Suspicious Encoded PowerShell Command Execution (via process_creation)

ATT&CK techniques

Execution

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1059.001PowerShell
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects PowerShell invoked with an encoded command payload passed through the EncodedCommand parameter. Adversaries base64-encode PowerShell to obscure their commands from casual inspection and simple content filters. While some administrative tooling encodes commands, encoded PowerShell on user endpoints is a frequent execution and obfuscation indicator worth reviewing.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1059.001 — drag to rearrange

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Suspicious PowerShell Download Cradle via IEX and DownloadString (via process_creation)

Suspicious Hidden PowerShell Spawned by MSHTA for Boot Persistence (via process_creation)

Suspicious Encoded PowerShell Command Execution (via process_creation)

Pivot detection · T1059.001 · 9 related

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

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