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ATT&CK techniqueExfiltration

T1048.003 Exfiltration Over Unencrypted Non-C2 Protocol

ExfiltrationEnterpriseSub-technique

As of 2026-10-05, T1048.003 (Exfiltration Over Unencrypted Non-C2 Protocol) appears in 27 tracked threats, first reported 2026-02-21 and most recently 2026-09-27, with linked actors including Safepay, Static Tundra, APT28; it most often appears alongside T1190 (Exploit Public-Facing Application).

Tracked threats
2714 critical, 12 high, 1 medium
First seen
2026-02-21
Last seen
2026-09-27
Threat actors
13In the threats using it
Detection rules
80Blue tier and above

Data as of:

Activity timeline

T1048.003 first appeared in tracked threats on and was most recently reported on . The busiest month was 2026-07 with 9 reports, and 27 of the 27 threats were reported in the twelve months to 2026-09.

How adversaries use it

T1048.003 Exfiltration Over Unencrypted Non-C2 Protocol is catalogued by MITRE ATT&CK under the Exfiltration tactic in the Enterprise matrix, as a sub-technique of T1048 Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol. Threadlinqs maps 27 of 2623 tracked threats (1%) to it; by severity that is 14 critical, 12 high, 1 medium.

Threats that use T1048.003 most often also use T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application (19 threats), T1071.001 Web Protocols (17 threats), T1027 Obfuscated Files or Information (15 threats), T1005 Data from Local System (14 threats), T1036.005 Match Legitimate Resource Name or Location (11 threats). These are the techniques an intrusion set tends to chain with it, so they are the natural next places to look when it is observed.

13 tracked threat actors appear in the threats that use T1048.003; the most frequent are Safepay (2), Static Tundra (2), APT28 (1), BlueDelta (1), BonJoviGoesHard (1).

Mitigations

MITRE ATT&CK lists 4 mitigations for T1048.003.

Data sources

Telemetry that can reveal T1048.003, per MITRE ATT&CK.

  • Command — Command Execution
  • File — File Access
  • Network Traffic — Network Connection Creation, Network Traffic Content, Network Traffic Flow

Threat actors using it

Tracked threats

27 tracked threats use T1048.003.

Detection coverage

Threadlinqs maintains 80 detection rules mapped to T1048.003 (SPL 26, KQL 27, Sigma 27). Rule content is available to Blue tier accounts and above; this page shows counts only.

80 detection rules (SPL/KQL/Sigma) · Blue and above. Compare plans

Parent technique

T1048 Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol — 155 tracked threats at the technique level.