Malicious Windows 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 being used to clear the Security or System event logs, an anti-forensic action that destroys traces of intrusion activity. The Gentlemen ransomware clears these logs to hinder incident response. Detecting the log wipe exposes deliberate defense evasion during a ransomware attack.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1685.005 — drag to rearrange

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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

Suspicious Browser History Wipe via RunDll32 ClearMyTracksByProcess

Malicious Windows 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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