Suspicious PowerShell Download Cradle Writing Executable To Windows Temp

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → C2

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1059.001PowerShell
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
- T1105Ingress Tool Transfer
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects a PowerShell process bypassing execution policy and using Invoke-WebRequest to save an executable into the Windows Temp directory. Initial access brokers use this cradle to stage tooling on freshly compromised hosts before handing off access. Writing a remote binary into a world-writable temp path and running it is a common first-stage foothold.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1059.001 — drag to rearrange

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Suspicious PowerShell Download Cradle Writing Executable To Windows Temp

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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