T1497.003

Time Based Checks

SUB-TECHNIQUE Stealth Discovery

Description

Adversaries may employ various time-based methods to detect virtualization and analysis environments, particularly those that attempt to manipulate time mechanisms to simulate longer elapses of time. This may include enumerating time-based properties, such as uptime or the system clock.Adversaries may use calls like `GetTickCount` and `GetSystemTimeAsFileTime` to discover if they are operating within a virtual machine or sandbox, or may be able to identify a sandbox accelerating time by sampling and calculating the expected value for an environment's timestamp before and after execution of a sleep function.(Citation: ISACA Malware Tricks)

Platforms

LinuxmacOSWindows

Look up any technique

Use our free MITRE ATT&CK lookup tool, or browse the full ATT&CK matrix.

Source: MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise matrix. View on attack.mitre.org →