Data-Exfiltration

Definition

Data exfiltration is the process of an attacker stealing data from a network and transferring it to a system they control. The goal is to take information without being detected. This can include personal records, financial information, intellectual property, credentials, or anything valuable to the attacker.

Once inside a network, attackers often spend time collecting and preparing data before exfiltrating it. They may compress files, encrypt them, rename them, or split them into smaller pieces to avoid raising suspicion. They choose a channel for exfiltration that looks like normal traffic, such as HTTPS web traffic, cloud storage services, or remote administration tools.

Examples of exfiltration methods:

* Uploading files to an attacker-controlled server over HTTPS or FTP
* Using a cloud storage application already allowed in the environment
* Emailing stolen data from a compromised mailbox
* Hiding data inside normal network communications such as DNS requests

Analysts detect exfiltration by looking for:

* Large or unusual data transfers
* Access to sensitive files outside normal hours
* Connections to unknown external destinations
* Tools used for copying and transferring data

Data exfiltration is often one of the final goals of an attack. Preventing attackers from taking information is a major focus of incident response, since stolen data can lead to financial loss, regulation violations, and long-term harm to an organization’s reputation.

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