H3XAOperational intelligence
Live analytical pictureEvidence before assessment
TypeTechnique
External ID—
First seen2026-08-14
Last seen2026-08-14

Confidence

—

Adversaries may compromise third-party infrastructure that can be used during targeting. Infrastructure solutions include physical or cloud servers, domains, network devices, and third-party web and DNS services. Instead of buying, leasing, or renting infrastructure an adversary may compromise infrastructure and use it during other phases of the adversary lifecycle.(Citation: Mandiant APT1)(Citation: ICANNDomainNameHijacking)(Citation: Talos DNSpionage Nov 2018)(Citation: FireEye EPS Awakens Part 2) Additionally, adversaries may compromise numerous machines to form a botnet they can leverage. Use of compromised infrastructure allows adversaries to stage, launch, and execute operations. Compromised infrastructure can help adversary operations blend in with traffic that is seen as normal, such as contact with high reputation or trusted sites. For example, adversaries may leverage compromised infrastructure (potentially also in conjunction with [Digital Certificates](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1588/004)) to further blend in and support staged information gathering and/or [Phishing](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1566) campaigns.(Citation: FireEye DNS Hijack 2019) Adversaries may also compromise numerous machines to support [Proxy](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1090) and/or proxyware services or to form a botnet.(Citation: amnesty_nso_pegasus)(Citation: Sysdig Proxyjacking) Additionally, adversaries may compromise infrastructure residing in close proximity to a target in order to gain [Initial Access](https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0001) via [Wi-Fi Networks](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1669).(Citation: Nearest Neighbor Volexity) By using compromised infrastructure, adversaries may enable follow-on malicious operations. Prior to targeting, adversaries may also compromise the infrastructure of other adversaries.(Citation: NSA NCSC Turla OilRig)

11 recorded

Relationships

mitigatesMitigation
subtechnique-of
from Botnet
Technique
subtechnique-ofTechnique
subtechnique-of
from Domains
Technique
subtechnique-ofTechnique
subtechnique-of
from Server
Technique
subtechnique-ofTechnique
subtechnique-ofTechnique
subtechnique-ofTechnique
13 external

References

mitre-attack
T1584
open
amnesty_nso_pegasus
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2021/07/forensic-methodology-report-how-to-catch-nso-groups-pegasus/
open
Sysdig Proxyjacking
https://sysdig.com/blog/proxyjacking-attackers-log4j-exploited/
open
FireEye DNS Hijack 2019
https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2019/01/global-dns-hijacking-campaign-dns-record-manipulation-at-scale.html
open
ICANNDomainNameHijacking
https://www.icann.org/en/ssac/registration-services/documents/sac-007-domain-name-hijacking-incidents-threats-risks-and-remediation-12-07-2005-en
open
Koczwara Beacon Hunting Sep 2021
https://michaelkoczwara.medium.com/cobalt-strike-c2-hunting-with-shodan-c448d501a6e2
open
Nearest Neighbor Volexity
https://www.volexity.com/blog/2024/11/22/the-nearest-neighbor-attack-how-a-russian-apt-weaponized-nearby-wi-fi-networks-for-covert-access/
open
Mandiant APT1
https://www.fireeye.com/content/dam/fireeye-www/services/pdfs/mandiant-apt1-report.pdf
open
Talos DNSpionage Nov 2018
https://blog.talosintelligence.com/2018/11/dnspionage-campaign-targets-middle-east.html
open
NSA NCSC Turla OilRig
https://media.defense.gov/2019/Oct/18/2002197242/-1/-1/0/NSA_CSA_Turla_20191021%20ver%204%20-%20nsa.gov.pdf
open
Mandiant SCANdalous Jul 2020
https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/scandalous-external-detection-using-network-scan-data-and-automation/
open
ThreatConnect Infrastructure Dec 2020
https://threatconnect.com/blog/infrastructure-research-hunting/
open
FireEye EPS Awakens Part 2
https://web.archive.org/web/20151226205946/https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2015/12/the-eps-awakens-part-two.html
open