Which phase of Lockheed Martin's Cyber Kill Chain involves placing the malicious payload into a delivery vehicle?

• A. Weaponization
• B. Delivery
• C. Exploitation
• D. Installation

Answer: (A)

Weaponization is the phase where the attacker combines the malicious payload with a delivery method to create a weapon that can be sent to the target. This is the step that places the payload into a delivery vehicle—such as bundling malware with an exploit kit, a phishing email, or a drive-by download—so it’s ready for delivery in the next phase.

Delivery, by contrast, is the act of transmitting that weapon to the target, exploiting, in turn, is when the target’s systems are exploited to run the payload, and installation is the process of installing the payload on the target to establish foothold. So the act of putting the payload into the delivery vehicle happens during weaponization.