Suspicious Atera Agent Installation via msiexec from PerfLogs Directory

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-07-10
Updated
2026-08-28

ATT&CK techniques

C2
  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. Exfiltration

  13. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects msiexec installing an MSI package staged in the C:\PerfLogs directory, observed in a Huntress-tracked intrusion where attackers deployed the Atera RMM agent from PerfLogs for persistence. PerfLogs is a non-standard software staging location and legitimate installers rarely run from it. Installation of remote management software from this path indicates attacker-driven persistence tooling.

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Suspicious Atera Agent Installation via msiexec from PerfLogs Directory
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.