MITRE ATT&CK T1694: Insecure Credentials
When to use this skill
Use this skill when the task involves T1694, Insecure Credentials, ics ATT&CK, TTP mapping, detection engineering, hunting, incident-response enrichment, control validation, or authorized adversary-emulation planning. Treat it as a defensive analysis aid: keep outputs focused on understanding, detecting, mitigating, and safely validating this ATT&CK technique.
Technique context
- ATT&CK domain: ics
- ATT&CK ID: T1694
- Technique name: Insecure Credentials
- Type: technique
- ATT&CK URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1694
- Tactics: lateral-movement, persistence
- Platforms: Not specified
- Required permissions: Not specified
- Effective permissions: Not specified
- Defenses bypassed: Not specified
ATT&CK description
Adversaries may target insecure credentials as a means to persist on a system or device or move laterally from one system or device to another. Insecure credentials may appear as default credentials which are pre-configured credentials on a system, device, or software that are well-known in documentation or hard-coded credentials which are built into the system, device, or software that cannot be changed or not easily changed because of the impact on control processes.(Citation: NIST SP 800-82r3)(Citation: ICS-ALERT-13-164-01)(Citation: OT IceFall)
Adversaries often times use insecure credentials to evade detection as they are typically forgotten about by system and device owners.
Agent workflow
- Clarify scope: identify the system, asset class, log sources, cloud or endpoint platform, and whether the user wants triage, detection, coverage assessment, or safe emulation planning.
- Load bundled resources as needed: use
references/technique-profile.json for structured metadata, references/detection-and-mitigation.md for triage and telemetry guidance, references/known-threat-context.md for ATT&CK relationship context, and templates/ for repeatable outputs.
- Map observations to ATT&CK: compare the user's evidence to the ATT&CK description, tactics, platforms, and known procedure patterns before asserting a match.
- Produce defensive outputs: prioritize hypotheses, telemetry requirements, detection logic ideas, validation steps, containment guidance, and mitigations.
- Preserve uncertainty: distinguish confirmed evidence, plausible indicators, assumptions, and gaps. Recommend what to collect next.
- Stay safe: do not provide malware, credential theft, persistence, evasion, destructive automation, or unauthorized exploitation instructions. For adversary emulation, keep steps bounded to approved lab or control-validation contexts and omit operational abuse details.
Bundled resources
references/technique-profile.json: machine-readable ATT&CK metadata for this technique.references/detection-and-mitigation.md: detection notes, telemetry checklist, triage questions, mitigation candidates, and false-positive considerations.references/known-threat-context.md: ATT&CK relationship context with attribution cautions.templates/detection-brief.md: detection engineering brief template.templates/hunt-plan.md: threat hunt plan template.templates/incident-response-note.md: incident response note template.templates/coverage-assessment.md: ATT&CK coverage assessment template.scripts/render_brief.py: local helper that renders a Markdown defensive brief from technique-profile.json.assets/output-schema.json: JSON schema for structured technique analysis outputs.
To generate a quick brief, run python scripts/render_brief.py --output brief.md from inside this skill directory, or adapt the templates directly.
Detection guidance
No ATT&CK detection guidance was present in the source STIX object.
Useful telemetry and data sources
- Not specified in the STIX object.
Mitigations to consider
Known threat context
Use these examples only as contextual leads, not as proof that an observed event is this technique:
- No group or software uses relationships were included for this technique in the source STIX bundle.
Recommended output pattern
When responding with this skill, structure the answer as:
- Assessment: whether the evidence supports this ATT&CK mapping and why.
- Evidence: specific indicators, logs, behaviors, and assumptions.
- Detection: telemetry sources, analytic logic, and tuning considerations.
- Response: containment, eradication, recovery, and validation actions.
- Coverage gaps: missing logs, sensors, controls, or environmental details.
- References: include the ATT&CK URL and any user-provided evidence references.
