huntrule

Windows Registry Tampering Targeting Sophos AV Tamper Protection Enabled Flags

Flags Windows registry changes that disable Sophos AV tamper protection by clearing specific enabled DWORD values.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
registry_set
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2022-09-02
Updated
2026-07-30
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

  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 identifies registry modifications that set specific Sophos AV tamper protection configuration values to DWORD 0x00000000. Disabling these protections can help attackers impair endpoint defenses and evade detection. It relies on Windows registry modification telemetry for registry set events matching targeted Sophos key paths and the expected zero value.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1685 — drag to rearrange
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Malicious Microsoft Defender Disabled via Registry DisableAntiSpyware (via process_creation)
Suspicious Termination of Defender Tray Process via Taskkill
Malicious Windows Defender Disablement via MpCmdRun RemoveDefinitions
Malicious Unsigned VIB Installation on ESXi Host via esxcli (via process_creation)
Suspicious In-Memory PowerShell Execution from Web Server via Automation Assembly (via image_load)
Malicious EDR Evasion Driver Load from AnyDesk Directory via k.sys (via image_load)
Windows Registry Tampering Targeting Sophos AV Tamper Protection Enabled Flags
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.