Agent skill

Network Covert Channel Analysis

by mukul975 in mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills

Detects DNS tunneling, ICMP exfiltration and HTTP-based covert channels in packet captures and DNS logs when hunting for hidden command-and-control traffic.

Apache-2.0Auto-check passedSecurity

Install Network Covert Channel Analysis

skills CLI
$ npx skills add mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills --skill analyzing-network-covert-channels-in-malware -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills analyzing-network-covert-channels-in-malware --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/analyzing-network-covert-channels-in-malware .claude/skills/analyzing-network-covert-channels-in-malware && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
analyzing-network-covert-channels-in-malware
GitHub stars
34k
Token cost
~2k tokens
SKILL.md length
253 words
Files
7 (incl. scripts, references, assets)
Skills in repo
644
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
Apache-2.0

At a glance

Detects DNS tunneling, ICMP exfiltration and HTTP-based covert channels in packet captures and DNS logs when hunting for hidden command-and-control traffic.

  • Investigating suspicious DNS, ICMP or HTTP traffic in a capture
  • SKILL.md covers Overview, When to Use, Prerequisites and Workflow, plus 2 more sections
  • Runs Python scripts from its folder
  • Hunting for hidden C2 channels in network logs

What it does

The skill explains how malware hides command-and-control and exfiltration inside normal-looking protocols: data encoded in DNS queries by tools such as iodine and dnscat2, payloads tucked into ICMP echo packets by icmpsh and ptunnel, and C2 data placed in HTTP headers, cookies or images. Its workflow centers on a Python detection script that scores DNS traffic by entropy, subdomain length and query volume.

Validation criteria ask you to separate tunneling domains from legitimate CDN and cloud traffic, spot ICMP channels by payload-size anomalies, estimate how much data left the network and pull out beaconing intervals. The folder adds `scripts/agent.py`, API, standards and workflow references and a report template. You need Python 3.9 or later with scapy, dpkt and dnslib, Wireshark or tshark, Zeek, and DNS query logging.

When your agent uses it

  • Investigating suspicious DNS, ICMP or HTTP traffic in a capture
  • Hunting for hidden C2 channels in network logs
  • Attributing exfiltration traffic to a known tunneling tool
  • Building detection rules for protocol-abuse techniques

Example prompts

  • “Analyze capture.pcap for DNS tunneling and report the suspect domains.”
  • “Check these ICMP packets for payload-size anomalies that suggest a covert channel.”
  • “Estimate how much data was exfiltrated through DNS queries in this log.”

Requirements

  • Python 3.9+ with scapy, dpkt and dnslib
  • Wireshark or tshark for PCAP analysis
  • Zeek and DNS query logging for network monitoring

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 54a7988. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Ships 1 file in scripts/ (Python), which the agent can run.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    Links to these hosts (documentation or services it may open):

    • unit42.paloaltonetworks.com
    • elastic.co
    • vectra.ai
    • attack.mitre.org

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Network Covert Channel Analysis loads about 2k tokens when it runs, and up to ~2.8k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 105 tokens; SKILL.md has 253 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~105
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~2k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~2.8k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); the scripts in this folder are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills at commit 54a7988, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© mukul975). 253 words, ~1,996 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/analyzing-network-covert-channels-in-malware/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 6 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
analyzing-network-covert-channels-in-malware
description
Detect and analyze covert communication channels used by malware, including DNS tunneling, ICMP exfiltration, steganographic HTTP, and other protocol abuse used for C2 and data exfiltration. Use when investigating suspicious DNS/ICMP/HTTP traffic patterns, hunting for hidden C2 channels in network captures, or attributing exfiltration traffic to a known tunneling toolset.
domain
cybersecurity
subdomain
malware-analysis
tags
covert-channels, dns-tunneling, icmp-exfiltration, malware-analysis, network-forensics, c2-detection, data-exfiltration
version
1.0
author
mahipal
license
Apache-2.0
d3fend_techniques
File Metadata Consistency Validation, Certificate Analysis, Application Protocol Command Analysis, Content Format Conversion, File Content Analysis
nist_csf
DE.AE-02, RS.AN-03, ID.RA-01, DE.CM-01
mitre_attack
T1071.001, T1095, T1572, T1001

Analyzing Network Covert Channels in Malware

Overview

Malware uses covert channels to disguise C2 communication and data exfiltration within legitimate-looking network traffic. DNS tunneling encodes data in DNS queries and responses (used by tools like iodine, dnscat2, and malware families like FrameworkPOS). ICMP tunneling hides data in echo request/reply payloads (icmpsh, ptunnel). HTTP covert channels embed C2 data in headers, cookies, or steganographic images. Protocol abuse exploits allowed protocols to bypass firewalls. DNS tunneling detection achieves 99%+ recall with modern ML-based approaches, though low-throughput exfiltration remains challenging. Palo Alto Unit42 tracked three major DNS tunneling campaigns (TrkCdn, SecShow, Savvy Seahorse) through 2024, showing the technique's continued prevalence.

