T1132 - Data Encoding

Tactics:
Command and Control
Platforms:
Linux macOS Windows ESXi
Detection:
Not specified
Description:
Adversaries may encode data to make the content of command and control traffic more difficult to detect. Command and control (C2) information can be encoded using a standard data encoding system. Use of data encoding may adhere to existing protocol specifications and includes use of ASCII, Unicode, Base64, MIME, or other binary-to-text and character encoding systems.(Citation: Wikipedia Binary-to-text Encoding) (Citation: Wikipedia Character Encoding) Some data encoding systems may also result in data compression, such as gzip.
Sub-techniques (2)
ID ATT&CK Actions
T1132.001 Standard Encoding
T1132.002 Non-Standard Encoding
Used by Actors (1)
Metadata
MITRE ID: T1132
STIX ID: attack-pattern--cc7b8c4e-9be0-...
Platforms: Linux, macOS, Windows, ESXi
Created: 13/01/2026 17:48
Updated: 06/03/2026 16:00