Remote Access Tools: Remote Access Hardware

An adversary may use legitimate remote access hardware to establish an interactive command and control channel to target systems within networks. These services, including IP-based keyboard, video, or mouse (KVM) devices such as TinyPilot and PiKVM, are commonly used as legitimate tools and may be allowed by peripheral device policies within a target environment.

Remote access hardware may be physically installed and used post-compromise as an alternate communications channel for redundant access or as a way to establish an interactive remote session with the target system. Using hardware-based remote access tools may allow threat actors to bypass software security solutions and gain more control over the compromised device(s).[1][2]

ID: T1219.003
Sub-technique of:  T1219
Platforms: Linux, Windows, macOS
Contributors: Joe Gumke, U.S. Bank; Michael Davis, ServiceNow Threat Intelligence; Shwetank Murarka
Version: 1.0
Created: 26 March 2025
Last Modified: 02 May 2025

Mitigations

ID Mitigation Description
M1034 Limit Hardware Installation

Block the use of IP-based KVM devices within the network if they are not required.

Detection Strategy

ID Name Analytic ID Analytic Description
DET0159 Detect Remote Access via USB Hardware (TinyPilot, PiKVM) AN0446

Detection of USB-based remote access hardware (e.g., TinyPilot, PiKVM) attached to the host via drive or peripheral enumeration, triggering vendor identifiers or unusual EDID announcements.

AN0447

Insertion of USB-based hardware proxies (e.g., PiKVM) which register under predictable names (e.g., tinypilot) or mount under known paths (e.g., /opt/tinypilot-privileged).

AN0448

Attachment of hardware-backed USB KVM devices (e.g., TinyPilot) that enumerate new HID or serial communication interfaces with identifiable metadata.

References