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Windows Security Audit: Scheduled Task Deleted or Disabled (Important Task Names)

Alerts on deletion or disabling of important Windows scheduled tasks based on Security audit events 4699 and 4701.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v2
Product
windows
Service
security
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2022-12-05
Updated
2026-07-31
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → Priv Esc

  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 flags Windows Security events where a scheduled task is deleted or disabled, but only when the task name matches common high-impact Windows task paths. Attackers may use task removal or deactivation to hinder recovery, evade persistence checks, or stop security and backup-related activity. The detection relies on Windows Security auditing events 4699 (task deleted) and 4701 (task disabled) and filters out likely false positives from certain Defender upgrade scenarios. It also recommends using the event’s embedded XML command content for additional context.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1053.005 — drag to rearrange
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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)
Windows Security Audit: Scheduled Task Deleted or Disabled (Important Task Names)
Pivot detection · T1053.005 · 9 related

Changelog

v2
  1. v2
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  2. v1
    No changelog recorded for this version.2026-07-30

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