MITRE ATT&CK vs. Cybersecurity Kill Chain: A Simple Breakdown

In the last two articles, I reviewed two popular methodologies for building defenses to secure your digital ecosystem: Understanding the Cybersecurity Kill Chain: A Simple Guide - WWT and The MITRE ATT&CK Framework: A Beginner's Guide - WWT. Both help security teams understand how attackers work, but they go about it in different ways. Think of them as two different guidebooks to beating the bad guys. Let's look at how they're alike and different and when you'd want to use one over the other.

First things first: What are these frameworks?

Cybersecurity Kill Chain
- Who Made It: Lockheed Martin
- What It's For: A step-by-step look at the stages of a typical cyberattack.
- How It Works: It divides an attack into seven stages, from the attacker scouting out your system to finally going after the data.
- Use Case: Great for big-picture planning and setting up defenses at each step.
MITRE ATT&CK Framework
- Who Made It? MITRE Corporation
- What It's For: A detailed list of all the different techniques attackers use.
- How It Works: It's a menu of tactics (what attackers aim to do) and techniques (how they do it).
- Use Case: Ideal for digging deep into attacker behavior and responding to specific threats.

Key differences in plain terms

1. Level of detail

Kill Chain: Think "big picture." It's a simple, high-level overview of the main stages of an attack. Imagine it as a map of your whole road trip.
ATT&CK: Super detailed. It's more like a turn-by-turn guide, with every trick attackers might use. If the Kill Chain is the roadmap, ATT&CK is the GPS.

2. Attack stages

Kill Chain: It's linear – one step after another. Attackers start at the first stage and work their way through, like following a recipe.
ATT&CK: Non-linear, meaning attackers can jump around depending on their goals. It's more flexible and better for tracking real-world attacks that don't always follow the "steps in order" rule.

3. Who it's for

Kill Chain: Perfect for beginners or those starting a cybersecurity strategy. The step-by-step approach makes it easy to set up defenses.
ATT&CK: This is more advanced and best for security teams that must investigate attacker behavior deeply. It's packed with real-world techniques, so it's a favorite among those in the trenches.

4. Mindset: offensive, defensive or both?

Kill Chain: It's all about defense—blocking the attack at each stage. The goal is to stop attackers before they reach the end.
ATT&CK: It's great for both offense and defense. Security teams use it to simulate attacks (like in "red teaming" exercises) and spot and stop actual attacks.

5. Flexibility

Kill Chain: Not as flexible. It follows a set path, so it's not as easy to adapt to attacks that jump around or skip steps.
ATT&CK: Highly flexible and customizable. You can tailor it to your specific setup, from your operating system to the attacks you see.

Side-by-side comparison: how they line up

Kill Chain Stage	ATT&CK Equivalent	Explanation
Reconnaissance	Reconnaissance	Both focus on attackers gathering info, but ATT&CK breaks it down more (like "Phishing for Info" or "Scanning Networks").
Weaponization	No ATT&CK Equivalent	ATT&CK doesn't cover this step, as it focuses on what happens once the attacker is in your system.
Delivery	Initial Access	Getting into your system: ATT&CK offers specific examples like "Phishing" or "Drive-by Compromise."
Exploitation	Execution / Privilege Escalation	ATT&CK covers exactly how attackers activate their code and gain more access.
Installation	Persistence	Keeping access: ATT&CK details various ways attackers keep a foothold, like creating backdoors.
Command and Control	Command and Control	ATT&CK explores how attackers stay connected to your network using techniques like "Web Protocols."
Actions on Objectives	Collection, Exfiltration, Impact	ATT&CK gives specifics on stealing data or causing damage, breaking this final step into more detail.

Pros and cons of each framework

Cybersecurity Kill Chain	MITRE ATT&CK Framework
Pros: Easy to understand, gives a big-picture view.	Pros: Detailed, flexible, packed with real-world examples.
Great for setting up general defenses.	Great for advanced threat hunting and response.
Cons: Too general for complex attacks.	Cons: It can be overwhelming if you're new.
Assumes attacks follow a straight path.	Requires regular updates to stay accurate.

When to use each one

Cybersecurity Kill Chain: Use it if you want a simple, top-down approach to planning your defenses. It's great for awareness training and strategy discussions.
MITRE ATT&CK: Use this if you need specific, tactical details on attacker behavior. Perfect for security teams looking to improve their detection and response capabilities.

So, what's the bottom line?

The Cybersecurity Kill Chain and MITRE ATT&CK Framework are both helpful, but they serve different needs:

The Kill Chain is your roadmap, showing attackers' general path.
MITRE ATT&CK is the GPS – it gives you turn-by-turn details on how attackers might try to sneak around your defenses.

Many companies use both, starting with the Kill Chain to set up general defenses and then using ATT&CK for day-to-day threat detection and response. Using both, you get a broad strategy (Kill Chain) and the detailed tactics (ATT&CK) to implement that strategy.