Hey there, fellow threat hunters! 👋 Welcome back to part 2 of our MITRE ATT&CK journey! Last time, we built a solid foundation by setting up our data fetching infrastructure. If you haven't read part 1 yet, I highly recommend checking it out first.

Today, we're going to dive into something really exciting - mapping relationships between different MITRE ATT&CK components. We've got techniques, groups, and mitigations all waiting to be connected!

The Power of Relationships

Why are relationships so important? Well, imagine trying to defend against threats without knowing which groups use which techniques, or which mitigations counter which attacks. That's like playing chess without knowing how the pieces move!

Enter the TechniqueMapper

The star of today's show is our TechniqueMapper class. This beautiful piece of code handles all the complex relationships between techniques, groups, and mitigations. Let's break it down:

    class TechniqueMapper:
    def __init__(self, attack):
        self.attack = attack
    
    def map_groups_to_technique(self, technique_id: str) -> List[Dict[str, Any]]:
        """Maps groups to a specific technique"""
        try:
            if not technique_id:
                return []
                
            tech_obj = self.attack.get_object_by_attack_id(technique_id, "attack-pattern")
            if not tech_obj:
                logger.warning(f"Could not find technique object for {technique_id}")
                return []
                
            logger.debug(f"Getting groups for technique {technique_id}")
            
            groups = self.attack.get_groups_using_technique(tech_obj.id)
            return [make_json_serializable(group) for group in groups] if groups else []
            
        except Exception as e:
            logger.error(f"Error mapping groups for technique {technique_id}: {str(e)}")
            return []

Understanding the Mapping Process

Our mapping process involves three main components:

1. Group Mapping

First, we map threat groups to techniques. This tells us who's using what:

    def map_groups_to_technique(self, technique_id: str) -> List[Dict[str, Any]]:
    tech_obj = self.attack.get_object_by_attack_id(technique_id, "attack-pattern")
    groups = self.attack.get_groups_using_technique(tech_obj.id)
    return [make_json_serializable(group) for group in groups]

2. Mitigation Mapping

Next, we map mitigations to techniques. This helps us understand our defense options:

    def map_mitigations_to_technique(self, technique_id: str) -> List[Dict[str, Any]]:
    tech_obj = self.attack.get_object_by_attack_id(technique_id, "attack-pattern")
    mitigations = self.attack.get_mitigations_mitigating_technique(tech_obj.id)
    return [make_json_serializable(mitigation) for mitigation in mitigations]

3. Making Everything JSON-Serializable

One of the trickiest parts was dealing with STIX objects. They're great for storing data, but not so great for JSON serialization. Here's our solution:

    def make_json_serializable(obj):
    """Convert STIX objects to dictionaries"""
    if hasattr(obj, 'serialize'):
        return json.loads(obj.serialize())
    elif isinstance(obj, dict):
        return {k: make_json_serializable(v) for k, v in obj.items()}
    elif isinstance(obj, list):
        return [make_json_serializable(i) for i in obj]
    return obj

Putting It All Together

The magic happens in our map_all_data function:

    def map_all_data(data: Dict[str, Any]) -> List[Dict[str, Any]]:
    """Main function to map all relationships"""
    attack = data['attack']
    
    mapper = TechniqueMapper(attack)
    mapped_data = mapper.map_all_techniques(data['techniques'])
    
    # Ensure everything is JSON serializable
    return make_json_serializable(mapped_data)

The Results

When you run this code, you'll get something like this:

24-12-22 14:07:35,539 - __main__ - INFO - Loaded 799 techniques
2024-12-22 14:07:35,539 - __main__ - INFO - Loaded 174 groups
2024-12-22 14:07:35,539 - __main__ - INFO - Loaded 268 mitigations
2024-12-22 14:07:35,539 - __main__ - INFO - Mapping relationships
2024-12-22 14:07:35,539 - mapper - INFO - Mapping techniques to groups and mitigations...
2024-12-22 14:07:43,882 - mapper - INFO - Processed 50/799 techniques...

Pro Tips for Working with the Mapper

1. Cache Your Results: The mapping process can be time-consuming. Save the results!
2. Handle Edge Cases: Not all techniques have groups or mitigations. Always check for empty results.
3. Log Everything: When dealing with complex relationships, logging is your best friend.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Here are some things we learned the hard way:

• STIX Object Serialization: Always use make_json_serializable before trying to save or transmit data
• Circular References: STIX objects can have circular references - our serialization handles this
• Error Handling: Network issues, missing data, invalid references - there's a lot that can go wrong

Debugging Tips

When things go wrong (and they will), here's how to debug:

    def debug_technique_mapping(technique_id: str):
    """Helper function for debugging mapping issues"""
    logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
    tech_obj = self.attack.get_object_by_attack_id(technique_id, "attack-pattern")
    logger.debug(f"Technique object: {tech_obj}")
    groups = self.attack.get_groups_using_technique(tech_obj.id)
    logger.debug(f"Found {len(groups)} groups for technique {technique_id}")
    return groups

Real-World Example

Let's look at what our mapped data actually looks like. Here's a snippet for the technique T1059.001 (PowerShell):

What's Next?

Now that we have our data all mapped and connected, we can do some really interesting analysis. In our next post, we'll:

• Create visualizations of technique usage patterns
• Analyze which groups use which combinations of techniques
• Build heat maps of technique popularity

Stay tuned for Part 3 where we'll turn this mapped data into actionable intelligence! 🕵️‍♂️

Getting the Code

Want to try it yourself? The complete code is available in our project.
https://github.com/SecurityScriptographer/mitre

Remember to check out Part 1 first to set up your environment properly.

Until next time, happy hunting! And remember - in threat intelligence, connections matter! 🔍

References

• Cyberchef
  
• NIST CSF