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MITRE ATT&CK sub-technique

T1685.003 — Modify or Spoof Tool UI

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T1685.003 (Modify or Spoof Tool UI) is a MITRE ATT&CK sub-technique tracked in WhisperGraph, serving the Defense Impairment tactic.

Description

Adversaries may spoof or manipulate security tool user interfaces (UIs) to falsely indicate tools are functioning normally and delay detection and response. Adversaries may present misleading or falsified security tool interfaces (UIs) that display normal or healthy status indicators, even when underlying security tools have been disabled, degraded, or otherwise tampered with. Security tools typically provide visibility into system health, alerting, and operational status; by misrepresenting this information, adversaries can undermine defender trust in these signals and obscure the true security posture of the system. This behavior is often used in conjunction with efforts to disable or modify tools, where adversaries first impair the functionality of defenses (e.g., EDR, logging agents) and then replace or mimic their interfaces to conceal the loss of visibility. By maintaining the appearance of normal operations, such as showing active protection, successful updates, or absence of threats, adversaries can delay investigation and response, enabling continued malicious activity. For example, adversaries may display a fake Windows Security interface or system tray icon indicating a “protected” or “healthy” state after disabling Windows Defender or related services.(Citation: BlackBasta)

Tactics

Related techniques

Parent technique: T1685 · Disable or Modify Tools

Threat actors observed using this technique

No threat actor is recorded using T1685.003 in WhisperGraph.

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

Related pages

Pivot from T1685.003 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.