huntrule

Suspicious Windows Defender Support Directory Enumeration via Process Creation

PremiumReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-10-14
Updated
2026-10-14
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Discovery

  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Defense Evasion

  8. Cred Access

  9. Discovery

  10. Lateral Movement

  11. Collection

  12. C2

  13. Exfiltration

  14. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects a directory listing command targeting the Windows Defender Support folder under ProgramData, a reconnaissance action embedded in the RC4 batch script used by Secret Blizzard during its Amadey and Tavdig deployment chain. Enumerating this Defender path helps the actor assess the environment before staging further payloads.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1082 — drag to rearrange
Suspicious System Reconnaissance via Windows Script Host
Suspicious Host Reconnaissance Command Chain via cmd
Malicious DinodasRAT Hidden Config File Creation on Linux (via file_event)
Suspicious System Discovery via WMIC Query Commands (via process_creation)
Suspicious PowerShell Host and Locale Reconnaissance via MuddyWater Tsundere Botnet
Suspicious System Reconnaissance Output Redirected to Temp rad File
Suspicious System Profiler Hardware Reconnaissance via BANSHEE
Suspicious Meterpreter Host Discovery File Reads on Linux via file_event
Suspicious WMIC System Reconnaissance via CSProduct UUID Query (via process_creation)
Suspicious Windows Defender Support Directory Enumeration via Process Creation
Pivot detection · T1082 · 9 related

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