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ATT&CK techniqueCredential Access

T1528 Steal Application Access Token

Credential AccessEnterprise

As of 2026-10-05, T1528 (Steal Application Access Token) appears in 401 tracked threats, first reported 2026-02-02 and most recently 2026-10-04, with linked actors including TeamPCP, ShinyHunters, Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters; it most often appears alongside T1005 (Data from Local System).

Tracked threats
401147 critical, 223 high, 25 medium, 2 low
First seen
2026-02-02
Last seen
2026-10-04
Threat actors
109In the threats using it
Detection rules
650Blue tier and above

Data as of:

Activity timeline

T1528 first appeared in tracked threats on and was most recently reported on . The busiest month was 2026-07 with 131 reports, and 401 of the 401 threats were reported in the twelve months to 2026-10.

How adversaries use it

T1528 Steal Application Access Token is catalogued by MITRE ATT&CK under the Credential Access tactic in the Enterprise matrix. Threadlinqs maps 401 of 2623 tracked threats (15.3%) to it; by severity that is 147 critical, 223 high, 25 medium, 2 low.

Threats that use T1528 most often also use T1005 Data from Local System (200 threats), T1027 Obfuscated Files or Information (190 threats), T1567 Exfiltration Over Web Service (174 threats), T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter (170 threats), T1552 Unsecured Credentials (156 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.

109 tracked threat actors appear in the threats that use T1528; the most frequent are TeamPCP (38), ShinyHunters (19), Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters (8), Scattered Spider (7), APT38 (6).

Mitigations

MITRE ATT&CK lists 4 mitigations for T1528.

Data sources

Telemetry that can reveal T1528, per MITRE ATT&CK.

  • Active Directory — Active Directory Object Modification
  • User Account — User Account Modification

Threat actors using it

Tracked threats

The 30 most recent of 401 tracked threats that use T1528.

Detection coverage

Threadlinqs maintains 650 detection rules mapped to T1528 (SPL 224, KQL 246, Sigma 180). Rule content is available to Blue tier accounts and above; this page shows counts only.

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