Suspicious Batch File Persistence in Startup Folder

PremiumReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
windows
Category
file_event
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-05-26
Updated
2026-08-28

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Priv Esc
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Defense Evasion

  6. Cred Access

  7. Discovery

  8. Lateral Movement

  9. Collection

  10. C2

  11. Exfiltration

  12. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects creation of the WindowsSecure.bat file inside the Windows Startup folder, the persistence mechanism used by the Snake Python infostealer to survive reboots. Attackers place a batch launcher here so the stealer re-executes at every user logon. A batch file dropped into a Startup directory is a reliable autostart persistence indicator.

Related detections9 linkedT1547.001 — drag to rearrange
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Suspicious Run Key Persistence Named Updater
Suspicious Run Key Persistence Executing VBScript as WindowsSecurityCheck
Suspicious RunOnce Persistence Pointing to User AppData
Malicious FalseFont Backdoor Run Key Persistence from AppData (via registry_set)
Malicious Registry Run Key Persistence via AHealthDB by Stately Taurus
Suspicious Batch File Persistence in Startup Folder
Pivot detection · T1547.001 · 9 related

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