| where ConfidenceScore >= 80
    and TimeGenerated between (ago(timeFrame) .. now())
    and pattern !contains 'file:hashes' and RecommendedActions has 'Block' and Roles has 'TOR'
| extend IPv4 = extract(@"ipv4-addr:value\s*=\s*'([^']+)'", 1, pattern)
| extend IPv6 = extract(@"ipv6-addr:value\s*=\s*'([^']+)'", 1, pattern)
| extend URL = extract(@"url:value\s*=\s*'([^']+)'", 1, pattern)
| extend Domain = extract(@"domain-name:value\s*=\s*'([^']+)'", 1, pattern)
| extend parsed = parse_json(extensions)
| extend extensionKeys = bag_keys(parsed)
| mv-expand extensionKeys
| extend extensionKeyStr = tostring(extensionKeys)
| extend ext = parsed[extensionKeyStr]
| extend props = ext.properties
| extend 
    extension_id = extensionKeyStr,
    ASN_Owner = props.asn_owner,
    ASN = props.asn,
    ProviderName = 'CYFIRMA',
    ProductName = 'DeCYFIR/DeTCT'
| project
    IPv4,
    IPv6,
    URL,
    Domain,
    ThreatActors,
    RecommendedActions,
    Sources,
    Roles,
    Country,
    IPAbuse,
    name,
    Description,
    ConfidenceScore,
    IndicatorID,
    created,
    modified,
    valid_from,
    Tags,
    ThreatType,
    TimeGenerated,
    SecurityVendors,
    ProductName,
    ProviderName
```
```kql
//TOR Node Network Indicators - Monitor Recommended 
let timeFrame= 5m;
CyfirmaIndicators_CL 
| where ConfidenceScore >= 80
    and TimeGenerated between (ago(timeFrame) .. now())
    and pattern !contains 'file:hashes' and RecommendedActions has 'Monitor' and Roles has 'TOR'
| extend IPv4 = extract(@"ipv4-addr:value\s*=\s*'([^']+)'", 1, pattern)
| extend IPv6 = extract(@"ipv6-addr:value\s*=\s*'([^']+)'", 1, pattern)
| extend URL = extract(@"url:value\s*=\s*'([^']+)'", 1, pattern)
| extend Domain = extract(@"domain-name:value\s*=\s*'([^']+)'", 1, pattern)
| extend parsed = parse_json(extensions)
| extend extensionKeys = bag_keys(parsed)
| mv-expand extensionKeys
| extend extensionKeyStr = tostring(extensionKeys)
| extend ext = parsed[extensionKeyStr]
| extend props = ext.properties
| extend 
    extension_id = extensionKeyStr,
    ASN_Owner = props.asn_owner,
    ASN = props.asn,
    ProviderName = 'CYFIRMA',
    ProductName = 'DeCYFIR/DeTCT'
| project
    IPv4,
    IPv6,
    URL,
    Domain,
    ThreatActors,
    RecommendedActions,
    Sources,
    Roles,
    Country,
    IPAbuse,
    name,
    Description,
    ConfidenceScore,
    IndicatorID,
    created,
    modified,
    valid_from,
    Tags,
    ThreatType,
    TimeGenerated,
    SecurityVendors,
    ProductName,
    ProviderName
```

## Escalation Criteria
- Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol activity observed on a privileged account or critical system.
- Activity follows or precedes other suspicious behaviour in the same investigation.
- Automated triage cannot confidently rule out malicious intent.

## False Positive Considerations
- Legitimate administrative or maintenance activity matching this pattern.
- Approved security testing or red team exercise.
- Known benign software producing similar telemetry.

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