Cobalt strike trial software#

Overview of a Cobalt Strike attackĬobalt Strike has distinctive TTPs (tools, techniques and procedures) and evasive features for each stage of the attack.įigure 1: Cyber kill chain with Cobalt Strike Even prior to the reporting of the leaked version, 66% of ransomware attacks were found to use Cobalt Strike.

With sophisticated capabilities of subtle command and control (C2), privilege escalation, and lateral movement, the tools have become a favorite for ransomware gangs.

Cobalt strike trial software#

This suddenly made the software readily available, and highly appealing for cyber-criminals: rather than requiring a paper trail and licensing, its source code was freely available for customization and use in offensive campaigns. Users claimed that the leaked platform did indeed function similarly, if not identically, to the commercial version, and even included a commented-out licensing check. That all changed in late 2020, when a GitHub repository appeared hosting a decompiled version of the framework. As the framework was previously only available with a commercial license, it gave security teams a distinct advantage over threat actors when preparing for attacks.

Robust and reliable software combined with innovative features such as DNS tunnelling, lateral movement tools for privilege escalation, and PowerShell support, have made it a desirable option for organizations wanting to test their own cyber defenses. Since its release in 2012, Cobalt Strike has become a popular platform for red teams and ethical hackers.