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DE-0003.03
ST0006Defense Evasion
sub-technique

Command Receiver On/Off Mode

Parent: DE-0003

Description

By toggling receiver enable states (per-receiver, per-antenna, or per-band), the adversary creates deliberate “quiet windows” in which outside intervention cannot arrive. Turning a command receiver off, or shifting to a configuration that ignores the primary path, allows queued actions or onboard procedures to run without interruption, while operators perceive a transient loss of commandability consistent with geometry or environment. Brief, well-timed toggles can also desynchronize counters and handovers, complicating reconstruction of what occurred.

Mappings

EU regulation articles

  • craAnnex I, Part I, (2)(d)
    mitigates
    moderate
    direct

    Receiver-enable changes should require authenticated configuration commands and access controls; (2)(d)'s authentication and access-management obligation mitigates this attack at the config-change boundary.

  • craAnnex I, Part I, (2)(f)
    addresses
    high
    direct

    Toggling receiver enable states is unauthorized modification of receiver configuration — the manipulation-of-configuration scope (2)(f) covers.

  • eu-space-actArt. 81(3)
    addresses
    moderate
    direct

    Receiver-enable changes are critical-function actions; 81(3)(b)'s restriction governs who can issue them.

  • eu-space-actArt. 84(2)
    addresses
    high
    direct

    Toggling receiver enable states alters network-and-information-system configuration under 84(2)'s Annex VII point 5.1 scope.

  • nis2Art. 21(2)(b)
    addresses
    moderate
    derived

    Receiver toggles aligned with command queues or autonomy windows produce detectable patterns Art. 21(2)(b)'s incident-handling capability must surface, especially when 'transient loss of commandability' coincides with operational anomalies.

  • nis2Art. 21(2)(i)
    addresses
    moderate
    direct

    Per-receiver/per-antenna/per-band enable states are access-controlled engineering configuration; Art. 21(2)(i) governs which roles can toggle command-receiver state.

  • nis2-implAnnex 3.2.1
    addresses
    high
    derived

    Monitoring procedures must surface receiver-state changes that create deliberate quiet windows, which are observable from telemetry transitions and pass-coverage gaps.

  • nis2-implAnnex 6.4.1
    relates to
    high
    derived

    Toggling receiver enable states is a change-management event; documented procedures must govern configuration of receiver power and band selection.

ENISA controls

  • ENISA-STL-2025-03-sD.21-i01
    addresses
    high

    Configuration management of command-receiver enable/disable states is the discipline that surfaces deliberate quiet-window manipulation.

  • ENISA-STL-2025-03-sD.21-i05
    mitigates
    moderate

    Secure command modes including geographic and temporal restrictions limit when receiver-toggle commands can be issued.

Cross-reference controls

SPARTA countermeasures

Cite as SafeMode Space, DE-0003.03 (SPARTA v3.2).

Built 2026-07-25 from 216 techniques, 334 regulation articles, 125 ENISA controls, 2,610 framework controls, and 90 countermeasures.