{"id":"https://openalex.org/W4386350032","doi":"https://doi.org/10.3390/jcp3030027","title":"Abuse of Cloud-Based and Public Legitimate Services as Command-and-Control (C&amp;C) Infrastructure: A Systematic Literature Review","display_name":"Abuse of Cloud-Based and Public Legitimate Services as Command-and-Control (C&amp;C) Infrastructure: A Systematic Literature Review","publication_year":2023,"publication_date":"2023-09-01","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W4386350032","doi":"https://doi.org/10.3390/jcp3030027"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.3390/jcp3030027","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.3390/jcp3030027","pdf_url":"https://www.mdpi.com/2624-800X/3/3/27/pdf?version=1693531364","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4210232532","display_name":"Journal of Cybersecurity and Privacy","issn_l":"2624-800X","issn":["2624-800X"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310310987","host_organization_name":"Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310310987"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Journal of Cybersecurity and Privacy","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref","doaj"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"gold","oa_url":"https://www.mdpi.com/2624-800X/3/3/27/pdf?version=1693531364","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5092728316","display_name":"Turki Al lelah","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6701-0279"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I79510175","display_name":"Cardiff University","ror":"https://ror.org/03kk7td41","country_code":"GB","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I79510175"]}],"countries":["GB"],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Turki Al lelah","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4AG, UK"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6701-0279","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4AG, UK","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I79510175"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5042246090","display_name":"George Theodorakopoulos","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2701-7809"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I79510175","display_name":"Cardiff University","ror":"https://ror.org/03kk7td41","country_code":"GB","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I79510175"]}],"countries":["GB"],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"George Theodorakopoulos","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4AG, UK"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2701-7809","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4AG, UK","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I79510175"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5039634558","display_name":"Philipp Reinecke","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2411-0891"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I79510175","display_name":"Cardiff University","ror":"https://ror.org/03kk7td41","country_code":"GB","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I79510175"]}],"countries":["GB"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Philipp Reinecke","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4AG, UK"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4AG, UK","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I79510175"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5065308354","display_name":"Amir Javed","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9761-0945"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I79510175","display_name":"Cardiff University","ror":"https://ror.org/03kk7td41","country_code":"GB","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I79510175"]}],"countries":["GB"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Amir Javed","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4AG, UK"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4AG, UK","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I79510175"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5018476805","display_name":"Eirini Anthi","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5274-0727"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I79510175","display_name":"Cardiff University","ror":"https://ror.org/03kk7td41","country_code":"GB","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I79510175"]}],"countries":["GB"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Eirini Anthi","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4AG, UK"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4AG, UK","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I79510175"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":1,"institutions_distinct_count":5,"corresponding_author_ids":["https://openalex.org/A5042246090","https://openalex.org/A5092728316"],"corresponding_institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I79510175"],"apc_list":{"value":1000,"currency":"CHF","value_usd":1082},"apc_paid":{"value":1000,"currency":"CHF","value_usd":1082},"fwci":2.4971,"has_fulltext":true,"cited_by_count":13,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.89915792,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":false},"cited_by_percentile_year":{"min":94,"max":99},"biblio":{"volume":"3","issue":"3","first_page":"558","last_page":"590"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10400","display_name":"Network Security and Intrusion Detection","score":1.0,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1705","display_name":"Computer Networks and Communications"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10400","display_name":"Network Security and Intrusion Detection","score":1.0,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1705","display_name":"Computer Networks and Communications"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11241","display_name":"Advanced Malware Detection Techniques","score":0.9998999834060669,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1711","display_name":"Signal Processing"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11598","display_name":"Internet Traffic Analysis and Secure E-voting","score":0.9986000061035156,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-security","display_name":"Computer security","score":0.7065757513046265},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/botnet","display_name":"Botnet","score":0.6914688348770142},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/cloud-computing","display_name":"Cloud