T1600.002

Disable Crypto Hardware

Adversaries disable a network device's dedicated hardware encryption accelerator, forcing the device to fall back to slower, software-based cryptographic operations. Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) and onboard crypto ASICs in routers, switches, and firewalls are purpose-built to perform encryption at line rate and resist tampering. Disabling them degrades cryptographic performance and may enable exploitation of weaker software cipher implementations. This technique is typically executed after gaining privileged access to network device management interfaces (via T1078.004, T1021.004, or T1601) and is most dangerous when combined with T1600.001 (Reduce Key Space) to both disable hardware protections and downgrade cipher strength, enabling adversaries to decrypt intercepted VPN or IPSec traffic.

Microsoft Sentinel / Defender
kusto
let HWCryptoDisablePatterns = dynamic([
  "no crypto engine accelerator",
  "crypto engine software",
  "no hardware-based crypto",
  "crypto-engine disabled",
  "accelerator disabled",
  "no crypto-engine",
  "vpn acceleration disabled",
  "software crypto only",
  "no crypto engine onboard",
  "crypto engine integrated"
]);
let CiscoConfigSyslogFacilities = dynamic([
  "PARSER-5-CFGLOG_LOGGEDCMD",
  "SYS-5-CONFIG_I",
  "CRYPTO-6-ISAKMP_ON_OFF",
  "CRYPTO_ENGINE-6-KEY_DELETED",
  "CRYPTO_ENGINE-4-ACCEL_FAIL"
]);
let NetworkDeviceVendors = dynamic(["Cisco", "Juniper", "Palo Alto", "Fortinet", "Check Point", "F5"]);
union
(
  Syslog
  | where TimeGenerated > ago(24h)
  | where SyslogMessage has_any (HWCryptoDisablePatterns)
      or (SyslogMessage has_any (CiscoConfigSyslogFacilities) and SyslogMessage has_any ("no crypto", "crypto engine", "accelerat", "hardware"))
  | extend DeviceType = "NetworkDevice-Syslog"
  | extend DeviceIdentifier = Computer
  | extend RawMessage = SyslogMessage
),
(
  CommonSecurityLog
  | where TimeGenerated > ago(24h)
  | where DeviceVendor has_any (NetworkDeviceVendors)
  | where Message has_any (HWCryptoDisablePatterns)
      or (Activity has_any ("config", "command", "modify") and Message has_any ("no crypto", "crypto engine", "accelerat"))
  | extend DeviceType = strcat("CSL-", DeviceVendor)
  | extend DeviceIdentifier = DeviceName
  | extend RawMessage = Message
)
| extend DisableHWCrypto = RawMessage has_any ("no crypto engine accelerator", "no hardware-based crypto", "no crypto-engine", "no crypto engine onboard")
| extend ForceSoftwareCrypto = RawMessage has_any ("crypto engine software", "software crypto only", "crypto engine integrated")
| extend AcceleratorFault = RawMessage has_any ("accelerator disabled", "vpn acceleration disabled", "CRYPTO_ENGINE-4-ACCEL_FAIL")
| extend ConfigCommand = RawMessage has_any (CiscoConfigSyslogFacilities)
| extend SuspicionScore = toint(DisableHWCrypto) + toint(ForceSoftwareCrypto) + toint(AcceleratorFault)
| where SuspicionScore > 0 or (ConfigCommand and (DisableHWCrypto or ForceSoftwareCrypto))
| project TimeGenerated, DeviceIdentifier, DeviceType, RawMessage,
         DisableHWCrypto, ForceSoftwareCrypto, AcceleratorFault, ConfigCommand, SuspicionScore
| sort by TimeGenerated desc
critical severity medium confidence

Data Sources

Network Device: Network Device Configuration Network Device: Network Device Command Cisco IOS Syslog (SYS, CRYPTO_ENGINE, PARSER facilities) CommonSecurityLog (CEF/LEEF from network device vendors)

Required Tables

Syslog CommonSecurityLog

False Positives

  • Scheduled network maintenance windows where administrators update crypto engine firmware or replace hardware security modules
  • Hardware accelerator failures triggering automatic software fallback — the CRYPTO_ENGINE-4-ACCEL_FAIL syslog message may fire during genuine hardware faults
  • Lab, staging, or development network devices where hardware crypto acceleration is intentionally disabled to reduce cost or simplify testing
  • Vendor-initiated diagnostic procedures where TAC engineers disable hardware acceleration to isolate performance issues
  • Automated configuration management tools (Ansible, NAPALM, NSO) pushing approved baseline configurations that include software crypto fallback settings

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