analyzing-cyber-kill-chain

Analyzing Cyber Kill Chain

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Conducting post-incident analysis to determine how far an adversary progressed through an attack sequence
• Designing layered defensive controls with the goal of interrupting attacks at the earliest possible phase
• Producing threat intelligence reports that communicate attack progression to non-technical stakeholders

Do not use this skill as a standalone framework — combine with MITRE ATT&CK for technique-level granularity beyond what the 7-phase kill chain provides.

Prerequisites

• Complete incident timeline with forensic artifacts mapped to specific adversary actions
• MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise matrix for technique-level mapping within each kill chain phase
• Access to threat intelligence on the suspected adversary group's typical kill chain progression
• Post-incident report or IR timeline from responding team

Workflow

Step 1: Map Observed Actions to Kill Chain Phases

The Lockheed Martin Cyber Kill Chain consists of seven phases. Map all observed adversary actions:

Phase 1 - Reconnaissance: Adversary gathers target information before attack.

• Indicators: DNS queries from adversary IP, LinkedIn scraping, job posting analysis, Shodan scans of organization infrastructure

Phase 2 - Weaponization: Adversary creates attack tool (malware + exploit).

• Indicators: Malware compilation timestamps, exploit document metadata, builder artifacts in malware samples

Phase 3 - Delivery: Adversary transmits weapon to target.

• Indicators: Phishing emails, malicious attachments, drive-by downloads, USB drops, supply chain compromise

Phase 4 - Exploitation: Adversary exploits vulnerability to execute code.

• Indicators: CVE exploitation events in application/OS logs, memory corruption artifacts, shellcode execution

Phase 5 - Installation: Adversary establishes persistence on target.

• Indicators: New scheduled tasks, registry run keys, service installation, web shells, bootkits