Individual skill
hunting-for-cobalt-strike-beacons
Detect Cobalt Strike beacon network activity using default TLS certificate signatures (serial 8BB00EE), JA3/JA3S/JARM fingerprints, HTTP C2 profile pattern matching, beacon jitter analysis, and named pipe detection via Zeek, Suricata, and Python PCAP analysis.
internal/tools/skills/data/threat-hunting/hunting-for-cobalt-strike-beacons/SKILL.md
Source commit d42f381ad34843e71a42658e5c57290c713e85af
What was checked
- Matches the observed repository HEAD
- Yes
- Scanner rules are current
- Yes
- Repository scan complete
- No
- Skill scan complete
- Yes
- Observed behavior
- Instructions only
- Last checked
- Nov 9, 2026
These are observations at the recorded commit, not a guarantee of safety. Review the source before running it.
Install this skill
Choose an agent in your Stack or copy a command below. Commands fetch the pinned commit and copy only this skill directory. Existing destinations are refused. Copying a command does not install anything.
An install command is unavailable: current rules, complete repository and skill scans, an eligible behavior level and a permitted license are required.
Repository context
- Repository stars (not skill ratings)
- 1,320
- Repository last updated
- Nov 8, 2026
- License
- Apache-2.0
Observed agent integration: No specific integration evidence. Standard SKILL.md installation does not imply verified compatibility.
- cybersecurity Repository topic
- security Repository topic
- bug-bounty Repository topic
- automation Repository topic
- autonomous-pentesting Repository topic
- ai-agent Repository topic
- ai-security Repository topic
- ethical-hacking Repository topic
- golang Repository topic
- penetration-testing Repository topic
- cobalt-strike Declared skill tag
- beacon Declared skill tag
- threat-hunting Declared skill tag
- c2 Declared skill tag
- zeek Declared skill tag
- suricata Declared skill tag
- ja3 Declared skill tag
- jarm Declared skill tag
- network-forensics Declared skill tag
- security Derived category
Files and excerpt
File metadata and permitted, redacted excerpts come from the recorded scan. Source links are pinned to that commit.
Browse files
SKILL.mdcore · 4,057 bytes
Read excerpt
# Hunting for Cobalt Strike Beacons
## Overview
Cobalt Strike is the most prevalent command-and-control framework used by both red teams and threat actors. Beacon, its primary payload, communicates with team servers using configurable HTTP/HTTPS/DNS profiles that can mimic legitimate traffic. However, default configurations and behavioral patterns remain detectable through TLS certificate analysis (default serial 8BB00EE), JA3/JA3S fingerprinting, beacon interval jitter analysis, and HTTP malleable profile pattern matching. This skill covers building detection capabilities using Zeek network logs, Suricata IDS rules, and Python-based PCAP analysis to identify beacon callbacks in network traffic.
## When to Use
- When investigating security incidents that require hunting for cobalt strike beacons
- When building detection rules or threat hunting queries for this domain
- When SOC analysts need structured procedures for this analysis type
- When validating security monitoring coverage for related attack techniques
