T1521: Encrypted Channel
Essential information
- MITRE technique ID
T1521- Confidence
- 100/100
- Revoked
- No
- Published
- 17/12/2025 22:48
- Modified
- 27/03/2026 01:41
- Author / Source
- The MITRE Corporation
Aliases
T1521
Platforms
android iOS
Description
Adversaries may explicitly employ a known encryption algorithm to conceal command and control traffic rather than relying on any inherent protections provided by a communication protocol. Despite the use of a secure algorithm, these implementations may be vulnerable to reverse engineering if necessary secret keys are encoded and/or generated within malware samples/configuration files.
Kill chain phases
| Kill chain | Phase |
|---|---|
| mitre-mobile-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.