Malicious Masquerading Local Account WDAGUtilltyAccount Created via net user

ATT&CK techniques

Initial Access → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
- T1078.003Local Accounts
Execution
Persistence
- T1078.003Local Accounts
- T1136.001Local Account
Priv Esc
- T1078.003Local Accounts
Defense Evasion
- T1078.003Local Accounts
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects creation of a local account named WDAGUtilltyAccount, a deliberate misspelling of the built-in WDAGUtilityAccount, used by attackers against educational organizations to blend a persistence account into normal system accounts. The typosquatted name is designed to evade casual review of account listings. This masquerade is exclusively malicious and signals attacker persistence.

Reporting behind it

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Malicious Masquerading Local Account WDAGUtilltyAccount Created via net user

Pivot detection · T1136.001 · 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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