D 2024

Unraveling Network-based Pivoting Maneuvers: Empirical Insights and Challenges

HUSÁK, Martin; Shanchieh Jay YANG; Joseph KHOURY; Dorde KLISURA; Elias BOU-HARB et al.

Basic information

Original name

Unraveling Network-based Pivoting Maneuvers: Empirical Insights and Challenges

Authors

HUSÁK, Martin; Shanchieh Jay YANG; Joseph KHOURY; Dorde KLISURA and Elias BOU-HARB

Edition

Cham, Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime, p. 132-151, 20 pp. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering 571, 2024

Publisher

Springer

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Proceedings paper

Country of publisher

United States of America

Confidentiality degree

is not subject to a state or trade secret

Publication form

electronic version available online

Marked to be transferred to RIV

No

Organization

Ústav výpočetní techniky – Repository – Repository

ISBN

978-3-031-56582-3

ISSN

Keywords in English

pivoting;lateral movement;monitoring;NetFlow

Links

EH22_010/0003229, research and development project.
Changed: 26/3/2025 00:50, RNDr. Daniel Jakubík

Abstract

In the original language

Pivoting is a sophisticated strategy employed by modern malware and Advanced Persistent Threats (APT) to complicate attack tracing and attribution. Detecting pivoting activities is of utmost importance in order to counter these threats effectively. In this study, we examined the detection of pivoting by analyzing network traffic data collected over a period of 10 days in a campus network. Through NetFlow monitoring , we initially identified potential pivoting candidates, which are traces in the network traffic that match known patterns. Subsequently, we conducted an in-depth analysis of these candidates and uncovered a significant number of false positives and benign pivoting-like patterns. To enhance investigation and understanding, we introduced a novel graph representation called a pivoting graph, which provides comprehensive vi-sualization capabilities. Unfortunately, investigating pivoting candidates is highly dependent on the specific context and necessitates a strong understanding of the local environment. To address this challenge, we applied principal component analysis and clustering techniques to a diverse range of features. This allowed us to identify the most meaningful features for automated pivoting detection, eliminating the need for prior knowledge of the local environment.

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