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This document describes a threat finding type in Security Command Center. Threat findings are generated by
threat detectors when they detect
a potential threat in your cloud resources. For a full list of available threat findings, see Threat findings index.
Overview
A root certificate was installed on the node. Adversaries may install a root certificate to avoid security alerts when establishing connections to their malicious web servers. Attackers could carry out man-in-the-middle attacks, intercepting sensitive data exchanged between the victim and the adversary's servers, without triggering any warnings. This is a file monitoring detector and has specific GKE version requirements. This detector is disabled by default. For instructions on how to enable it, see Testing Container Threat Detection.
Open the Defense Evasion: Root Certificate Installed finding as directed in
Reviewing findings.
Review the details in the Summary and JSON tabs.
Identify other findings that occurred at a similar time for this resource.
Related findings might indicate that this activity was malicious, instead of
a failure to follow best practices.
Review the settings of the affected resource.
Check the logs for the affected resource.
Research attack and response methods
Review the MITRE ATT&CK framework entry for this finding type:
Defense Evasion.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-09-04 UTC."],[],[],null,["| Premium and Enterprise [service tiers](/security-command-center/docs/service-tiers)\n\nThis document describes a threat finding type in Security Command Center. Threat findings are generated by\n[threat detectors](/security-command-center/docs/concepts-security-sources#threats) when they detect\na potential threat in your cloud resources. For a full list of available threat findings, see [Threat findings index](/security-command-center/docs/threat-findings-index).\n\nOverview\n\nA root certificate was installed on the node. Adversaries may install a root certificate to avoid security alerts when establishing connections to their malicious web servers. Attackers could carry out man-in-the-middle attacks, intercepting sensitive data exchanged between the victim and the adversary's servers, without triggering any warnings. This is a file monitoring detector and has [specific GKE version requirements](/security-command-center/docs/how-to-use-container-threat-detection#gke-version). This detector is disabled by default. For instructions on how to enable it, see [Testing Container Threat Detection](/security-command-center/docs/how-to-test-container-threat-detection).\n\nDetection service\n\n[Container Threat Detection](/security-command-center/docs/concepts-container-threat-detection-overview)\n\nHow to respond\n\nTo respond to this finding, do the following:\n\nReview finding details\n\n1. Open the `Defense Evasion: Root Certificate Installed` finding as directed in\n [Reviewing findings](/security-command-center/docs/how-to-investigate-threats#reviewing_findings).\n Review the details in the **Summary** and **JSON** tabs.\n\n2. Identify other findings that occurred at a similar time for this resource.\n Related findings might indicate that this activity was malicious, instead of\n a failure to follow best practices.\n\n3. Review the settings of the affected resource.\n\n4. Check the logs for the affected resource.\n\nResearch attack and response methods\n\nReview the MITRE ATT\\&CK framework entry for this finding type:\n[Defense Evasion](https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0005/).\n\nWhat's next\n\n- Learn [how to work with threat\n findings in Security Command Center](/security-command-center/docs/how-to-investigate-threats).\n- Refer to the [Threat findings index](/security-command-center/docs/threat-findings-index).\n- Learn how to [review a\n finding](/security-command-center/docs/how-to-investigate-threats#reviewing_findings) through the Google Cloud console.\n- Learn about the [services that\n generate threat findings](/security-command-center/docs/concepts-security-sources#threats)."]]