Suspicious Domain Trust Discovery via Nltest

ATT&CK techniques

Discovery

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
- T1016System Network Configuration Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects nltest enumerating domain trusts, part of the Bazar and Cobalt Strike hands-on-keyboard reconnaissance run by Trickbot, Qbot and Hancitor operators after initial access. Mapping trust relationships helps the operator plan lateral movement across the forest. Nltest trust enumeration is an early sign of post-exploitation activity.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1016 — drag to rearrange

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Suspicious Domain Trust Discovery via Nltest

Pivot detection · T1016 · 9 related

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.

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