Threat Signatures

This Source: 

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/8-1/pan-os-admin/threat-prevention/threat-signatures

There are three types of Palo Alto Networks threat signatures, each designed to detect different types of threats as the firewall scans network traffic:

Antivirus signatures—Detect viruses and malware found in executables and file types.
Anti-spyware signatures—Detects command-and-control (C2) activity, where spyware on an infected client is collecting data without the user's consent and/or communicating with a remote attacker.
Vulnerability signatures—Detects system flaws that an attacker might otherwise attempt to exploit.

A signature's severity indicates the risk of the detected event, and a signature's default action (for example, block or alert) is how Palo Alto Networks recommends that you enforce matching traffic.

You must Set Up Antivirus, Anti-Spyware, and Vulnerability Protection to tell the firewall what action to take when it detects a threat, and you can easily use the default security profiles to start blocking threats based on Palo Alto Networks recommendations. For each signature type, category, and even specific signatures you can continue to modify or create new profiles to more granularly enforce potential threats.

The following table lists all possible signature categories by type—Antivirus, Spyware, and Vulnerability—and includes the content update (Applications and Threats, Antivirus, or WildFire) that provides the signatures in each category. You can also go to the Palo Alto Networks Threat Vault to Learn More About Threat Signatures.

THREAT CATEGORY	CONTENT UPDATE THAT PROVIDES THESE SIGNATURES	DESCRIPTION
Antivirus Signatures
apk	Antivirus WildFire or WildFire Private	Malicious Android Application (APK) files.
dmg	Antivirus Wildfire or WildFire Private	Malicious Apple disk image (DMG) files, that are used with Mac OS X.
flash	Antivirus Wildfire or WildFire Private	Adobe Flash applets and Flash content embedded in web pages.
java-class	Antivirus	Java applets (JAR/class file types).
macho	Antivirus Wildfire or WildFire Private	Mach object files (Mach-O) are executables, libraries, and object code that are native to Mac OS X.
office	Antivirus Wildfire or WildFire Private	Microsoft Office files, including documents (DOC, DOCX, RTF), workbooks (XLS, XLSX), and PowerPoint presentations (PPT, PPTX).
openoffice	Antivirus Wildfire or WildFire Private	Office Open XML (OOXML) 2007+ documents.
pdf	Antivirus Wildfire or WildFire Private	Portable Document Format (PDF) files.
pe	Antivirus Wildfire or WildFire Private	Portable executable (PE) files can automatically execute on a Microsoft Windows system and should be only allowed when authorized. These files types include: Object code. Fonts (FONs). System files (SYS). Driver files (DRV). Windows control panel items (CPLs). DLLs (dynamic-link libraries). OCXs (libraries for OLE custom controls, or ActiveX controls). SCRs (scripts that can be used to execute other files). Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) files, which run between an OS and firmware in order to facilitate device updates and boot operations. Program information files (PIFs).
pkg	Antivirus Wildfire or WildFire Private	Apple software installer packages (PKGs), used with Mac OS X.
Spyware Signatures
adware	Applications and Threats	Detects programs that display potentially unwanted advertisements. Some adware modifies browsers to highlight and hyperlink the most frequently searched keywords on web pages-these links redirect users to advertising websites. Adware can also retrieve updates from a command-and-control (C2) server and install those updates in a browser or onto a client system. Newly-released protections in this category are rare.
autogen	Antivirus	These payload-based signatures detect command-and-control (C2) traffic and are automatically-generated. Importantly, autogen signatures can detect C2 traffic even when the C2 host is unknown or changes rapidly.
backdoor	Applications and Threats	Detects a program that allows an attacker to gain unauthorized remote access to a system.
botnet	Applications and Threats	Indicates botnet activity. A botnet is a network of malware-infected computers (“bots”) that an attacker controls. The attacker can centrally command every computer in a botnet to simultaneously carry out a coordinated action (like launching a DoS attack, for example).
browser-hijack	Applications and Threats	Detects a plugin or software that is modifying browser settings. A browser hijacker might take over auto search or track users’ web activity and send this information to a C2 server. Newly-released protections in this category are rare.
data-theft	Applications and Threats	Detects a system sending information to a known C2 server. Newly-released protections in this category are rare.
dns	Antivirus	Detects DNS requests to connect to malicious domains. dns and dns-wildfire signatures detect the same malicious domains; however, dns signatures are included in the daily Antivirus content update and dns-wildfire signatures are included in the WildFire updates that release protections every 5 minutes.
dns-wildfire	Wildfire or WildFire Private	Detects DNS requests to connect to malicious domains. dns and dns-wildfire signatures detect the same malicious domains; however, dns signatures are included in the daily Antivirus content update and dns-wildfire signatures are included in the WildFire updates that release protections every 5 minutes.
keylogger	Applications and Threats	Detects programs that allow attackers to secretly track user activity, by logging keystrokes and capturing screenshots. Keyloggers use various C2 methods to periodically sends logs and reports to a predefined e-mail address or a C2 server. Through keylogger surveillance, an attacker could retrieve credentials that would enable network access.
