Malicious Scheduled Task Masquerading as GoogleUpdate Launching SSH Reverse Shell

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-09-11
Updated
2026-09-11

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → C2
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Defense Evasion

  5. Cred Access

  6. Discovery

  7. Lateral Movement

  8. Collection

  9. Exfiltration

  10. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects creation of a scheduled task named GoogleUpdateTaskMachine whose action invokes OpenSSH to establish a reverse shell. The ToyMaker access broker registers this masqueraded task so an outbound SSH connection provides durable remote access, letting the operator hand off footholds to ransomware affiliates while appearing to be a benign updater.

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Suspicious ScreenConnect Remote Access Binary Running Under a Renamed Executable
Malicious Silent AteraAgent RMM Installation via IntegratorLogin
Possible Remote Monitoring and Management Tool Abuse for Remote Access
Malicious Scheduled Task Masquerading as GoogleUpdate Launching SSH Reverse Shell
Pivot detection · T1219 · 9 related

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