Suspicious Microsoft Defender Real-Time Protection Disabled via Registry

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 registry modifications that disable Microsoft Defender real-time monitoring under the Windows Defender policy keys. Microsoft observed services.exe abused to disable Defender via registry during post-exploitation of SharePoint before deploying Warlock ransomware. Turning off antivirus through policy keys clears the way for credential theft and encryption, so this change warrants immediate review.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1685 — drag to rearrange

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Malicious ESXi Firewall Disable via esxcli (via process_creation)

Malicious ESXi Syslog Redirection to tmp via esxcli

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

Suspicious Microsoft Defender Real-Time Protection Disabled via Registry

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.

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