AV-Comparatives: Enhanced Real-World Test 2020 – Enterprise

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Introduction

“Advanced persistent threat” is a term commonly used to describe a targeted cyber-attack that employs a complex set of methods and techniques to penetrate information system(s). Different aims of such attacks could be stealing / substituting / damaging confidential information, or establishing sabotage capabilities, the last of which could lead to financial and reputational damage of the targeted organisations. Such attacks are very purposeful, and usually involve highly specialized tools. The tools employed include heavily obfuscated malicious code, the malicious use of benign system tools, and non-file-based malicious code.

In our Advanced Threat Protection Test (Enhanced Real-World Test), we use hacking and penetration techniques that allow attackers to access internal computer systems. These attacks can be broken down into Lockheed Martin’s Cybersecurity Kill Chain, and seven distinct phases – each with unique IOCs (Indicators of Compromise) for the victims. All our tests use a subset of the TTP (Tactics, Techniques, Procedures) listed in the MITRE ATT&CK framework. A false alarm test is also included in the report.

The tests use a range of techniques and resources, mimicking malware used in the real world. Some examples of these are given here. We make use of system programs, in an attempt to bypass signature-based detection. Popular scripting languages (JavaScript, batch files, PowerShell, Visual Basic scripts, etc.) are used.

The tests involve both staged and non-staged malware samples, and deploy obfuscation and/or encryption of malicious code before execution (Base64, AES).

Different C2 channels are used to connect to the attacker (HTTP, HTTPS, TCP). Use is made of known exploit frameworks (Metasploit Framework, Meterpreter, PowerShell Empire, Puppy, etc.).

To represent the targeted system, we use fully patched 64-bit Windows 10 systems, each with a different AV product installed. In the enterprise test, the target user has a standard user account. In the consumer test, an admin account is targeted. For this reason and others (e.g. possibly different settings), the results of the Consumer Test should not be compared with those of the Enterprise Test.

Once the payload is executed by the victim, a Command and Control Channel (C2) to the attacker’s system is opened. For this to happen, a listener has to be running on the attacker’s side. For example, this could be a Metasploit Listener on a Kali Linux system. Using the C2 channel, the attacker has full access to the compromised system. The functionality and stability of this established access is verified in each test-case.

The test consists of 15 different attacks. It currently focuses on protection, not on detection, and is carried out completely manually. Whilst the testing procedure is necessarily complex, we have used a fairly simple description of it in this report. This is in accordance with reader feedback, and we hope that it will make it comprehensible to a wider audience.

We congratulate all those vendors who took part in the test, even those whose products did not get the best scores, as they are striving to make their software better.

Scope of the test

The Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) Test looks at how well the tested products protect against very specific targeted attack methods. It does not consider the overall security provided by each program, or how well it protects the system against malware downloaded from the Internet or introduced via USB devices.

It should be considered as a complement to the Real-World Protection Test and Malware Protection Test, not a replacement for either of these. Consequently, readers should also consider the results of other tests in our Main-Test Series when evaluating the overall protection provided by any individual product. This test focuses on whether the security products protect against specific attack/exploitation techniques used in advanced persistent threats. Readers who are concerned about such attacks should consider the products participating in this test, whose vendors were confident of their ability to protect against these threats in the test.

Differences between the MITRE ATT&CK Test and our ATP Test

Whilst our Advanced Threat Protection Test makes use of elements of the ATT&CK framework, it is a very different sort of test from the ATT&CK Test. The ATT&CK Test principally evaluates enterprise security products with investigative and response capabilities in situations where the respective vendors actively monitor the attack being performed in real time. This is sometimes also referred as “red and blue team testing”. The emphasis is very much on detecting and logging attack processes (visibility), alerting administrators, and providing data to assist with manual threat-hunting and threat-countering measures.

For the ATT&CK Test, vendors set their products to “log-only” mode, in order to find out as much as possible about the attack chain. Such tests very definitely have their uses and provide valuable data. However, protecting individual systems against infection, and thus system/data damage, is not the principle aim in such a test. We also note that ATT&CK Test does not provide a final scoring or ranking system; rather, it provides raw data for analysis.

Our ATP Test, on the other hand, aims to determine how well a security product protects the system on which it is installed in everyday use. The critical question is whether the product protects the system against the attack, whereby it is not important which protection component blocks the attack, or at which stage the attack is stopped, provided the system is not compromised. We also consider false alarms in our test.

Differences between our ATP Test and our EPR Test

Our ATP (Advanced Threat Protection) Test focusses on protection (as opposed to detection or information gathering). The stage at which the attack is blocked is not relevant, provided the system is ultimately protected. The ATP Test is run for both consumer and business products, and so is of interest to all users. Consequently, we have tried to make it easier to understand for non-expert users.

Our EPR (Endpoint Protection and Response) Test, on the other hand, does take into account which stage(s) an attack reaches before being detected and blocked. It also looks at any responses made, and considers total cost of ownership. The EPR Test is only for enterprise products, and is more complex. The intended audience are IT security professionals in larger enterprises.
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