computing","score":0.6367725133895874},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/command-and-control","display_name":"Command and control","score":0.5895395874977112},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/covert","display_name":"Covert","score":0.506306529045105},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-science","display_name":"Computer science","score":0.48419931530952454},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/categorization","display_name":"Categorization","score":0.48205074667930603},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/systematic-review","display_name":"Systematic review","score":0.43579012155532837},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/internet-privacy","display_name":"Internet privacy","score":0.3300803303718567},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/data-science","display_name":"Data science","score":0.3263060450553894},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/political-science","display_name":"Political science","score":0.15810364484786987},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/world-wide-web","display_name":"World Wide Web","score":0.11980605125427246},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/the-internet","display_name":"The Internet","score":0.1135002076625824},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/artificial-intelligence","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","score":0.11187949776649475},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/telecommunications","display_name":"Telecommunications","score":0.10778144001960754},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/law","display_name":"Law","score":0.0817480981349945}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C38652104","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3510521","display_name":"Computer security","level":1,"score":0.7065757513046265},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C22735295","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q317671","display_name":"Botnet","level":3,"score":0.6914688348770142},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C79974875","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q483639","display_name":"Cloud computing","level":2,"score":0.6367725133895874},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C506615639","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21662260","display_name":"Command and control","level":2,"score":0.5895395874977112},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779338814","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5179285","display_name":"Covert","level":2,"score":0.506306529045105},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.48419931530952454},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C94124525","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q912550","display_name":"Categorization","level":2,"score":0.48205074667930603},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C189708586","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1504425","display_name":"Systematic review","level":3,"score":0.43579012155532837},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C108827166","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q175975","display_name":"Internet privacy","level":1,"score":0.3300803303718567},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2522767166","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2374463","display_name":"Data science","level":1,"score":0.3263060450553894},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C17744445","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q36442","display_name":"Political science","level":0,"score":0.15810364484786987},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C136764020","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q466","display_name":"World Wide Web","level":1,"score":0.11980605125427246},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C110875604","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q75","display_name":"The Internet","level":2,"score":0.1135002076625824},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.11187949776649475},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C76155785","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q418","display_name":"Telecommunications","level":1,"score":0.10778144001960754},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C199539241","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7748","display_name":"Law","level":1,"score":0.0817480981349945},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779473830","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1540899","display_name":"MEDLINE","level":2,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41895202","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8162","display_name":"Linguistics","level":1,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C111919701","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9135","display_name":"Operating system","level":1,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C138885662","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5891","display_name":"Philosophy","level":0,"score":0.0}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":3,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.3390/jcp3030027","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.3390/jcp3030027","pdf_url":"https://www.mdpi.com/2624-800X/3/3/27/pdf?version=1693531364","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4210232532","display_name":"Journal of Cybersecurity and Privacy","issn_l":"2624-800X","issn":["2624-800X"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310310987","host_organization_name":"Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310310987"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Journal of Cybersecurity and Privacy","raw_type":"journal-article"},{"id":"pmh:oai:https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk:162677","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":null,"pdf_url":"https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/162677/1/Abuse%20of%20Cloud-Based%20and%20Public%20Legitimate%20Services%20as%20Command-and-Control%20%28C%26C%29%20Infrastructure.