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MITRE ATT&CK® Analytic

AN1924: Analytic 1924

Consult asset management systems which may help with the detection of computer systems or network devices that should not exist on a network. Monitor for network traffic originating from unknown/unexpected devices or addresses. Local network traffic metadata could be used to identify unexpected connections, including unknown/unexpected source MAC addresses connecting to ports associated with operational protocols. Also, network management protocols such as DHCP and ARP may be helpful in identifying unexpected devices. Monitor for new master devices communicating with outstations, which may be visible in alarms within the ICS environment. Monitor for unexpected ICS protocol functions from new and existing devices. Monitoring known devices requires ICS function level insight to determine if an unauthorized device is issuing commands (e.g., a historian). Monitor for new master devices communicating with outstation assets, which may be visible in asset application logs.

ICSAN1924AnalyticObject v1.0 Modified
Glexia's Take

Analyst context for executives and security teams

Analyst confidence High

This analytic is about finding devices that should not be present or should not be talking in an ICS network. For executives and security leaders, the value is operational assurance: unknown devices, unexpected masters, or unauthorized ICS functions can undermine trust in control-system communications even before a confirmed incident is declared.

Executive priority

Prioritize this as an asset visibility and operational resilience question: can the organization prove which devices are expected on ICS networks, which systems are authorized to act as masters, and which devices are allowed to issue operational protocol functions? The decision value is strongest for incident readiness, audit evidence, and cyber-physical risk reduction because weak asset inventories or missing network metadata can delay containment decisions in industrial environments.

Technical view

SOC, IR, and detection teams should validate whether asset management systems, local network metadata, DHCP, ARP, ICS application logs, and ICS alarms can identify unknown source MAC addresses, unexpected addresses, new master-to-outstation communications, and unexpected ICS protocol functions. The supplied ATT&CK object does not specify platforms or tactics, so implementation should be mapped to the local ICS architecture and protocol set rather than assumed from ATT&CK metadata.

Likely telemetry

  • Asset management system records for expected computers and network devices
  • Local network traffic metadata, including source addresses and source MAC addresses
  • DHCP activity that can reveal new or unexpected devices
  • ARP activity that can reveal local network presence and address mappings
  • ICS protocol metadata, especially functions issued by new or existing devices

Detection direction

  • Baseline expected devices, addresses, MAC addresses, masters, outstations, and permitted ICS protocol functions before alerting aggressively.
  • Tune detections for unknown or unexpected devices connecting to ports associated with operational protocols.
  • Validate alerts for new master devices communicating with outstations using ICS alarms and asset application logs where available.
  • Include known devices in monitoring; the object explicitly notes that an unauthorized device role or command source may come from a system that is otherwise known, such as a historian issuing commands.
  • Account for false positives from maintenance windows, commissioning, replacements, temporary engineering workstations, and legitimate network changes.

Mitigation priorities

  • Establish and maintain an authoritative ICS asset inventory with expected network identities and roles.
  • Define approved master/outstation relationships and permitted ICS protocol functions for critical assets.
  • Ensure network monitoring covers local traffic metadata and management protocols such as DHCP and ARP where appropriate.
  • Integrate ICS alarms and asset application logs into SOC or incident response workflows for validation of new master communications.
  • Create change-control and maintenance processes that distinguish authorized new devices from unexpected network presence.
Analyst notes and limits

This is a detection analytic from the ICS ATT&CK domain, external ID AN1924, tied to MITRE URL https://attack.mitre.org/detectionstrategies/DET0792#AN1924. Its practical emphasis is not a single signature but a visibility pattern: compare observed ICS network behavior against an expected asset and communication baseline.

The supplied object has no official detection field, no platforms, no tactics, and no relationship context. This take therefore cannot infer affected technologies, adversary use, active exploitation, or guaranteed coverage. Local ICS architecture, protocols, logging availability, and asset inventory quality determine how actionable the analytic is.

Official MITRE ATT&CK definition

Analytic 1924

Consult asset management systems which may help with the detection of computer systems or network devices that should not exist on a network. Monitor for network traffic originating from unknown/unexpected devices or addresses. Local network traffic metadata could be used to identify unexpected connections, including unknown/unexpected source MAC addresses connecting to ports associated with operational protocols. Also, network management protocols such as DHCP and ARP may be helpful in identifying unexpected devices. Monitor for new master devices communicating with outstations, which may be visible in alarms within the ICS environment. Monitor for unexpected ICS protocol functions from new and existing devices. Monitoring known devices requires ICS function level insight to determine if an unauthorized device is issuing commands (e.g., a historian). Monitor for new master devices communicating with outstation assets, which may be visible in asset application logs.

View the same entry on attack.mitre.org (MITRE-hosted reference; in-page links above use the Glexia ATT&CK library.)

Glexia analysis

How security teams should use this page

Treat this object as behavior context, not an attribution claim. Validate the related groups, software, data sources, and mitigations against official ATT&CK relationships and your own telemetry before making control-coverage decisions.

Relationship explorer

All related ATT&CK context

No relationships are available in the current normalized data for this object.

Change history

Object version and sync metadata

The fields below describe the current mirrored snapshot. When Glexia retains multiple ATT&CK source imports, you can open the table to compare the same object across releases (hashes and MITRE timestamps). For MITRE’s own release notes and roadmap, see ATT&CK resources — Updates .

ATT&CK release
19.1
Object version
1.0
Created
Modified
Raw hash
b758b20349704d07...
Imported snapshots across ATT&CK releases (1)
Release Bundle imported Object version Modified Status Raw hash
19.1 1.0 Current bundle b758b2034970…
Raw source

Mirrored ATT&CK source object

The raw object is retained through the mirrored ATT&CK source bundle and object hash. The raw endpoint returns the exact object from the mirrored bundle when available.

Source references

External references and citations

MITRE external references are preserved separately from Glexia analysis so citations remain traceable to their original source records.

  1. [1]
    mitre-attack AN1924
    Open source URL
Source and licensing

Source: MITRE ATT&CK®. © 2026 The MITRE Corporation. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of The MITRE Corporation. MITRE ATT&CK and ATT&CK are registered trademarks of The MITRE Corporation. Glexia is not affiliated with or endorsed by MITRE.