An adversary can leverage a computer's peripheral devices (e.g., microphones and webcams) or applications (e.g., voice and video call services) to capture audio recordings for the purpose of listening into sensitive conversations to gather information.Malware or scripts may be used to interact with the devices through an available API provided by the operating system or an application to capture audio. Audio files may be written to disk and exfiltrated later.
Detection: Detection of this technique may be difficult due to the various APIs that may be used. Telemetry data regarding API use may not be useful depending on how a system is normally used, but may provide context to other potentially malicious activity occurring on a system.
Behavior that could indicate technique use include an unknown or unusual process accessing APIs associated with devices or software that interact with the microphone, recording devices, or recording software, and a process periodically writing files to disk that contain audio data.
Platforms: Linux, macOS, Windows
Data Sources: API monitoring, Process monitoring, File monitoring
Permissions Required: User
Create a file called test.wma, with the duration of 30 seconds
Supported Platforms: Windows
Name | Description | Type | Default Value |
---|---|---|---|
output_file | Path to the recording file being captured | Path | test.wma |
duration_hms | Duration of audio to be recorded (in h:m:s format) | Path | 30 |
SoundRecorder /FILE #{output_file} /DURATION #{duration_hms}
Supported Platforms: Windows
powershell.exe -Command WindowsAudioDevice-Powershell-Cmdlet