Not all cyberattacks rely on malware. Increasingly, threat actors are turning to a stealthier tactic: using legitimate system tools to carry out malicious activity. These are known as Living-off-the-Land (LotL) Attacks, and they’re notoriously hard to detect.
In a LotL scenario, attackers don’t install new software—they repurpose what’s already available in the environment:
PowerShell
WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation)
PsExec
Scheduled tasks
Command line tools like certutil or rundll32
These tools are built-in, trusted, and often used by sysadmins—making their abuse hard to distinguish from normal operations.
Traditional security tools focus on detecting external payloads or unusual binaries. LotL attacks bypass these by avoiding anything “foreign.” Since no new software is introduced, there are fewer behavioral or signature-based indicators to alert on.
LotL is also ideal for lateral movement, privilege escalation, and persistence—especially in post-exploitation phases of an attack.
Cobalt Strike used via PowerShell for internal reconnaissance
Credential dumping with legitimate Windows tools
Ransomware actors launching payloads using trusted scripts
These attacks are especially common in APT campaigns, where stealth and persistence are key.
Monitor command-line activity and script execution, especially from unexpected users or locations.
Implement application control policies (e.g. allowlisting).
Use behavioral analytics, not just signatures.
Limit administrative privileges and enforce the principle of least privilege.
Log and alert on misuse of known tools like PowerShell, even if they’re signed.
Stay ahead of the Wave!