huntrule

Windows: Taskkill used to terminate ccSvcHst.exe (Symantec Endpoint Protection service impairment)

Flags Windows taskkill /F /IM ccSvcHst.exe executions that can disable Symantec Endpoint Protection services.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
Ilya Krestinichev, Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2022-09-13
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 matches process creation command lines that include taskkill with flags to forcefully terminate ccSvcHst.exe. Terminating this Symantec Endpoint Protection-related process can impair defensive protections and is consistent with attacker attempts to disable security software. Telemetry required is Windows process creation events with the full command line.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious Security Software Uninstallation via WMIC Product Call Uninstall (Chaos Ransomware)
Suspicious Security Product Uninstall via wmic product call uninstall
Windows: Taskkill used to terminate ccSvcHst.exe (Symantec Endpoint Protection service impairment)
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.