T1052: Exfiltration Over Physical Medium
Adversaries may attempt to exfiltrate data via a physical medium, such as a removable drive. In certain circumstances, such as an air-gapped network compromise, exfiltration could occur via a physical medium or device introduced by a user. Such media could be an external hard drive, USB drive, cellular phone, MP3 player, or other removable storage and processing device. The physical medium or device could be used as the final exfiltration point or to hop between otherwise disconnected systems.
How it's found
Detection of Data Exfiltration via Removable Media: Detects removable drive insertion followed by unusual file access, compression, or staging activity by unauthorized users or unexpected processes. Detects mounted external devices (via /media or /mnt) followed by large file read or copy operations by shell scripts, unauthorized users, or staging tools (e.g., tar, rsync). Detects mounting of external volumes followed by high-volume or sensitive file access via Finder, terminal, or third-party apps (e.g., rsync, zip).
Sub-techniques
T1052.001: Exfiltration over USB
Adversaries may attempt to exfiltrate data over a USB connected physical device. In certain circumstances, such as an air-gapped network compromise, exfiltration could occur via a USB device introduced by a user. The USB device could be used as the final exfiltration point or to hop between otherwise disconnected systems.
Standards mapping
Where this fits in a TurboPentest engagement
This weakness is not covered by the automated black-box pentest. IntegSec pentesters cover it in a manual engagement.
Frequently asked questions
What is T1052 Exfiltration Over Physical Medium?
Adversaries may attempt to exfiltrate data via a physical medium, such as a removable drive. In certain circumstances, such as an air-gapped network compromise, exfiltration could occur via a physical medium or device introduced by a user. Such media could be an external hard drive, USB drive, cellular phone, MP3 player, or other removable storage and processing device. The physical medium or device could be used as the final exfiltration point or to hop between otherwise disconnected systems.
Which tactics does T1052 belong to?
T1052 maps to the Exfiltration tactic.
Does TurboPentest test for Exfiltration Over Physical Medium?
This weakness is not covered by the automated black-box pentest. IntegSec pentesters cover it in a manual engagement.
Related MITRE ATT&CK techniques
About this reference
These security references are maintained by IntegSec, an offensive-security firm whose team holds CISSP, OSCP, and OSCE certifications and has run thousands of penetration tests. Content is kept current as tools, standards, and attack techniques evolve.
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