MITRE ATT&CKtechnique

T1200 Hardware Additions

Published 2018-04-18 Modified 2025-10-24 Official page ↗
Domain
enterprise
Tactics
Initial Access
Platforms
Windows, Linux, macOS
Version
1.7
Created
2018-04-18

Description

Adversaries may physically introduce computer accessories, networking hardware, or other computing devices into a system or network that can be used as a vector to gain access. Rather than just connecting and distributing payloads via removable storage (i.e. Replication Through Removable Media), more robust hardware additions can be used to introduce new functionalities and/or features into a system that can then be abused. While public references of usage by threat actors are scarce, many red teams/penetration testers leverage hardware additions for initial access. Commercial and open source products can be leveraged with capabilities such as passive network tapping, network traffic modification (i.e. Adversary-in-the-Middle), keystroke injection, kernel memory reading via DMA, addition of new wireless access points to an existing network, and others.

Related

Tactic · MITRE ATT&CK (1)

  • TA0001 Initial Access tactic

Referenced by MITRE ATT&CK · mitigates (2)

  • M1034 Limit Hardware Installation mitigation
  • M1035 Limit Access to Resource Over Network mitigation

Referenced by MITRE ATT&CK · uses (1)

  • G0105 DarkVishnya group

Referenced by CAPEC · att&ck technique (1)

  • CAPEC-440 Hardware Integrity Attack attack pattern

Referenced by Compliance · mitigates (8)

  • CIS-12.2 Establish and Maintain a Secure Network Architecture CIS Safeguard v8.1
  • CIS-12.6 Use of Secure Network Management and Communication Protocols CIS Safeguard v8.1
  • CIS-13.9 Deploy Port-Level Access Control CIS Safeguard v8.1
  • NIST-AC-20 Use of External Systems NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-AC-3 Access Enforcement NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-AC-6 Least Privilege NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-MP-7 Media Use NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-SC-41 Port and I/O Device Access NIST 800-53 control

References