M1053: Data Backup
Data Backup involves taking and securely storing backups of data from end-user systems and critical servers. It ensures that data remains available in the event of system compromise, ransomware attacks, or other disruptions. Backup processes should include hardening backup systems, implementing secure storage solutions, and keeping backups isolated from the corporate network to prevent compromise during active incidents. This mitigation can be implemented through the following measures:
Regular Backup Scheduling: - Use Case: Ensure timely and consistent backups of critical data. - Implementation: Schedule daily incremental backups and weekly full backups for all critical servers and systems.
Immutable Backups: - Use Case: Protect backups from modification or deletion, even by attackers. - Implementation: Use write-once-read-many (WORM) storage for backups, preventing ransomware from encrypting or deleting backup files.
Backup Encryption: - Use Case: Protect data integrity and confidentiality during transit and storage. - Implementation: Encrypt backups using strong encryption protocols (e.g., AES-256) before storing them in local, cloud, or remote locations.
Offsite Backup Storage: - Use Case: Ensure data availability during physical disasters or onsite breaches. - Implementation: Use cloud-based solutions like AWS S3, Azure Backup, or physical offsite storage to maintain a copy of critical data.
Backup Testing: - Use Case: Validate backup integrity and ensure recoverability. - Implementation: Regularly test data restoration processes to ensure that backups are not corrupted and can be recovered quickly.
Security context for executives and security teams
M1053: Data Backup describes Data Backup involves taking and securely storing backups of data from end-user systems and critical servers. It ensures that data remains available in the event of system compromise, ransomware attacks, or other disruptions. Backup processes should include hardening backup systems, implementing secure storage solutions, and keeping backups isolated from the corporate network to prevent compromise during active incidents. This mitigation can be implemented through the following measures: Regular Backup Scheduling: -...
Executive priority
M1053: Data Backup is an official MITRE ATT&CK mitigation. Glexia treats it as defensive behavior context for prioritizing monitoring, control validation, and response planning without using the object by itself as an attribution claim.
Technical view
Security teams should validate M1053: Data Backup by reviewing the official ATT&CK relationships, mapped tactics (the mapped ATT&CK tactic context), supported platforms (the platforms named in the official object), and available local telemetry before making detection or mitigation decisions.
Likely telemetry
- Official ATT&CK relationships and object metadata
Detection direction
- Validate whether M1053: Data Backup appears in your detection coverage and tabletop scenarios.
- Use the object to align executive risk language with SOC, incident response, and detection engineering work.
- Do not treat ATT&CK relationship context as attribution without corroborating evidence.
Mitigation priorities
- Map the object to existing controls and identify missing telemetry or response ownership.
- Prioritize mitigations that reduce exposure on the listed platforms and tactics.
- Review adjacent ATT&CK relationships before changing policy, detections, or reporting language.
Additional notes and limits
Baseline Glexia take generated from the official MITRE ATT&CK STIX object, source hash, tactics, platforms, and detection fields. It is safe to replace with a richer model-generated take for the same source hash later.
This baseline take is source-grounded and schema-validated, but it does not include environment-specific telemetry, incident evidence, or threat-intelligence corroboration.
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Data Backup
Data Backup involves taking and securely storing backups of data from end-user systems and critical servers. It ensures that data remains available in the event of system compromise, ransomware attacks, or other disruptions. Backup processes should include hardening backup systems, implementing secure storage solutions, and keeping backups isolated from the corporate network to prevent compromise during active incidents. This mitigation can be implemented through the following measures:
Regular Backup Scheduling: - Use Case: Ensure timely and consistent backups of critical data. - Implementation: Schedule daily incremental backups and weekly full backups for all critical servers and systems.
Immutable Backups: - Use Case: Protect backups from modification or deletion, even by attackers. - Implementation: Use write-once-read-many (WORM) storage for backups, preventing ransomware from encrypting or deleting backup files.
Backup Encryption: - Use Case: Protect data integrity and confidentiality during transit and storage. - Implementation: Encrypt backups using strong encryption protocols (e.g., AES-256) before storing them in local, cloud, or remote locations.
Offsite Backup Storage: - Use Case: Ensure data availability during physical disasters or onsite breaches. - Implementation: Use cloud-based solutions like AWS S3, Azure Backup, or physical offsite storage to maintain a copy of critical data.
Backup Testing: - Use Case: Validate backup integrity and ensure recoverability. - Implementation: Regularly test data restoration processes to ensure that backups are not corrupted and can be recovered quickly.
