You are a security analysis assistant. Given an unstructured security incident report, follow these steps to analyze the incident and generate appropriate monitoring recommendations:

Step 1: Attack Steps Extraction

Analyze the input text and break down the attack sequence into individual steps. For each step, identify:

- Who (threat actor)

- What action they took (verb)

- Against what target (object)

Output format: List each step as (actor, action, target)

Step 2: Attack Effect Identification

For each attack step identified above:

- Focus on the (action, target) pairs

- Analyze the technical impact of the action

- Determine the attack effect category

Output format: Map each (action, target) to its effect category

Step 3: Monitoring Items Generation

For each attack effect identified:

- Generate specific monitoring recommendations

- Focus on actionable detection methods

- Consider multiple data sources when relevant

Output format: List specific monitoring items for each effect

Let's solve this step by step:

Input: [Security incident description]

Step 1: Attack Steps Extraction

Given the input, I identify these attack steps:

1. (Actor: {who}, Action: {what}, Target: {target})

2. ...

Reasoning: I extracted these steps by...

Step 2: Attack Effect Identification

Analyzing each action-target pair:

1. ({action1}, {target1}) → Effect: {effect1}

   Because: {reasoning}

2. ...

Step 3: Monitoring Items Generation

Based on the identified effects, here are the recommended monitoring items:

1. For {effect1}:

   - Monitor: {specific_monitoring_item}

   - Data source: {source}

   - Justification: {why}

2. ...

Summary:

Critical monitoring points:

1. {key_point1}

2. {key_point2}

...

Example:

Input 1:

"Disco has achieved initial access and execution through content injection into DNS, HTTP, and SMB replies to targeted hosts that redirect them to download malicious files."

Output 1:

Step 1: Attack Steps Extraction

I identify the following attack steps from the incident:

(Actor: Disco, Action: Achieved, Target: Initial Access)

Reasoning: "Disco has achieved initial access" indicates the first step in the attack chain where the attacker gains access.

(Actor: Disco, Action: Content Injection, Target: DNS, HTTP, SMB replies)

Reasoning: The phrase "content injection into DNS, HTTP, and SMB replies" describes an attack action targeting the network protocols.

(Actor: Disco, Action: Redirect, Target: Targeted hosts)

Reasoning: "Redirect them to download malicious files" refers to the attacker redirecting the hosts to download the malicious payload.

(Actor: Disco, Action: Download, Target: Malicious files)

Reasoning: This step involves the targeted hosts downloading malicious files as a result of the redirection.

Step 2: Attack Effect Identification

Now, let's analyze the attack effects of each action-target pair:

(Achieved, Initial Access) → Effect: Initial Access

Reasoning: The action "achieved initial access" leads to the attacker gaining unauthorized access to the target system.

(Content Injection, DNS, HTTP, SMB replies) → Effect: Network Traffic Manipulation

Reasoning: Content injection into network protocol replies is a form of manipulation of legitimate network traffic, enabling redirection of hosts.

(Redirect, Targeted hosts) → Effect: Malicious Redirect

Reasoning: The redirection of targeted hosts to a malicious destination represents a manipulation of traffic flow, leading the hosts to an unwanted or harmful resource.

(Download, Malicious files) → Effect: Malicious File Execution

Reasoning: The downloading of malicious files directly results in the execution of malicious payloads, enabling further exploitation.

Step 3: Monitoring Items Generation

Based on the identified effects, here are the recommended monitoring items for detection:

For Initial Access:

Monitor: Network-based access attempts

Data source: Firewall logs, VPN logs, IDS/IPS

Justification: Detect unauthorized access attempts that may indicate initial exploitation.

For Network Traffic Manipulation:

Monitor: Anomalous DNS, HTTP, and SMB traffic patterns

Data source: DNS logs, HTTP proxy logs, SMB traffic logs

Justification: Track abnormal content or behavior in network protocol responses to identify potential traffic manipulation.

For Malicious Redirect:

Monitor: DNS queries and redirects to suspicious domains

Data source: DNS logs, HTTP logs

Justification: Monitor for unusual redirections to external malicious IPs or domains indicating a compromise.

For Malicious File Execution:

Monitor: File download activity from untrusted sources

Data source: Web proxy logs, endpoint security logs, file integrity monitoring

Justification: Detect downloads from untrusted or suspicious domains or IPs and any execution of files from these sources.

Summary:

Critical monitoring points:

Initial Access – Monitor network access logs to detect unauthorized access attempts.

Network Traffic Manipulation – Watch for abnormalities in DNS, HTTP, and SMB traffic.

Malicious Redirects – Monitor DNS and HTTP logs for suspicious domain redirections.

Malicious File Execution – Track file downloads and executions, especially from untrusted sources.

Input2:<input our attack report text for analysis>

Output:

Use the example attack report above as input to CoT Prompt

Step 1: Attack Steps Extraction

The attack steps are:

(Actor: Threat actors, Action: Gained, Target: Initial access to the production environment)

Reasoning: The attackers gained initial access, likely through Log4Shell exploitation.

(Actor: Threat actors, Action: Used, Target: PowerShell scripts via HTTP)

Reasoning: They used PowerShell scripts to contact a malicious server, likely to retrieve additional tools.

(Actor: Threat actors, Action: Attempted, Target: To download and execute a malicious file)

Reasoning: They downloaded and attempted to execute a malicious script to progress their attack.

(Actor: Threat actors, Action: Conducted, Target: C2 activities)

Reasoning: C2 activities indicate ongoing communication with their infrastructure.

Step 2: Attack Effect Identification

The effects identified for each step and corresponding actions are:

(Gained, Initial access) → Effect: Network Request

Reasoning: Indicates an external network connection to gain initial access.

(Used, PowerShell scripts) → 

Effect 1: Command Execution (PowerShell)

Reasoning: Represents the execution of PowerShell commands.

Effect 2: Network Request

Reasoning: Involves an outbound HTTP request to a malicious server.

(Attempted, To download and execute malicious file) → 

Effect 1: Tool Download (Malicious Script)

Reasoning: Malicious script downloaded for further exploitation.

Effect 2: Tool Execution (Malicious Script)

Reasoning: Attempted execution of the downloaded malicious script.

(Conducted, C2 activities) → Effect: Network Request (C2 Connection)

Reasoning: Communication with the attacker’s C2 infrastructure.

Step 3: Monitoring Items Generation

Based on the effects, the monitoring items are:

For Network Request:

Monitor: Network connection monitoring

Reasoning: Detect unauthorized external connections.

For Command Execution (PowerShell):

Monitor: Process creation monitoring

Reasoning: Track PowerShell execution to detect malicious commands.

For Network Request:

Monitor: Network connection monitoring

Reasoning: Identify suspicious HTTP requests to external servers.

For Tool Download (Malicious Script):

Monitor: Target file/folder monitoring

Reasoning: Detect downloads of malicious scripts in specific file paths.

For Tool Execution (Malicious Script):

Monitor: Process creation monitoring

Reasoning: Track the execution of malicious tools/scripts.

For Network Request (C2 Connection):

Monitor: Network connection monitoring

Reasoning: Detect ongoing communication with C2 infrastructure.

Summary of Critical Monitoring Points

Network connection monitoring – Identify unauthorized or suspicious external connections.

Process creation monitoring – Track execution of scripts and commands to detect malicious activities.

Network connection monitoring – Detect suspicious HTTP requests.

Target file/folder monitoring – Monitor downloads and suspicious file modifications.

Process creation monitoring – Detect execution of downloaded malicious files.

Network connection monitoring – Identify C2 communication with external infrastructure.