T1029 - Scheduled Transfer

Adversaries may schedule data exfiltration to be performed only at certain times of day or at certain intervals. This could be done to blend traffic patterns with normal activity or availability.

When scheduled exfiltration is used, other exfiltration techniques likely apply as well to transfer the information out of the network, such as Exfiltration Over C2 Channel or Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol.

Atomic Tests:

Currently, no tests are available for this technique.

Detection

Monitor process file access patterns and network behavior. Unrecognized processes or scripts that appear to be traversing file systems and sending network traffic may be suspicious. Network connections to the same destination that occur at the same time of day for multiple days are suspicious.

Shield Active Defense

Network Monitoring

Monitor network traffic in order to detect adversary activity.

Network monitoring involves capturing network activity data, including capturing of server, firewall, and other relevant logs. A defender can then review them or send them to a centralized collection location for further analysis.

Opportunity

There is an opportunity to monitor network traffic for different protocols, anomalous traffic patterns, transfer of data, etc. to determine the presence of an adversary.

Use Case

The defender can implement network monitoring for and alert on anomalous traffic patterns, large or unexpected data transfers, and other activity that may reveal the presence of an adversary.

Procedures

Capture network logs for internet-facing devices and send those logs to a central collection location. Capture all network device (router, switches, proxy, etc.) logs on a decoy network and send those logs to a central collection location.