Malicious Windows Defender Antispyware Disable via Registry (via registry_set)

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
registry_set
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-07-27
Updated
2026-08-28

ATT&CK techniques

  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 detects modification of the DisableAntiSpyware registry value to enable it and turn off Microsoft Defender. Black Basta operators disable Defender via this policy value to evade detection before deploying ransomware, so a set of this value to one indicates active defense evasion.

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Malicious ESXi Firewall Disable via esxcli (via process_creation)
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Suspicious Windows Defender Exclusion Enumeration via reg query (via process_creation)
Malicious Windows Defender Exclusion Added via PowerShell (via process_creation)
Malicious BYOVD EDR Kill via Renamed GMER Driver by Agonizing Serpens
Malicious Windows Defender Antispyware Disable via Registry (via registry_set)
Pivot detection · T1685 · 9 related

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