LoFP LoFP / while it is possible for legitimate scripts or administrators to trigger this behavior, filtering can be applied based on the parent process and application to reduce false positives. analysts should reference the provided references to understand the context and threat landscape associated with this activity.

Techniques

Sample rules

Scheduled Task Deleted Or Created via CMD

Description

The following analytic identifies the creation or deletion of scheduled tasks using the schtasks.exe utility with the -create or -delete flags. It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process names and command-line executions. This activity is significant as it can indicate unauthorized system manipulation or malicious intent, often associated with threat actors like Dragonfly and incidents such as the SUNBURST attack. If confirmed malicious, this activity could allow attackers to execute code, escalate privileges, or persist within the environment, posing a significant security risk.

Detection logic


| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count values(Processes.process) as process values(Processes.parent_process) as parent_process min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where Processes.process_name=schtasks.exe (Processes.process=*delete* OR Processes.process=*create*) 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)` 
| `scheduled_task_deleted_or_created_via_cmd_filter`