This document describes the MISP galaxy format which describes a simple JSON format to represent galaxies and clusters that can be attached to MISP events or attributes. A public directory of MISP galaxies is available and relies on the MISP galaxy format. MISP galaxies are used to add further informations on a MISP event. MISP galaxy is a public repository [@?MISP-G] [@?MISP-G-DOC] of known malware, threats actors and various other collections of data that can be used to mark, classify or label data in threat information sharing.
Sharing threat information became a fundamental requirements on the Internet, security and intelligence community at large. Threat information can include indicators of compromise, malicious file indicators, financial fraud indicators or even detailed information about a threat actor. Some of these informations, such as malware or threat actors are common to several security events. MISP galaxy is a public repository [@?MISP-G] of known malware, threats actors and various other collections of data that can be used to mark, classify or label data in threat information sharing.
In the MISP galaxy context, clusters help analysts to give more informations about their cybersecurity events, indicators or threats. MISP galaxies can be used for classification, filtering, triggering actions or visualisation depending on their use in threat intelligence platforms such as MISP [@?MISP-P].
## Conventions and Terminology
The key words "**MUST**", "**MUST NOT**", "**REQUIRED**", "**SHALL**", "**SHALL NOT**",
"**SHOULD**", "**SHOULD NOT**", "**RECOMMENDED**", "**MAY**", and "**OPTIONAL**" in this
document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [@!RFC2119].
# Format
A cluster is composed of a value (**MUST**), a description (**OPTIONAL**) and metadata (**OPTIONAL**).
The MISP galaxy format uses the JSON [@!RFC8259] format. Each galaxy is represented as a JSON object with meta information including the following fields: name, uuid, description, version, type, authors, source, values, category.
name defines the name of the galaxy. The name is represented as a string and **MUST** be present. The uuid represents the Universally Unique IDentifier (UUID) [@!RFC4122] of the object reference. The uuid **MUST** be preserved. For any updates or transfer of the same object reference. UUID version 4 is **RECOMMENDED** when assigning it to a new object reference and **MUST** be present. The description is represented as a string and **MUST** be present. The uuid is represented as a string and **MUST** be present. The version is represented as a decimal and **MUST** be present. The type is represented as a string and **MUST** be present and **MUST** match the name of the galaxy file. The source is represented as a string and **MUST** be present. Authors are represented as an array containing one or more authors and **MUST** be present. The category is represented as a string and **MUST** be present and describes the overall category of the galaxy such as tool or actor.
The values array contains one or more JSON objects which represent all the possible values in the galaxy. The JSON object contains four fields: value, description, uuid and meta.
The value is represented as a string and **MUST** be present. The description is represented as a string and **SHOULD** be present. The meta or metadata is represented as a JSON list and **SHOULD** be present.
The uuid represents the Universally Unique IDentifier (UUID) [@!RFC4122] of the value reference. The uuid **SHOULD** can be present and **MUST** be preserved.
Related contains a list of JSON key value pairs which describe the related values in this galaxy cluster or to other galaxy clusters. The JSON object contains three fields, dest-uuid, type and tags. The dest-uuid represents the target UUID which encompasses a relation of some type. The dest-uuid is represented as a string and **MUST** be present. The type is represented as a string and **MUST** be present and **SHOULD** be selected from the relationship types available in MISP objects [@?MISP-R]. The tags is a list of string which labels the related relationship such as the level of similarities, level of certainty, trust or confidence in the relationship, false-positive. A tag is represented in machine tag format which is a string an **SHOULD** be present.
refs, synonyms **SHALL** be used to give further informations. refs is represented as an array containing one or more strings and **SHALL** be present. synonyms is represented as an array containing one or more strings and **SHALL** be present.
date, status **MAY** be used to give time information about an cluster. date is represented as a string describing a time or period and **SHALL** be present. status is represented as a string describing the current status of the clusters. It **MAY** also describe a time or period and **SHALL** be present.
colour fields **MAY** be used at predicates or values level to set a specify colour that **MAY** be used by the implementation. The colour field is described as an RGB colour fill in hexadecimal representation.
complexity, effectiveness, impact, possible_issues **MAY** be used to give further information in preventive-measure galaxy. complexity is represented by an enumerated value from a fixed vocabulary and **SHALL** be present. effectiveness is represented by an enumerated value from a fixed vocabulary and **SHALL** be present. impact is represented by an enumerated value from a fixed vocabulary and **SHALL** be present. possible_issues is represented as a string and **SHOULD** be present.
