huntrule

macOS tmutil Time Machine Backup Deletion Attempts

Flags tmutil executions with delete in the command line that attempt to remove Time Machine backups.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v2
Product
macos
Category
process_creation
Author
Pratinav Chandra (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2024-05-29
Updated
2026-07-31
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Impact

  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Defense Evasion

  8. Cred Access

  9. Discovery

  10. Lateral Movement

  11. Collection

  12. C2

  13. Exfiltration

  14. Impact

What it detects

This rule flags process activity where tmutil is invoked with command-line content indicating a delete operation, targeting macOS Time Machine backups. Deleting backups can prevent recovery and supports impact-focused activity by reducing available restore points. The detection relies on process creation telemetry, matching the tmutil binary name/path and command-line substrings for tmutil invocation and deletion intent.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1490 — drag to rearrange
Malicious Mass Hyper-V Virtual Machine Shutdown via PowerShell by Kraken Ransomware
Suspicious Shadow Copy Deletion via Vssadmin by Kraken Ransomware
Malicious Volume Shadow Copy Deletion via vssadmin or WMIC
Malicious Volume Shadow Copy Deletion via vssadmin
Suspicious Free Space Wipe via cipher.exe
Malicious Shadow Copy Deletion Via WMI
Volume Shadow Copy Deletion via vssadmin or wmic
Malicious Inhibit System Recovery via Backup and Shadow Copy Deletion (via process_creation)
Malicious Shadow Copy Deletion via vssadmin
macOS tmutil Time Machine Backup Deletion Attempts
Pivot detection · T1490 · 9 related

Changelog

v2
  1. v2
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  2. 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.