macOS Security Software Discovery via grep of Known Security Software Names

Flags /usr/bin/grep on macOS when command lines include identifiers associated with security tools and agents.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v2

Product: macos
Category: process_creation
Author: Daniil Yugoslavskiy, oscd.community (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2026-07-31

ATT&CK techniques

Discovery

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
- T1518.001Security Software Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule flags process executions of /usr/bin/grep where the command line contains strings associated with common security and endpoint software (e.g., Nessus, Santa, Carbon Black, CrowdStrike Falcon, osqueryd, and related agents/utilities). Attackers may use simple text-search tooling to quickly identify installed security products before staging further actions. It relies on process creation telemetry on macOS, including the process image path and full command line.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1518.001 — drag to rearrange

Antivirus Software Discovery via tasklist and findstr

Suspicious Security Software Discovery via WMI or Defender Query (via process_creation)

Suspicious Security Software Discovery via PowerShell SecurityCenter2 AntivirusProduct Query (via process_creation)

Suspicious Antivirus Product Enumeration via WMI Query via process_creation

Suspicious Security Software Discovery via tasklist and findstr (via process_creation)

Suspicious Security Process Enumeration via Tasklist And Findstr

Suspicious Security Software Enumeration on macOS

macOS csrutil Used to Disable System Integrity Protection (SIP)

macOS SIP Status Enumeration via csrutil status

macOS Security Software Discovery via grep of Known Security Software Names

Pivot detection · T1518.001 · 9 related

Changelog

v2
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v1
No changelog recorded for this version.2026-07-30

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.

macos-security-tool-discovery-via-grep-of-known-agent-and-firewall-strings-0ed75b9c

title: macOS Security Software Discovery via grep of Known Security Software Names
id: fcf6218a-f915-477c-b256-f6c332aff657
status: test
description: This rule flags process executions of /usr/bin/grep where the command line contains strings associated with common security and endpoint software (e.g., Nessus, Santa, Carbon Black, CrowdStrike Falcon, osqueryd, and related agents/utilities). Attackers may use simple text-search tooling to quickly identify installed security products before staging further actions. It relies on process creation telemetry on macOS, including the process image path and full command line.
references:
  - https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1518.001/T1518.001.md
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/macos/process_creation/proc_creation_macos_security_software_discovery.yml
author: Daniil Yugoslavskiy, oscd.community, Huntrule Team
date: 2020-10-19
modified: 2022-11-27
tags:
  - attack.discovery
  - attack.t1518.001
logsource:
  category: process_creation
  product: macos
detection:
  image:
    Image: /usr/bin/grep
  selection_cli_1:
    CommandLine|contains:
      - nessusd
      - santad
      - CbDefense
      - falcond
      - td-agent
      - packetbeat
      - filebeat
      - auditbeat
      - osqueryd
      - BlockBlock
      - LuLu
  selection_cli_2:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
      - Little
      - Snitch
  condition: image and 1 of selection_cli_*
falsepositives:
  - Legitimate activities
level: medium
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: 0ed75b9c-c73b-424d-9e7d-496cd565fbe0
    type: derived

Convert

This rule as a query you can run. Uses no unlock credit.

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