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306401195","display_name":"ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I79510175","host_organization_name":"Cardiff University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I79510175"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"acceptedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":"","raw_type":"Article"},{"id":"pmh:oai:doaj.org/article:79c8098639564ba290c8e92b0313a456","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doaj.org/article/79c8098639564ba290c8e92b0313a456","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306401280","display_name":"DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":null,"host_organization_name":null,"host_organization_lineage":[],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by-sa","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by-sa","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":"Journal of Cybersecurity and Privacy, Vol 3, Iss 3, Pp 558-590 (2023)","raw_type":"article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.3390/jcp3030027","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.3390/jcp3030027","pdf_url":"https://www.mdpi.com/2624-800X/3/3/27/pdf?version=1693531364","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4210232532","display_name":"Journal of Cybersecurity and Privacy","issn_l":"2624-800X","issn":["2624-800X"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310310987","host_organization_name":"Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310310987"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Journal of Cybersecurity and Privacy","raw_type":"journal-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[{"display_name":"Industry, innovation and infrastructure","id":"https://metadata.un.org/sdg/9","score":0.6499999761581421}],"awards":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/G7846730872","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"EP/S018263/1","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320334627","funder_display_name":"Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council"}],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320322507","display_name":"Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu","ror":"https://ror.org/00km4z122"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320334627","display_name":"Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council","ror":"https://ror.org/0439y7842"}],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":false,"pdf":true},"content_urls":{"pdf":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W4386350032.pdf"},"referenced_works_count":36,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W85558978","https://openalex.org/W187875600","https://openalex.org/W1414275305","https://openalex.org/W1497347928","https://openalex.org/W1775772884","https://openalex.org/W1909110254","https://openalex.org/W1979706594","https://openalex.org/W1992713826","https://openalex.org/W1994344180","https://openalex.org/W2019151457","https://openalex.org/W2021378528","https://openalex.org/W2059383234","https://openalex.org/W2065323196","https://openalex.org/W2091214382","https://openalex.org/W2102671922","https://openalex.org/W2105272313","https://openalex.org/W2124647717","https://openalex.org/W2130216882","https://openalex.org/W2130446510","https://openalex.org/W2157826538","https://openalex.org/W2186122652","https://openalex.org/W2255880737","https://openalex.org/W2292454532","https://openalex.org/W2534646665","https://openalex.org/W2571873516","https://openalex.org/W2602502610","https://openalex.org/W2907395429","https://openalex.org/W3011025032","https://openalex.org/W3019044251","https://openalex.org/W3106764117","https://openalex.org/W4232197359","https://openalex.org/W6607594771","https://openalex.org/W6650449459","https://openalex.org/W6734189680","https://openalex.org/W6777037285","https://openalex.org/W6904952963"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W2898126008","https://openalex.org/W86804927","https://openalex.org/W1583098994","https://openalex.org/W2386447999","https://openalex.org/W2130216882","https://openalex.org/W2091214382","https://openalex.org/W2376288852","https://openalex.org/W2100671106","https://openalex.org/W2364035342","https://openalex.org/W2061455058"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"The":[0],"widespread":[1],"adoption":[2],"of":[3,95,108,144,157,183],"cloud-based":[4,121],"and":[5,22,81,103],"public":[6],"legitimate":[7,44],"services":[8],"(CPLS)":[9],"has":[10],"inadvertently":[11],"opened":[12],"up":[13],"new":[14],"avenues":[15],"for":[16,62,160],"cyber":[17],"attackers":[18],"to":[19,40,86,175,180],"establish":[20],"covert":[21],"resilient":[23],"command-and-control":[24],"(C&amp;C)":[25],"communication":[26],"channels.":[27],"This":[28],"abuse":[29,159],"poses":[30],"a":[31,92,105,117,154,177],"significant":[32,178],"cybersecurity":[33],"threat,":[34],"as":[35,153],"it":[36],"allows":[37],"malicious":[38],"traffic":[39],"blend":[41],"seamlessly":[42],"with":[43,140],"network":[45],"activities.":[46],"Traditional":[47],"detection":[48,65,112,136],"systems":[49],"are":[50],"proving":[51],"inadequate":[52],"in":[53,100,120,170],"accurately":[54],"identifying":[55],"such":[56],"abuses,":[57,122],"emphasizing":[58],"the":[59,79,96,109,132,161,166,181],"urgent":[60],"need":[61],"more":[63],"advanced":[64],"techniques.":[66,127],"In":[67],"our":[68],"study,":[69],"we":[70,173],"conducted":[71],"an":[72],"extensive":[73],"systematic":[74],"literature":[75,83],"review":[76,90,156],"(SLR)":[77],"encompassing":[78],"academic":[80],"industrial":[82],"from":[84],"2008":[85],"July":[87],"2023.":[88],"Our":[89,114,150],"provides":[91],"comprehensive":[93,155],"categorization":[94],"attack":[97,126],"techniques":[98,168],"employed":[99],"CPLS":[101,158],"abuses":[102],"offers":[104],"detailed":[106],"overview":[107],"currently":[110],"developed":[111],"strategies.":[113,187],"findings":[115],"indicate":[116],"substantial":[118],"increase":[119],"facilitated":[123],"by":[124],"various":[125],"Despite":[128],"this":[129,148],"alarming":[130],"trend,":[131],"focus":[133],"on":[134],"developing":[135],"strategies":[137],"remains":[138],"limited,":[139],"only":[141],"7":[142],"out":[143],"91":[145],"studies":[146],"addressing":[147],"concern.":[149],"research":[151],"serves":[152],"C&amp;C":[162],"infrastructure.":[163],"By":[164],"examining":[165],"emerging":[167],"used":[169],"these":[171],"attacks,":[172],"aim":[174],"make":[176],"contribution":[179],"development":[182],"effective":[184],"botnet":[185],"defense":[186]},"counts_by_year":[{"year":2026,"cited_by_count":2},{"year":2025,"cited_by_count":4},{"year":2024,"cited_by_count":5},{"year":2023,"cited_by_count":2}],"updated_date":"2026-05-21T06:26:12.895304","created_date":"2023-09-02T00:00:00"}
