t0830-adversary-in-the-middle

name	T0830_adversary-in-the-middle
description	Adversaries with privileged network access may seek to modify network traffic in real time using adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) attacks.
category	information-gathering
version	18.1
author	cyberstrike-official
tags	["mitre-attack","ics","t0830","collection"]
technique_id	T0830
tactic	collection
all_tactics	["collection"]
platforms	["ICS"]
mitre_url	https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T0830
tech_stack	["ics"]
cwe_ids	["CWE-200"]
chains_with	[]
prerequisites	[]
severity_boost	{}

T0830 Adversary-in-the-Middle

High-Level Description

Adversaries with privileged network access may seek to modify network traffic in real time using adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) attacks. This type of attack allows the adversary to intercept traffic to and/or from a particular device on the network. If a AiTM attack is established, then the adversary has the ability to block, log, modify, or inject traffic into the communication stream. There are several ways to accomplish this attack, but some of the most-common are Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) poisoning and the use of a proxy.

An AiTM attack may allow an adversary to perform the following attacks: Block Reporting Message, Spoof Reporting Message, Modify Parameter, Unauthorized Command Message

Kill Chain Phase

• Collection (TA0100)

Platforms: ICS

What to Check

• Identify if Adversary-in-the-Middle technique is applicable to target ICS environment
• Check ICS/SCADA systems for indicators of Adversary-in-the-Middle
• Verify mitigations are bypassed or absent (8 known mitigations)
• Assess detection coverage (1 detection strategies)

How to Test

Identify Attack Surface

Determine if the target ICS/SCADA environment is susceptible to Adversary-in-the-Middle by examining operational technology systems and network architecture.

Assess Existing Defenses

Review whether mitigations for T0830 are in place. If defenses are absent or misconfigured, this technique may be exploitable in the ICS environment.

Remediation Guide

M0930 Network Segmentation

Network segmentation can be used to isolate infrastructure components that do not require broad network access. This may mitigate, or at least alleviate, the scope of AiTM activity.

M0810 Out-of-Band Communications Channel

Utilize out-of-band communication to validate the integrity of data from the primary channel.

M0813 Software Process and Device Authentication

To protect against AiTM, authentication mechanisms should not send credentials across the network in plaintext and should also implement mechanisms to prevent replay attacks (such as nonces or timestamps). Challenge-response based authentication techniques that do not directly send credentials over the network provide better protection from AiTM.

M0814 Static Network Configuration

Statically defined ARP entries can prevent manipulation and sniffing of switched network traffic, as some AiTM techniques depend on sending spoofed ARP messages to manipulate network host's dynamic ARP tables.