TA0007 · DISCOVERY
Account Discovery
Enumerating local, domain, and cloud accounts to find privileged targets.
Detect it with
net user /domain, net group "Domain Admins", Get-ADUser bursts from non-admin workstations.
Why it matters on shift
Account Discovery is one of the concrete ways adversaries achieve discovery. Recognising it in telemetry lets you name the technique in your ticket and pivot to what came before and after.
What to look for next
After discovery, the next tactic is usually Lateral Movement. Search your telemetry for the transition before closing the ticket.
4 sub-techniques
How it shows up in practice
- T1087.001
Local Account
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of local system accounts. This information can help adversaries determine which local accounts exist on a system to aid in follow-on behavior.
- T1087.002
Domain Account
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of domain accounts. This information can help adversaries determine which domain accounts exist to aid in follow-on behavior such as targeting specific accounts which possess particular privileges.
- T1087.003
Email Account
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of email addresses and accounts. Adversaries may try to dump Exchange address lists such as global address lists (GALs).
- T1087.004
Cloud Account
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of cloud accounts. Cloud accounts are those created and configured by an organization for use by users, remote support, services, or for administration of resources within a cloud service provider or SaaS application.
Kill-chain context