Malicious Event Log Clearing via Wevtutil

ATT&CK techniques

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects wevtutil clearing Windows event logs, an anti-forensics action used to erase traces of intrusion activity. This was observed during KawaLocker ransomware deployment alongside firewall and shadow copy tampering. Wiping logs removes the primary evidence responders use to trace attacker actions.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1685.005 — drag to rearrange

Suspicious Event Log Clearing via Wevtutil (via process_creation)

Suspicious Mass Windows Event Log Clearing via PowerShell (via ps_script)

Malicious Event Log Clear Attempt - Wmi (via process_creation)

Malicious Event Log Clear Attempt - Command (via process_creation)

Malicious Event Log Cleared Using Diagnostics - Via PowerShell (via powershell)

Malicious Clearing of Windows Event Logs (via process_creation)

Suspicious Event Log Clearing via wevtutil During Ransomware Activity

Suspicious Event Log Clearing via Get-WinEvent ClearLog (Qilin)

Suspicious Windows Event Log Clearing via wevtutil on EC2 Host

Malicious Event Log Clearing via Wevtutil

Pivot detection · T1685.005 · 9 related

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

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