Techniques
Sample rules
Sdelete Application Execution
- source: splunk
- technicques:
- T1070.004
- T1485
Description
The following analytic detects the execution of the sdelete.exe application, a Sysinternals tool often used by adversaries to securely delete files and remove forensic evidence from a targeted host. This detection leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process execution logs. Monitoring this activity is crucial as sdelete.exe is not commonly used in regular operations and its presence may indicate an attempt to cover malicious activities. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to the loss of critical forensic data, hindering incident response and investigation efforts.
Detection logic
| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` values(Processes.process) as process values(Processes.parent_process) as parent_process values(Processes.process_id) as process_id count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where `process_sdelete` by Processes.action Processes.dest Processes.original_file_name Processes.parent_process Processes.parent_process_exec Processes.parent_process_guid Processes.parent_process_id Processes.parent_process_name Processes.parent_process_path Processes.process Processes.process_exec Processes.process_guid Processes.process_hash Processes.process_id Processes.process_integrity_level Processes.process_name Processes.process_path Processes.user Processes.user_id Processes.vendor_product
| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `sdelete_application_execution_filter`