216.73.217.139

T1102.002: T1102.002

View on MITRE ATT&CK The MITRE Corporation · Published 14/03/2020 23:34 · Modified 27/03/2026 01:11

Essential information

MITRE technique ID
T1102.002
Confidence
100/100
Revoked
No
Published
14/03/2020 23:34
Modified
27/03/2026 01:11
Author / Source
The MITRE Corporation

Aliases

Bidirectional Communication

Platforms

windows macos linux ESXi

Description

Adversaries may use an existing, legitimate external Web service as a means for sending commands to and receiving output from a compromised system over the Web service channel. Compromised systems may leverage popular websites and social media to host command and control (C2) instructions. Those infected systems can then send the output from those commands back over that Web service channel. The return traffic may occur in a variety of ways, depending on the Web service being utilized. For example, the return traffic may take the form of the compromised system posting a comment on a forum, issuing a pull request to development project, updating a document hosted on a Web service, or by sending a Tweet. Popular websites and social media acting as a mechanism for C2 may give a significant amount of cover due to the likelihood that hosts within a network are already communicating with them prior to a compromise. Using common services, such as those offered by Google or Twitter, makes it easier for adversaries to hide in expected noise. Web service providers commonly use SSL/TLS encryption, giving adversaries an added level of protection.

Kill chain phases

Kill chainPhase
mitre-attack command-and-control

Marking (TLP)

TLP:CLEAR Copyright 2015-2025, The MITRE Corporation. MITRE ATT&CK and ATT&CK are registered trademarks of The MITRE Corporation.

External references

Related entities

Intrusion sets, malware, reports, vulnerabilities, indicators and other entities linked to this technique.