When Eric M. Hutchins, Michael J. Cloppert, and Rohan M. Amin published their paper “Intelligence-Driven Computer Network Defense Informed by Analysis of Adversary Campaigns and Intrusion Kill Chains” in late 2010, they changed the way security personnel thought about defending their digital assets. The paper continues to be a useful model for defense today. This article proposes ways that modern network-derived evidence applies to the kill chain.

As a principal security researcher on Corelight’s Labs team, I help to solve difficult network security research problems at scale. Corelight’s customers might recognize some of my work if you see the packages “VPN Insights” or “App ID” on your sensors. Outside of my day-to-day role, I have a hobby podcast called eCrimeBytes where we lightheartedly discuss an electronic crime case each week.

As promised, we wanted to dedicate a blog to detections and findings from the network operations center (NOC) at Black Hat Asia 2023 as a follow up to our Lessons Learned blog. Some of these discoveries may not surprise the seasoned analyst or senior threat hunter – but will hopefully provide a little entertainment, because the more things change, the more they stay the same.

While there have been many intrusions, compromises, breaches, and incidents that have made news in the IT and InfoSec industries throughout 2022 and into this year, when events or threats like Storm-0558 gain coverage by mainstream media, we often get questions about Corelight’s ability to detect threats through our sensors, products & platform.

Trust is hard to earn but necessary for any successful relationship. As organizations build the systems to support Zero Trust, they find themselves balancing security and functionality across their operations. Incident Response and Network Operations in particular can be full of traumatic experiences, and as we sink into those moments the typical responses are freeze, flight, or fight.

In terms of unencrypted traffic, several highly used protocols lend themselves to logging and can significantly reduce the burden of packet capture without lowering the fidelity of information or the capabilities of analysts.

Increasingly, security teams are tasked with identifying, understanding, and managing risk around devices that may live outside the traditional IT umbrella. Operational Technology (OT) refers to computing systems that are used to manage and process operational functions as opposed to administrative operations, with Industrial Control Systems (ICS) being a major segment of that OT sector.

Last month, Corelight had the distinct privilege of joining Cisco, NetWitness, Palo Alto Networks, Arista, and our internet service provider, MyRepublic, to provide availability and network security overwatch to the Black Hat Asia network in Singapore. This marked our first appearance in the Black Hat Network Operations Center (NOC).

Several months ago, we announced that our strategic alliance partner CrowdStrike decided to use our Open NDR technology across its professional services portfolio. This wasn’t just a meaningful validation for us—it was also a testament to the importance CrowdStrike places in arming its world-class Services teams with the technology that can best ensure the protection of its customers.

Whether or not you made it to RSA 2023, here are two key themes we saw throughout this year’s conference.