networm	Applications and Threats	Detects a program that self-replicates and spreads from system to system. Net-worms might use shared resources or leverage security failures to access target systems.
phishing-kit	Applications and Threats	Detects when a user attempts to connect to a phishing kit landing page (likely after receiving an email with a link to the malicious site). A phishing website tricks users into submitting credentials that an attacker can steal to gain access to the network. In addition to blocking access to phishing kit landing pages, enable Multi-Factor Authentication and Credential Phishing Prevention to prevent phishing attacks at all stages.
post-exploitation	Applications and Threats	Detects activity that indicates the post-exploitation phase of an attack, where an attacker attempts to assess the value of a compromised system. This might include evaluating the sensitivity of the data stored on the system, and the system’s usefulness in further compromising the network.
web shell	Applications and Threats	Detects systems that are infected with a web shell. A web shell is a script that enables remote administration of a web server; attackers can use web shell-infected web servers (the web servers can be both internet-facing or internal systems) to target other internal systems.
spyware	Applications and Threats	Detect outbound C2 communication. These signatures are either auto-generated or are manually created by Palo Alto Networks researchers. Spyware and autogen signatures both detect outbound C2 communication; however, autogen signatures are payload-based and can uniquely detect C2 communications with C2 hosts that are unknown or change rapidly.
Vulnerability Signatures
brute force	Applications and Threats	A brute-force signature detects multiple occurrences of a condition in a particular time frame. While the activity in isolation might be benign, the brute-force signature indicates that the frequency and rate at which the activity occurred is suspect. For example, a single FTP login failure does not indicate malicious activity. However, many failed FTP logins in a short period likely indicate an attacker attempting password combinations to access an FTP server. You can tune the action and trigger conditions for brute force signatures.
code execution	Applications and Threats	Detects a code execution vulnerability that an attacker can leverage to run code on a system with the privileges of the logged-in user.
code-obfuscation	Applications and Threats	Detects code that has been transformed to conceal certain data while retaining its function. Obfuscated code is difficult or impossible to read, so it’s not apparent what commands the code is executing or with which programs its designed to interact. Most commonly, malicious actors obfuscate code to conceal malware. More rarely, legitimate developers might obfuscate code to protect privacy, intellectual property, or to improve user experience. For example, certain types of obfuscation (like minification) reduce file size, which decreases website load times and bandwidth usage.
dos	Applications and Threats	Detects a denial-of-service (DoS) attack, where an attacker attempts to render a targeted system unavailable, temporarily disrupting the system and dependent applications and services. To perform a DoS attack, an attacker might flood a targeted system with traffic or send information that causes it to fail. DoS attacks deprive legitimate users (like employees, members, and account holders) of the service or resource to which they expect access.
exploit-kit	Applications and Threats	Detects an exploit kit landing page. Exploit kit landing pages often contain several exploits that target one or many common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs), for multiple browsers and plugins. Because the targeted CVEs change quickly, exploit-kit signatures trigger based on the exploit kit landing page, and not the CVEs. When a user visits a website with an exploit kit, the exploit kit scans for the targeted CVEs and attempts to silently deliver a malicious payload to the victim’s computer.
info-leak	Applications and Threats	Detects a software vulnerability that an attacker could exploit to steal sensitive or proprietary information. Often, an info-leak might exist because comprehensive checks do not exist to guard the data, and attackers can exploit info-leaks by sending crafted requests.
overflow	Applications and Threats	Detects an overflow vulnerability, where a lack of proper checks on requests could be exploited by an attacker. A successful attack could lead to remote code execution with the privileges of the application, server or operating system.
phishing	Applications and Threats	Detects when a user attempts to connect to a phishing kit landing page (likely after receiving an email with a link to the malicious site). A phishing website tricks users into submitting credentials that an attacker can steal to gain access to the network. In addition to blocking access to phishing kit landing pages, enable Multi-Factor Authentication and Credential Phishing Prevention to prevent phishing attacks at all stages.
protocol-anomaly	Applications and Threats	Detects protocol anomalies, where a protocol behavior deviates from standard and compliant usage. For example, a malformed packet, poorly-written application, or an application running on a non-standard port would all be considered protocol anomalies, and could be used as evasion tools. It is a best practice to block protocol anomalies of any severity.
sql-injection	Applications and Threats	Detects a common hacking technique where an attacker inserts SQL queries into an application’s requests, in order to read from or modify a database. This type of technique is often used on websites that do not comprehensively sanitize user input.