When to Use

  • When investigating security incidents that require analyzing network covert channels in malware
  • 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

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.9+ with scapy, dpkt, dnslib
  • Wireshark/tshark for PCAP analysis
  • Zeek (formerly Bro) for network monitoring
  • DNS query logging infrastructure
  • Understanding of DNS, ICMP, HTTP protocols at packet level

Workflow

Step 1: DNS Tunneling Detection
python
#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Detect DNS tunneling and covert channels in network traffic."""
import sys
import json
import math
from collections import Counter, defaultdict

try:
    from scapy.all import rdpcap, DNS, DNSQR, DNSRR, IP, ICMP
except ImportError:
    print("pip install scapy")
    sys.exit(1)


def entropy(data):
    if not data:
        return 0
    freq = Counter(data)
    length = len(data)
    return -sum((c/length) * math.log2(c/length) for c in freq.values())


def analyze_dns_tunneling(pcap_path):
    """Detect DNS tunneling indicators in PCAP."""
    packets = rdpcap(pcap_path)
    domain_stats = defaultdict(lambda: {
        "queries": 0, "total_qname_len": 0, "subdomain_lengths": [],
        "query_types": Counter(), "unique_subdomains": set(),
    })

    for pkt in packets:
        if pkt.haslayer(DNS) and pkt.haslayer(DNSQR):
            qname = pkt[DNSQR].qname.decode('utf-8', errors='replace').rstrip('.')
            qtype = pkt[DNSQR].qtype

            parts = qname.split('.')
            if len(parts) >= 3:
                base_domain = '.'.join(parts[-2:])
                subdomain = '.'.join(parts[:-2])

                stats = domain_stats[base_domain]
                stats["queries"] += 1
                stats["total_qname_len"] += len(qname)
                stats["subdomain_lengths"].append(len(subdomain))
                stats["query_types"][qtype] += 1
                stats["unique_subdomains"].add(subdomain)

    # Score domains for tunneling indicators
    suspicious = []
    for domain, stats in domain_stats.items():
        if stats["queries"] < 5:
            continue

        avg_subdomain_len = (sum(stats["subdomain_lengths"]) /
                             len(stats["subdomain_lengths"]))
        unique_ratio = len(stats["unique_subdomains"]) / stats["queries"]

        # Calculate subdomain entropy
        all_subdomains = ''.join(stats["unique_subdomains"])
        sub_entropy = entropy(all_subdomains)

        score = 0
        reasons = []

        if avg_subdomain_len > 30:
            score += 30
            reasons.append(f"Long subdomains (avg {avg_subdomain_len:.0f} chars)")
        if unique_ratio > 0.9:
            score += 25
            reasons.append(f"High uniqueness ({unique_ratio:.2%})")
        if sub_entropy > 4.0:
            score += 25
            reasons.append(f"High entropy ({sub_entropy:.2f})")
        if stats["query_types"].get(16, 0) > 10:  # TXT records
            score += 20
            reasons.append(f"Many TXT queries ({stats['query_types'][16]})")

        if score >= 50:
            suspicious.append({
                "domain": domain,
                "score": score,
                "queries": stats["queries"],
                "avg_subdomain_length": round(avg_subdomain_len, 1),
                "unique_subdomains": len(stats["unique_subdomains"]),
                "subdomain_entropy": round(sub_entropy, 2),
                "reasons": reasons,
            })

    return sorted(suspicious, key=lambda x: -x["score"])


def analyze_icmp_tunneling(pcap_path):
    """Detect ICMP tunneling in PCAP."""
    packets = rdpcap(pcap_path)
    icmp_stats = defaultdict(lambda: {"count": 0, "payload_sizes": [], "payloads": []})

    for pkt in packets:
        if pkt.haslayer(ICMP) and pkt.haslayer(IP):
            src = pkt[IP].src
            dst = pkt[IP].dst
            key = f"{src}->{dst}"

            payload = bytes(pkt[ICMP].payload)
            icmp_stats[key]["count"] += 1
            icmp_stats[key]["payload_sizes"].append(len(payload))
            if len(payload) > 64:
                icmp_stats[key]["payloads"].append(payload[:100])

    suspicious = []
    for flow, stats in icmp_stats.items():
        if stats["count"] < 5:
            continue
        avg_size = sum(stats["payload_sizes"]) / len(stats["payload_sizes"])
        if avg_size > 64 or stats["count"] > 100:
            suspicious.append({
                "flow": flow,
                "packets": stats["count"],
                "avg_payload_size": round(avg_size, 1),
                "reason": "Large/frequent ICMP payloads suggest tunneling",
            })

    return suspicious


if __name__ == "__main__":
    if len(sys.argv) < 2:
        print(f"Usage: {sys.argv[0]} <pcap_file>")
        sys.exit(1)

    print("[+] DNS Tunneling Analysis")
    dns_results = analyze_dns_tunneling(sys.argv[1])
    for r in dns_results:
        print(f"  {r['domain']} (score: {r['score']})")
        for reason in r['reasons']:
            print(f"    - {reason}")

    print("\n[+] ICMP Tunneling Analysis")
    icmp_results = analyze_icmp_tunneling(sys.argv[1])
    for r in icmp_results:
        print(f"  {r['flow']}: {r['reason']}")

