Messaging Applications (T1213.005)

Tactic: Collection

Tactics
Collection
Platforms
Office Suite, SaaS
Reference
attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1213.005

Description

Adversaries may leverage chat and messaging applications, such as Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, and Slack, to mine valuable information.

The following is a brief list of example information that may hold potential value to an adversary and may also be found on messaging applications:

  • Testing / development credentials (i.e., Chat Messages)
  • Source code snippets
  • Links to network shares and other internal resources
  • Proprietary data(Citation: Guardian Grand Theft Auto Leak 2022)
  • Discussions about ongoing incident response efforts(Citation: SC Magazine Ragnar Locker 2021)(Citation: Microsoft DEV-0537)

In addition to exfiltrating data from messaging applications, adversaries may leverage data from chat messages in order to improve their targeting - for example, by learning more about an environment or evading ongoing incident response efforts.(Citation: Sentinel Labs NullBulge 2024)(Citation: Permiso Scattered Spider 2023)

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GTK Cyber's hands-on training programs cover detection engineering across the MITRE ATT&CK framework, including the Collection tactic this technique falls under. Our practitioner-led courses focus on building real detections, not just memorizing technique IDs.

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