Redazione RHC : 29 July 2025 16:10
Living off the land means surviving on what you can forage, hunt, or grow, making the most of what nature provides. There could be multiple reasons for doing this: maybe you want to get “off the land,” or maybe you have something or someone to hide from.
Or maybe you simply enjoy the challenge of being self-sufficient.
A Living off the Land (LotL) attack describes a cyber attack in which intruders use legitimate software and functions available on the system to perform malicious actions on it.
LotL attack operators search target systems for tools, such as operating system components or installed software, that they can use to achieve their goals. LotL attacks are often classified as fileless because they leave no artifacts behind. behind.
Typically, prevention technologies use a signature-based approach to detect and quarantine malicious processes. They can also use hash values or other indicators of compromise (such as IoC signatures) to detect a malicious process.
Of course, using pre-existing software prevents the process from being flagged as suspicious.
Most LotL attacks use the following legitimate tools:
Attackers using this attack method leave no traces in the form of malicious files on the devices’ hard drives, so Living Off the Land attacks cannot be detected by comparing signatures, as is often the case with traditional malware.
Furthermore, operating system tools, such as PowerShell and WMI, can appear in the security software’s whitelist, which also prevents their anomalous activity from being detected.
Finally, the use of legitimate tools by adversaries also complicates the investigation and attribution of cyberattacks. To counter LotL attacks, cybersecurity professionals typically use behavioral analysis-based solutions. The technology detects the anomalous program and user activity, actions that could indicate an ongoing attack or unspecified or suspicious activity.
Redazione