Hardware Additions
- ID
- T1200
- Tactics
- TA0001 Initial Access
- Platforms
- Windows, Linux, macOS
- Data sources
- Application Log Content, Process Creation, Driver Load, Module Load, File Creation, Network Connection Creation, Drive Creation, Network Traffic Flow
- Source
- attack.mitre.org
- MITRE last modified
- 25 Oct 2025
Adversaries may physically introduce computer accessories, networking hardware, or other computing devices into a system or network that can be used as a vector to gain access. Rather than just connecting and distributing payloads via removable storage (i.e. Replication Through Removable Media), more robust hardware additions can be used to introduce new functionalities and/or features into a system that can then be abused.
While public references of usage by threat actors are scarce, many red teams/penetration testers leverage hardware additions for initial access. Commercial and open source products can be leveraged with capabilities such as passive network tapping, network traffic modification (i.e. Adversary-in-the-Middle), keystroke injection, kernel memory reading via DMA, addition of new wireless access points to an existing network, and others.[2][3][4][5]
Detection
- DET0069 Detect unauthorized or suspicious Hardware Additions (USB/Thunderbolt/Network)
Data components: Application Log Content, Process Creation, Driver Load, Module Load, File Creation, Network Connection Creation, Drive Creation, Network Traffic Flow
Mitigations (2)
- M1034 Limit Hardware Installation
Block unknown devices and accessories by endpoint security configuration and monitoring agent.
- M1035 Limit Access to Resource Over Network
Establish network access control policies, such as using device certificates and the 802.1x standard. [1] Restrict use of DHCP to registered devices to prevent unregistered devices from communicating with trusted systems.