Supply Chain Compromise: Compromise Hardware Supply Chain

Adversaries may manipulate hardware components in products prior to receipt by a final consumer for the purpose of data or system compromise. By modifying hardware or firmware in the supply chain, adversaries can insert a backdoor into consumer networks that may be difficult to detect and give the adversary a high degree of control over the system. Hardware backdoors may be inserted into various devices, such as servers, workstations, network infrastructure, or peripherals.

ID: T1195.003
Sub-technique of:  T1195
Tactic: Initial Access
Platforms: Linux, Windows, macOS
Version: 1.1
Created: 11 March 2020
Last Modified: 24 October 2025

Mitigations

ID Mitigation Description
M1046 Boot Integrity

Use Trusted Platform Module technology and a secure or trusted boot process to prevent system integrity from being compromised. Check the integrity of the existing BIOS or EFI to determine if it is vulnerable to modification. [1] [2]

Detection Strategy

ID Name Analytic ID Analytic Description
DET0368 Hardware Supply Chain Compromise Detection via Host Status & Boot Integrity Checks AN1035

Detects tampered hardware or firmware via anomalous host status telemetry. Behavioral chain: (1) Pre-OS or firmware components exhibit unexpected version changes, signature failures, or modified boot paths; (2) System management/firmware tools log hardware inventory drift; (3) Sensor health telemetry or boot attestation events fail baseline checks; (4) Follow-on process execution from altered firmware or unknown drivers after boot.

AN1036

Monitors for hardware or firmware tampering by correlating system boot logs, hardware inventory changes, and secure boot/firmware verification failures. Behavioral chain: (1) UEFI/BIOS version drift; (2) secure boot disabled or signature verification errors; (3) unexpected modules or hardware devices enumerated at boot; (4) new device firmware images loaded from non-approved sources.

AN1037

Detects tampered Mac hardware/firmware by analyzing unified logs, EndpointSecurity events, and Apple Mobile File Integrity (AMFI) checks. Behavioral chain: (1) Boot process reports firmware signature mismatch; (2) Secure Boot policy altered; (3) new EFI drivers or hardware devices appear in inventory; (4) system extension loads from unapproved developer IDs post-boot.

References