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Abstract

There has been an increasing realization of the rise in living off the land (LOTL) attacks where adversaries misuse legitimate system tools, particularly with state-sponsored actors targeting critical infrastructure in the United States. These attacks are difficult to detect because they allow attackers to remain present in a system without the user’s knowledge for an extended period. This thesis establishes an initial baseline specifically for Windows operating systems to measure normal system activity, focusing on CPU usage, memory utilization, and process activity. It particularly examines the use of PowerShell alongside other applications. The findings from this baseline are used to develop detection rules that security tools can integrate to identify anomalies deviating from normal system metrics. Finally, recommendations are made to expand this research by analyzing additional system tools and incorporating network activity into baselines to enhance the detection of these increasingly sophisticated and damaging attacks.

Details

1010268
Business indexing term
Title
Establishing a Baseline for Detecting LOTL Attacks in Windows Operating Systems
Number of pages
272
Publication year
2025
Degree date
2025
School code
0132
Source
MAI 86/12(E), Masters Abstracts International
ISBN
9798280756526
Committee member
Trawick, George; Perkins, Andy
University/institution
Mississippi State University
Department
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
University location
United States -- Mississippi
Degree
M.S.
Source type
Dissertation or Thesis
Language
English
Document type
Dissertation/Thesis
Dissertation/thesis number
31934324
ProQuest document ID
3218003446
Document URL
https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/establishing-baseline-detecting-lotl-attacks/docview/3218003446/se-2?accountid=208611
Copyright
Database copyright ProQuest LLC; ProQuest does not claim copyright in the individual underlying works.
Database
ProQuest One Academic