Focusing on the Weakest Link: A Similarity Analysis on Phishing Campaigns Based on the ATT&CK Matrix

Abstract

In the past, phishing techniques were a common means of attack carried out by individuals or small groups via spam mail on a randomly selected target. However, in recent years, phishing techniques have been adopted by advanced persistent threat (APT) groups to attack organizations such as the Sony Pictures Enterprise and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power. As such, our study aims to analyze the past campaigns conducted by the APT groups. We aim to propose a countermeasure that corresponds to the phishing campaign by collecting datasets pertaining to the phishing techniques. Based on our past study, we collected private and public data from 16 different cases that utilize a phishing attack. Our research adopted MITRE’s ATT&CK framework and tactic, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to extract and examine the various campaigns. The framework proposed in this study makes considerable contributions to both the private and public sectors, as the framework aids the organizations in counteracting the malicious threats performed by the APT groups.