Validation Criteria

  • DNS tunneling detected via entropy, subdomain length, and query volume analysis
  • ICMP covert channels identified through payload size anomalies
  • Tunneling domains distinguished from legitimate CDN/cloud traffic
  • Data exfiltration volume estimated from captured traffic
  • C2 communication patterns and beaconing intervals extracted

References

© mukul975, Apache-2.0. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 6 other files (scripts, references, assets) in skills/analyzing-network-covert-channels-in-malware of mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills.

  • SKILL.md
  • LICENSE
  • assets/template.md
  • references/api-reference.md
  • references/standards.md
  • references/workflows.md
  • scripts/agent.py

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 54a7988

Compare with similar skills

Network Covert Channel Analysis next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Network Covert Channel Analysis compared with similar skills
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Network Covert Channel Analysis this skillmukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills34k—~2kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
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Dfirtransilienceai/communitytools563—~1.5kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Incident Response NetworkLeoYeAI/openclaw-master-skills2.2k—~5kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Re Iot Protodslsdzc/rev-skills135—~3.2kAutomated safety check: NotesApache-2.0
Breach Forensicsmukul975/Privacy-Data-Protection-Skills301—~3.1kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0

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Works with

Categories

Questions about Network Covert Channel Analysis

What does Network Covert Channel Analysis do?

Detects DNS tunneling, ICMP exfiltration and HTTP-based covert channels in packet captures and DNS logs when hunting for hidden command-and-control traffic. The skill explains how malware hides command-and-control and exfiltration inside normal-looking protocols: data encoded in DNS queries by tools such as iodine and dnscat2, payloads tucked into ICMP echo packets by icmpsh and ptunnel, and C2 data placed in HTTP headers, cookies or images. Its workflow centers on a Python detection script that scores DNS traffic by entropy, subdomain length and query volume.

When should I use Network Covert Channel Analysis?

Network Covert Channel Analysis fits situations like: investigating suspicious DNS, ICMP or HTTP traffic in a capture; hunting for hidden C2 channels in network logs; attributing exfiltration traffic to a known tunneling tool; building detection rules for protocol-abuse techniques.

How do I install Network Covert Channel Analysis in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills --skill analyzing-network-covert-channels-in-malware -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/analyzing-network-covert-channels-in-malware in mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills) into .claude/skills/analyzing-network-covert-channels-in-malware in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Network Covert Channel Analysis in Codex?

Run `npx skills add mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills --skill analyzing-network-covert-channels-in-malware -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/analyzing-network-covert-channels-in-malware in mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills) into .agents/skills/analyzing-network-covert-channels-in-malware in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Network Covert Channel Analysis in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills --skill analyzing-network-covert-channels-in-malware -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/analyzing-network-covert-channels-in-malware, .gemini/skills/analyzing-network-covert-channels-in-malware, .github/skills/analyzing-network-covert-channels-in-malware and .opencode/skills/analyzing-network-covert-channels-in-malware in your project.

What does Network Covert Channel Analysis need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Network Covert Channel Analysis needs Python for the scripts in its folder. Our summary lists: Python 3.9+ with scapy, dpkt and dnslib; Wireshark or tshark for PCAP analysis; Zeek and DNS query logging for network monitoring.

Does Network Covert Channel Analysis access the network?

SKILL.md names 4 domains. As links in the text: unit42.paloaltonetworks.com, elastic.co, vectra.ai and attack.mitre.org. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Network Covert Channel Analysis safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. The check reads SKILL.md only: the scripts in the folder are not scanned, so read them before running anything.

What licence does Network Covert Channel Analysis use?

Network Covert Channel Analysis is published under the Apache-2.0 licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Network Covert Channel Analysis use?

About 2k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 8k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 833 tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Network Covert Channel Analysis?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Network Covert Channel Analysis: TShark Traffic Analysis (AgentSecOps/SecOpsAgentKit, 220 stars), Dfir (transilienceai/communitytools, 563 stars), Incident Response Network (LeoYeAI/openclaw-master-skills, 2.2k stars) and Re Iot Proto (dslsdzc/rev-skills, 135 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Network Covert Channel Analysis?

mukul975 (a GitHub user) maintains it in mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills, which has 34,116 GitHub stars. The repository holds 644 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on August 31, 2026.

Source: mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.