Evolution of a Modern Hacking Payload
One of the most important features in Cobalt Strike is its Beacon payload. This is my capability to model advanced attackers. In this post, I’d
Use Cobalt Strike’s Beacon with Veil’s Evasion
The Veil Framework is a collection of red team tools, focused on evading detection. The Veil Evasion project is a tool to generate artifacts that
HTTP Proxy Authentication for Malware
I spend a lot of time thinking about what my tools can and can’t do. One of the weakest points for penetration testing tools is
Cobalt Strike – Innovative Offense or “just a GUI”?
In June 2012, I announced Cobalt Strike to the world. Thanks to Cobalt Strike‘s users, I build and research offensive technologies, full-time, and have done so for the past
Four Levels of Hacking Sophistication with Beacon
Beacon is Cobalt Strike’s payload for red team actions. Beacon is a stable lifeline that can serve as a communication layer. Meterpreter is a fantastic post-exploitation agent
Stealthy Peer-to-peer C&C over SMB pipes
Beacon is my payload for low and slow control of a compromised system. Recently, I added peer-to-peer communication to Beacon. When two Beacons are linked,
Beacon – An Operator’s Guide
Beacon is a payload in Cobalt Strike that has a lot of communication flexibility. This blog post is not a replacement for the documentation, but rather
Phishing System Profiles without Phone Calls
What type of reconnaissance do you do before a phishing attack? Recently, I was having dinner with new friends and inevitably, our conversation became a
Hacking through a Straw (Pivoting over DNS)
Last month, I announced Beacon’s ability to control a host over DNS. I see Beacon as a low and slow lifeline to get an active session,
That’ll never work–we don’t allow port 53 out
One of my favorite Cobalt Strike features is its ability to quietly manage a compromised system with DNS. Being rather proud of this feature, I