Understanding Attackers' Motives
A back door in a computer is a secret way to get access. Back doors have been popularized in many
Hollywood movies as a secret password or method for getting access to a highly secure computer system. But
back doors are not just for the silver screen—they are very real, and can be used for stealing data, monitoring
users, and launching attacks deep into computer networks.
An attacker might leave a back door on a computer for many reasons. Breaking into a computer system is
hard work, so once an attacker succeeds, she will want to keep the ground she has gained. She may also want
to use the compromised computer to launch additional attacks deeper into the network.
A major reason attackers penetrate computers is to gather intelligence. To gather intelligence, the attacker will
want to monitor keystrokes, observe behavior over time, sniff packets from the network, and exfiltrate
[4]
data
from the target. All of this requires establishing a back door of some kind. The attacker will want to leave
software running on the target system that can perform intelligence gathering.
[4]
Exfiltrate: To transport out of, to remove from a location; to transport a copy of data from one location to
another.
Attackers also penetrate computers to destroy them, in which case the attacker might leave a logic bomb on
the computer, which she has set to destroy the computer at a specific time. While the bomb waits, it needs to
stay undetected. Even if the attacker does not require subsequent back-door access to the system, this is a case
where software is left behind and it must remain undetected.
The Role of Stealth
To remain undetected, a back-door program must use stealth. Unfortunately, most publicly available "hacker"
back-door programs aren't terribly stealthy. Many things can go wrong. This is mostly because the developers
want to build everything including the proverbial kitchen sink into a back-door program. For example, take a
look at the Back Orifice or NetBus programs. These back-door programs sport impressive lists of features,
some as foolish as ejecting your CD-ROM tray. This is fun for office humor, but not a function that would be
used in a professional attack operation.
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If the attacker is not careful, she may reveal her presence on the
network, and the whole operation may sour. Because of this, professional attack operations usually require
specific and automated back-door programs—programs that do only one thing and nothing else. This provides
assurance of consistent results.
[5]
Professional in this case indicates a sanctioned operation of some kind, as performed, for example, by
law enforcement, pen testers, red teams, or the equivalent.
If computer operators suspect that their computer or network has been penetrated, they may perform forensic
discovery, looking for unusual activity or back-door programs.
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The best way to counter forensics is with
stealth: If no attack is suspected, then no forensics are likely to be applied to the system. Attackers may use
stealth in different ways. Some may simply try to step lightly by keeping network traffic to a minimum and
avoiding storing files on the hard drive. Others may store files but employ obfuscation techniques that make
forensics more difficult. If stealth is used properly, forensics will never be applied to a compromised system,
because the intrusion will not have been detected. Even if an attack is suspected and forensics end up being
used a good stealth attack will store data in obfuscated ways to escape detection.
[6]
For a good text on computer forensics, see D. Farmer and W. Venema, Forensic Discovery (Boston:
Addison-Wesley, 2004).