Techniques › T1600 › T1600.002
T1600.002 Disable Crypto Hardware
defense impairment — Network Devices · attack.mitre.org · JSON
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MITRE detection strategy
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analytics
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Sigma rules tagged attack.t1600.002
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KEV CVEs mapped here
<p>Adversaries disable a network device’s dedicated hardware encryption, which may enable them to leverage weaknesses in software encryption in order to reduce the effort involved in collecting, manipulating, and exfiltrating transmitted data.</p><p>Many network devices such as routers, switches, and firewalls, perform encryption on network traffic to secure transmission across networks. Often, these devices are equipped with special, dedicated encryption hardware to greatly increase the speed of the encryption process as well as to prevent malicious tampering. When an adversary takes control of such a device, they may disable the dedicated hardware, for example, through use of Modify System Image, forcing the use of software to perform encryption on general processors. This is typically used in conjunction with attacks to weaken the strength of the cipher in software (e.g., Reduce Key Space).</p>
KEV CVEs mapped to this technique · CTID Mappings Explorer
None. No KEV entry in the public mapping names this technique. Given that 74.7% of KEV has no mapping at all, this says more about the mapping than about the technique.
Detection strategy · ATT&CK Enterprise v19.2
- DET0494 Detection Strategy for Weaken Encryption: Disable Crypto Hardware on Network Devices v1.0
AN1360 Network DevicesDefenders may observe attempts to disable dedicated crypto hardware on network devices, often visible through anomalous CLI commands, unexpected firmware or configuration updates, and degraded encryption performance. Suspicious indicators include commands that alter hardware acceleration settings (e.g., disabling AES-NI or crypto engines), modification of system image files, or logs showing fallback from hardware to software encryption. Network traffic analysis may also reveal a sudden downgrade in throughput or cipher negotiation behavior consistent with the absence of hardware acceleration.networkdevice:cli
Execution of commands disabling crypto hardware acceleration (e.g., 'no crypto engine enable')→ DC0064 Command Executionnetworkdevice:configConfiguration changes referencing cryptographic hardware modules or disabling hardware acceleration→ DC0061 File ModificationNSM:FlowDegraded encryption throughput or switch to weaker cipher suites compared to historical baselines→ DC0085 Network Traffic ContentTunable:AuthorizedAdminAccountsBaselineThroughputApprovedFirmwareVersionsTimeWindow
Sigma rules · SigmaHQ da9bb07d64, tag attack.t1600.002
No Sigma rule carries this tag. MITRE publishes a detection strategy above, so the behaviour is specified; what is missing is public detection content.