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MITRE ATT&CK technique

T1685 — Disable or Modify Tools

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T1685 (Disable or Modify Tools) is a MITRE ATT&CK technique tracked in WhisperGraph, serving the Defense Impairment tactic.

Description

Adversaries may disable, degrade, or tamper with security tools or applications (e.g., endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools, intrusion detection systems (IDS), antivirus, logging agents, sensors, etc.) to impair or reduce visibility of defensive capabilities. This may include stopping specific services, killing processes, modifying or deleting tool configuration files and Registry keys, or preventing tools from updating. This may also include impairing defenses more broadly by disrupting preventative, detection, and response mechanisms across host, network, and cloud environments.(Citation: SCADAfence_ransomware) In addition to directly targeting tools, adversaries may block or manipulate indicators and telemetry used for detection. This includes maliciously disabling or redirecting sensors such as Event Tracing for Windows (ETW), modifying event log configurations (e.g., redirecting Security logs), or interfering with logging pipelines and forwarding mechanisms (e.g., SIEM ingestion).(Citation: Microsoft Lamin Sept 2017)(Citation: ETW Palantir) More advanced techniques include leveraging legitimate drivers or debugging mechanisms to render tools non-functional, bypassing anti-tampering protections, and targeting specific defenses such as Sysmon or cloud monitoring agents. Adversaries may also disrupt broader defensive operations, including update mechanisms, logging infrastructure (e.g., syslog), or event aggregation, further degrading an organization’s ability to detect and respond to malicious activity.(Citation: Cocomazzi FIN7 Reboot)

Tactics

Related techniques

Threat actors observed using this technique

© The MITRE Corporation. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of The MITRE Corporation.

Related pages

Pivot from T1685 into its tactic, related techniques and the actors that use it.

Queries

Resolves the segment to this technique or tactic.


MATCH (t:ATTACK_PATTERN {name: $id})
RETURN t.id AS id, t.name AS name, t.kind AS kind, t.description AS description
Run yourself →

The tactic(s) this technique serves.


MATCH (t:ATTACK_PATTERN {name: $id})-[:USES_TACTIC]->(tac:ATTACK_PATTERN)
RETURN tac.id AS id, tac.name AS name
LIMIT 10
Run yourself →

This id's parent technique, if it is a sub-technique.


MATCH (p:ATTACK_PATTERN {name: $parentId})
RETURN p.id AS id, p.name AS name
LIMIT 1
Run yourself →

Sub-techniques of this technique, if any.


MATCH (c:ATTACK_PATTERN) WHERE c.id STARTS WITH $subPrefix
RETURN c.id AS id, c.name AS name
ORDER BY c.id
LIMIT 25
Run yourself →

Threat actors observed using this technique.


MATCH (a:ACTOR)-[:USES_TECHNIQUE]->(t:ATTACK_PATTERN {name: $id})
RETURN a.name AS name
LIMIT 100
Run yourself →

Or query Whisper from your own LLM workflow via the Whisper MCP server.