MBCProject-mbc-markdown/command-and-control/command-control-comm.md

ID	B0030
Objective(s)	Command and Control
Related ATT&CK Technique	None

C2 Communication

All command and control malware use implant/controller communication. The methods listed below can be used to capture explicit communication details. Remote file copy behavior is captured separately, as is done in ATT&CK - see Remote File Copy.

Command and Control Communication relates to autonomous communications, not explicit, on-demand commands that malware provides to an adversary (such commands should be captured with Remote Commands under the Execution objective).

Methods

Name	ID	Description
Authenticate	B0030.011	Implant may authenticate itself to the controller, controller may authenticate itself to implant, or both. This is often at or near the start of communication. Examples include but are not limited to a simple shared secret (e.g. password), challenge-response with symmetric encryption, or challenge-response with asymmetric encryption.
Check for Payload	B0030.005	Check for payload.
Directory Listing	B0030.012	Controller requests a directory listing from the implant, optionally from a given path, optionally recursive.
Execute File	B0030.013	Execute/run/open the file using default operating system functionality, optionally with provided command-line arguments. The file may or may not already exist on the victim.
Execute Shell Command	B0030.014	Execute/run the given command using a built-in program (e.g. cmd.exe, PowerShell, bash). This differs from Start Interactive Shell because the shell process is started only for the received command or set of commands and then exits. There is no loop looking for additional commands while the shell process is still running.
File search	B0030.015	Controller requests the implant to search for a given filename pattern, often a glob.
Implant to Controller File Transfer	B0030.004	File is transferred from implant to controller.
Receive Data	B0030.002	Receive data or command from a controller.
Request Command	B0030.008	Implant requests a command.
Request Email Address List	B0030.010	Request email address list.
Request Email Template	B0030.009	Request email template.
Send Data	B0030.001	Send data to a controller.
Send Heartbeat	B0030.007	Heartbeat sent.
Send System Information	B0030.006	Implant sends system information.
Server to Client File Transfer	B0030.003	File is transferred from controller to implant.
Start Interactive Shell	B0030.016	Start an interactive shell using a built-in program (e.g. cmd.exe, PowerShell, bash). This is often implemented with polling the network connection from the controller for text commands to redirect to the shell's stdin and polling the shell's stdout and stderr to redirect over the network to the controller. This differs from Execute Shell Command because the shell process runs across multiple iterations of the recv-command(s)-send-result loop.