1---2name: attack-ics-t1694-insecure-credentials3description: Analyze MITRE ATT&CK T1694 Insecure Credentials in the ics matrix. Use for TTP triage, detection engineering, hunting, defensive emulation planning, mitigations, incident response mapping, ATT&CK coverage, or questions mentioning T1694, Insecure Credentials, or ics ATT&CK. Adversaries may target insecure credentials as a means to persist on a system or device or move laterally from one system or device to another.4license: MITRE ATT&CK Terms of Use apply to ATT&CK-derived content. See h5---67# MITRE ATT&CK T1694: Insecure Credentials89## When to use this skill1011Use this skill when the task involves T1694, Insecure Credentials, ics ATT&CK, TTP mapping, detection engineering, hunting, incident-response enrichment, control validation, or authorized adversary-emulation planning. Treat it as a defensive analysis aid: keep outputs focused on understanding, detecting, mitigating, and safely validating this ATT&CK technique.1213## Technique context1415- ATT&CK domain: ics16- ATT&CK ID: T169417- Technique name: Insecure Credentials18- Type: technique19- ATT&CK URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T169420- Tactics: lateral-movement, persistence21- Platforms: Not specified22- Required permissions: Not specified23- Effective permissions: Not specified24- Defenses bypassed: Not specified2526## ATT&CK description2728Adversaries may target insecure credentials as a means to persist on a system or device or move laterally from one system or device to another. Insecure credentials may appear as default credentials which are pre-configured credentials on a system, device, or software that are well-known in documentation or hard-coded credentials which are built into the system, device, or software that cannot be changed or not easily changed because of the impact on control processes.(Citation: NIST SP 800-82r3)(Citation: ICS-ALERT-13-164-01)(Citation: OT IceFall)29 Adversaries often times use insecure credentials to evade detection as they are typically forgotten about by system and device owners.3031## Agent workflow32331. Clarify scope: identify the system, asset class, log sources, cloud or endpoint platform, and whether the user wants triage, detection, coverage assessment, or safe emulation planning.342. Load bundled resources as needed: use `references/technique-profile.json` for structured metadata, `references/detection-and-mitigation.md` for triage and telemetry guidance, `references/known-threat-context.md` for ATT&CK relationship context, and `templates/` for repeatable outputs.353. Map observations to ATT&CK: compare the user's evidence to the ATT&CK description, tactics, platforms, and known procedure patterns before asserting a match.364. Produce defensive outputs: prioritize hypotheses, telemetry requirements, detection logic ideas, validation steps, containment guidance, and mitigations.375. Preserve uncertainty: distinguish confirmed evidence, plausible indicators, assumptions, and gaps. Recommend what to collect next.386. Stay safe: do not provide malware, credential theft, persistence, evasion, destructive automation, or unauthorized exploitation instructions. For adversary emulation, keep steps bounded to approved lab or control-validation contexts and omit operational abuse details.3940## Bundled resources4142- `references/technique-profile.json`: machine-readable ATT&CK metadata for this technique.43- `references/detection-and-mitigation.md`: detection notes, telemetry checklist, triage questions, mitigation candidates, and false-positive considerations.44- `references/known-threat-context.md`: ATT&CK relationship context with attribution cautions.45- `templates/detection-brief.md`: detection engineering brief template.46- `templates/hunt-plan.md`: threat hunt plan template.47- `templates/incident-response-note.md`: incident response note template.48- `templates/coverage-assessment.md`: ATT&CK coverage assessment template.49- `scripts/render_brief.py`: local helper that renders a Markdown defensive brief from `technique-profile.json`.50- `assets/output-schema.json`: JSON schema for structured technique analysis outputs.5152To generate a quick brief, run `python scripts/render_brief.py --output brief.md` from inside this skill directory, or adapt the templates directly.5354## Detection guidance5556No ATT&CK detection guidance was present in the source STIX object.5758## Useful telemetry and data sources5960- Not specified in the STIX object.6162## Mitigations to consider6364- Access Management6566## Known threat context6768Use these examples only as contextual leads, not as proof that an observed event is this technique:6970- No group or software uses relationships were included for this technique in the source STIX bundle.7172## Recommended output pattern7374When responding with this skill, structure the answer as:7576- Assessment: whether the evidence supports this ATT&CK mapping and why.77- Evidence: specific indicators, logs, behaviors, and assumptions.78- Detection: telemetry sources, analytic logic, and tuning considerations.79- Response: containment, eradication, recovery, and validation actions.80- Coverage gaps: missing logs, sensors, controls, or environmental details.81- References: include the ATT&CK URL and any user-provided evidence references.
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