Suspicious Scheduled Task Named WindowsHelper (via process_creation)

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-09-14
Updated
2026-09-14

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → Priv Esc
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Defense Evasion

  5. Cred Access

  6. Discovery

  7. Lateral Movement

  8. Collection

  9. C2

  10. Exfiltration

  11. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects schtasks creating a task named WindowsHelper. Operation HumanitarianBait registers this masqueraded task to relaunch its VBScript stager every few minutes for persistence.

Related detections9 linkedT1053.005 — drag to rearrange
Scheduled Task Masquerading as Microsoft Wininet Config
Suspicious SYSTEM Scheduled Task Named test Created via schtasks
Suspicious Scheduled Task Created by Windows Script Host
Malicious CloudZ RAT Persistence via schtasks Running regasm.exe
Suspicious Scheduled Task Creation for WSPrint Persistence by UAT-9244
Malicious Scheduled Task Masquerading as GoogleUpdate Launching SSH Reverse Shell
Malicious Scheduled Task Creation TaskSystem via Interlock Ransomware
Malicious Scheduled Task Masquerading as Edge Update Running From Temp (via process_creation)
Suspicious Scheduled Task Created From XML Definition (via process_creation)
Suspicious Scheduled Task Named WindowsHelper (via process_creation)
Pivot detection · T1053.005 · 9 related

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