Suspicious PowerShell Remote File Download Cmdlets (via ps_script)

PremiumReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
windows
Category
ps_script
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-10-05
Updated
2026-10-05

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → C2
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Persistence

  5. Priv Esc

  6. Defense Evasion

  7. Cred Access

  8. Discovery

  9. Lateral Movement

  10. Collection

  11. Exfiltration

  12. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects PowerShell script blocks that invoke remote download primitives such as Invoke-WebRequest, Start-BitsTransfer or the WebClient DownloadFile method. The BadPilot campaign uses these cmdlets to retrieve additional payloads, so their presence in script telemetry points to ingress tool transfer during intrusion.

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Suspicious PowerShell Remote File Download Cmdlets (via ps_script)
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.