"possible_issues": "Administrative VBS scripts on Workstations"
},
"value": "Disable WSH",
"description": "Disable Windows Script Host",
"uuid": "e6df1619-f8b3-476c-b5cf-22b4c9e9dd7f"
}
~~~~
country, motive **MAY** be used to give further information in threat-actor galaxy. country is represented as a string and **SHOULD** be present. motive is represented as a string and **SHOULD** be present.
Example use of the country, motive fields in the threat-actor galaxy:
encryption, extensions, ransomnotes, ransomnotes-filenames, ransomnotes-refs, payment-method, price **MAY** be used to give further information in ransomware galaxy. encryption is represented as a string and **SHALL** be present. extensions is represented as an array containing one or more strings and **SHALL** be present. ransomnotes is represented as an array containing one or more strings ans **SHALL** be present. ransomnotes-filenames is represented as an array containing one or more strings ans **SHALL** be present. ransomnotes-refs is represented as an array containing one or more strings ans **SHALL** be present. payment-method is represented as a string and **SHALL** be present. price is represented as a string and **SHALL** be present.
"description": "Similar to Samas and BitPaymer, Ryuk is specifically used to target enterprise environments. Code comparison between versions of Ryuk and Hermes ransomware indicates that Ryuk was derived from the Hermes source code and has been under steady development since its release. Hermes is commodity ransomware that has been observed for sale on forums and used by multiple threat actors. However, Ryuk is only used by GRIM SPIDER and, unlike Hermes, Ryuk has only been used to target enterprise environments. Since Ryuk’s appearance in August, the threat actors operating it have netted over 705.80 BTC across 52 transactions for a total current value of $3,701,893.98 USD.",
Example use of the payment-method, price fields in the ransomware galaxy:
~~~~
{
"description": "This is most likely to affect English speaking users, since the note is written in English. English is understood worldwide, thus anyone can be harmed. The hacker spread the virus using email spam, fake updates, and harmful attachments. All your files are compromised including music, MS Office, Open Office, pictures, videos, shared online files etc..",
"meta": {
"date": "March 2017",
"encryption": "AES-128",
"extensions": [
".enc"
],
"payment-method": "Bitcoin",
"price": "0.1",
"ransomnotes": [
"Blocked Your computer has been blocked All your files are encrypted. To access your PC, you need to send to Bitcoin at the address below loading Step 1: Go to xxxxs : //wvw.coinbase.com/ siqnup Step 2: Create an account and follow the instructions Step 3: Go to the \"Buy Bitcoins\" section and then buy Bitcoin Step 4: Go to the \"Send\" section, enter the address above and the amount (0.1 Bitcoin) Step 5: Click on the button below to verify the payment, your files will be decrypted and the virus will disappear 'Check' If you try to bypass the lock, all files will be published on the Internet, as well as your login for all sites."
source-uuid, target-uuid **SHALL** be used to describe relationships. source-uuid and target-uuid represent the Universally Unique IDentifier (UUID) [@!RFC4122] of the value reference. source-uuid and target-uuid **MUST** be preserved.
cfr-suspected-victims, cfr-suspected-state-sponsor, cfr-type-of-incident and cfr-target-category **MAY** be used to report information gathered from CFR's (Council on Foreign Relations) [@?CFR] Cyber Operations Tracker. cfr-suspected-victims is represented as an array containing one or more strings and **SHALL** be present. cfr-suspected-state-sponsor is represented as a string and **SHALL** be present. cfr-type-of-incident is represented as a string or an array and **SHALL** be present. **RECOMMENDED** but not exhaustive list of possible values for cfr-type-of-incident includes "Espionage", "Denial of service", "Sabotage". cfr-target-category is represented as an array containing one or more strings ans **SHALL** be present. **RECOMMENDED** but not exhaustive list of possible values for cfr-target-category includes "Private sector", "Government", "Civil society", "Military".
attribution-confidence **MAY** be used to indicate the confidence about an attribution given by country or cfr-suspected-state-sponsor. attribution-confidence is represented on a scale from 0 to 100, where 50 means "no information", the values under 50 mean "probably not, almost certainly not to impossibility", the values above 50 means "from probable, almost certain to certainty" and **SHALL** be present if country or cfr-suspected-state-sponsor are present.
