Dynamic Resolution: Domain Generation Algorithms T1568.002
Tactic: Command & Control
Adversaries may make use of Domain Generation Algorithms (DGAs) to dynamically identify a destination domain for command and control traffic rather than relying on a list of static IP addresses or domains. This has the advantage of making it much harder for defenders to block, track, or take over the command and control channel, as there potentially could be thousands of domains that malware can check for instructions.
Events covered
2 catalog events are tagged with this technique by at least one rule.
| Provider | Event | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Sysmon | Event ID 3 | Network connection |
| Sysmon-for-Linux | Event ID 3 | Network connection |
Authoring guide
Patterns shared across the 14 rules above: which fields they filter on, what specific values they look for, and what they exclude. The catalog normalizes field names across vendors so Sigma's Image, Elastic's process.name, and Splunk's process_name collapse into one row. Each rule contributes at most once per row.
Fields filtered most (24 distinct)
The fields most rules look at when detecting this technique. The How column shows the operators authors use (eq, wildcard, regex_match, match) and how often each appears. Sample values are concrete examples to start from, not an exhaustive list.
Top indicator values (275 distinct)
Specific (field, operator, value) combinations the rules check for, ranked by how many rules under this technique use each one. The Corpus reach column counts how many rules across the entire catalog (any technique) check the same combination. High numbers point to widely-used indicators that are likely noisy on their own; combine them with another condition for useful signal. Blank means the combination is specific to rules under this technique. Click a value to expand the rules under this technique that use it.
Exclusions (87 distinct)
Field/operator/value combinations excluded by rules under this technique (top-level not() clauses), sorted by how many rules exclude each. These are the false-positive paths the community has learned to filter out. A new rule that ignores the high-count entries here will likely fire on the same noisy paths. Click a value to expand the rules under this technique that exclude it.
Rules under this technique
Every rule in the catalog tagged with this technique, grouped by vendor. Click a rule title for its full predicates, exclusions, and indicators.
Sigma 3 rules
- Communication To Ngrok Tunneling Service - Linux
- Communication To Ngrok Tunneling Service Initiated
- DNS Resolution Failure Spike
Elastic 9 rules
- Cobalt Strike Command and Control Beacon
- Connection to Commonly Abused Web Services
- DNS to Commonly Abused Web Services
- Halfbaked Command and Control Beacon
- Machine Learning Detected a DNS Request Predicted to be a DGA Domain
- Machine Learning Detected a DNS Request With a High DGA Probability Score
- Machine Learning Detected DGA activity using a known SUNBURST DNS domain
- Possible FIN7 DGA Command and Control Behavior
- Potential DGA Activity