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.
Techniques used
This mirrors the MITRE pattern of making group, software, campaign, and technique relationships scannable. Relationship notes come from mirrored ATT&CK relationship text when available.
| Domain | ID | Name | Relationship / procedure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprise | T1491.001 | Internal DefacementSub-technique | Consider implementing IT disaster recovery plans that contain procedures for taking regular data backups that can be used to restore organizational data.CitationReady.gov IT DRP Ensure backups are stored off system and is protected from common methods adversaries may use to gain access and destroy the backups to prevent recovery. |
| Enterprise | T1561.001 | Disk Content WipeSub-technique | Consider implementing IT disaster recovery plans that contain procedures for taking regular data backups that can be used to restore organizational data.CitationReady.gov IT DRP Ensure backups are stored off system and is protected from common methods adversaries may use to gain access and destroy the backups to prevent recovery. |
| Enterprise | T1485.001 | Lifecycle-Triggered DeletionSub-technique | Consider implementing IT disaster recovery plans that contain procedures for taking regular data backups that can be used to restore organizational data.CitationReady.gov IT DRP Ensure backups are stored off system and protected from common methods adversaries may use to gain access and destroy the backups to prevent recovery. |
| Enterprise | T1485 | Data Destruction | Consider implementing IT disaster recovery plans that contain procedures for taking regular data backups that can be used to restore organizational data.CitationReady.gov IT DRP Ensure backups are stored off system and protected from common methods adversaries may use to gain access and destroy the backups to prevent recovery. |
| Enterprise | T1491 | Defacement | Consider implementing IT disaster recovery plans that contain procedures for taking regular data backups that can be used to restore organizational data.CitationReady.gov IT DRP Ensure backups are stored off system and is protected from common methods adversaries may use to gain access and destroy the backups to prevent recovery. |
| Enterprise | T1561.002 | Disk Structure WipeSub-technique | Consider implementing IT disaster recovery plans that contain procedures for taking regular data backups that can be used to restore organizational data.CitationReady.gov IT DRP Ensure backups are stored off system and is protected from common methods adversaries may use to gain access and destroy the backups to prevent recovery. |
| Enterprise | T1561 | Disk Wipe | Consider implementing IT disaster recovery plans that contain procedures for taking regular data backups that can be used to restore organizational data.CitationReady.gov IT DRP Ensure backups are stored off system and is protected from common methods adversaries may use to gain access and destroy the backups to prevent recovery. |
| Enterprise | T1491.002 | External DefacementSub-technique | Consider implementing IT disaster recovery plans that contain procedures for taking regular data backups that can be used to restore organizational data.CitationReady.gov IT DRP Ensure backups are stored off system and is protected from common methods adversaries may use to gain access and destroy the backups to prevent recovery. |
| Enterprise | T1486 | Data Encrypted for Impact | Consider implementing IT disaster recovery plans that contain procedures for regularly taking and testing data backups that can be used to restore organizational data.CitationReady.gov IT DRP Ensure backups are stored off system and is protected from common methods adversaries may use to gain access and destroy the backups to prevent recovery. Consider enabling versioning in cloud environments to maintain backup copies of storage objects.CitationRhino S3 Ransomware Part 2 |
| Enterprise | T1490 | Inhibit System Recovery | Consider implementing IT disaster recovery plans that contain procedures for taking regular data backups that can be used to restore organizational data.CitationReady.gov IT DRP Ensure backups are stored off system and is protected from common methods adversaries may use to gain access and destroy the backups to prevent recovery. In cloud environments, enable versioning on storage objects where possible, and copy backups to other accounts or regions to isolate them from the original copies.CitationUnit 42 Palo Alto Ransomware in Public Clouds 2022 On ESXi servers, ensure that disk images and snapshots of virtual machines are regularly taken, with copies stored off system.CitationCrowdstrike Hypervisor Jackpotting Pt 2 2021 |
All related ATT&CK context
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.
Imported snapshots across ATT&CK releases(2)
| Release | Bundle imported | Object version | Modified | Status | Raw hash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19.2 | 1.2 | Current bundle | d83575296110… | ||
| 19.1 | 1.2 | Older bundle | d83575296110… |
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.
External references and citations
MITRE external references are preserved separately from Glexia analysis so citations remain traceable to their original source records.
- [1]mitre-attackM1053Open source URL
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