It’s not about obvious malware and noisy network activity. Now, when it comes to modern cyberattacks, many rely on legitimate tools and built-in system features to blend in with normal operations. By abusing trusted software and services, threats can evade traditional security controls and remain undetected for extended periods.

Why Legitimate Tools Are So Effective for Attackers

Most enterprise environments are filled with approved tools used daily by employees and IT teams. From PowerShell to remote management utilities, and cloud administration consoles to collaboration platforms, each one is an essential cog in the machine of business operations. Because these tools are trusted and widely used, security solutions tend to treat their activity as benign by default.

Attackers take advantage of this trust.

Once they gain initial access – usually through phishing or compromised credentials – attackers can operate using the same tools as legitimate users. This approach, commonly referred to as “living off the land,” allows attackers to avoid deploying custom malware that might trigger antivirus and endpoint detection alerts.

Commonly Abused Tools and Techniques

Attackers exploit a wide range of legitimate tools to achieve persistence, move laterally, and exfiltrate data. The issue is that these activities appear normal when viewed in isolation, which makes them difficult to detect without additional context.

Common examples include:

  • PowerShell and command line utilities used to download payloads or enumerate systems.
  • Remote access tools abused for lateral movement across endpoints.
  • Cloud administration features misused to create new accounts and elevate privileges.
  • Email rules and forwarding settings created to hide alerts and siphon sensitive data.
  • Scheduled tasks and system services modified to preserve persistence.

These actions use built-in functionality. As a result, they can bypass signature-based detection and traditional intrusion prevention systems.

The Detection Challenge for Security Teams

Distinguishing between legitimate administrative activity and malicious behavior. That’s the primary challenge in detecting these attacks.

For example, a PowerShell script executed by an IT administrator might appear identical to one run by an attacker using stolen credentials. Similarly, changes made through a cloud console could be valid – or potentially signal account compromise.

Alert-driven security tools tend to struggle in these scenarios, either generating excessive false positives or missing subtle signs of abuse. Without the necessary visibility, security teams lack the context required to identify suspicious patterns.

Reducing the Risk

To overcome this challenge, organizations must shift their focus from tools to behavior. The reason is simple: monitoring how and when legitimate tools are used is more effective than simply tracking which tools are present. Anomalies such as unusual execution times and deviations from established user behavior can indicate malicious activity.

Threat hunting supports this approach by proactively searching for suspicious patterns automated tools might overlook. As Red Canary notes, threat hunting focuses on uncovering malicious activity that has evaded existing security controls. In environments where attackers abuse legitimate tools, hunting is a way to identify subtle indicators. By identifying the likes of abnormal command usage and unexpected account behavior, it’s possible to scrub them out before significant damage occurs.

Conclusion

Defending against these techniques demands layered controls. When combined with behavioral analysis and targeted threat hunting, organizations can reduce attacker dwell time and regain visibility into activity that would otherwise remain hidden.

As attackers continue to blend into normal operations, being able to observe the misuse of legitimate tools will remain a key challenge for modern cybersecurity teams.