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Application & OT Security · Foundational

Cyber Kill Chain

Lockheed Martin's seven-stage model of an intrusion from reconnaissance to actions on objectives.

Definition

The stages are reconnaissance, weaponization, delivery, exploitation, installation, command and control, and actions on objectives. Defenders aim to break the chain as early as possible. It is criticized for focusing on perimeter, malware-centric attacks, which ATT&CK addresses with more granular post-compromise behavior.

Example

Blocking a phishing email at the mail gateway breaks the chain at the delivery stage.

Exam tip

Memorize the order; weaponization (pairing exploit with payload) comes before delivery.

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