Sigma rule: Suspicious Keyboard Layout Load

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-8a6dc434a278, updated 2023-08-17T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Suspicious Keyboard Layout Load
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
Date
2019-10-12
Modified
2023-08-17
File
rules/windows/registry/registry_set/registry_set_susp_keyboard_layout_load.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the keyboard preload installation with a suspicious keyboard layout, e.g. Chinese, Iranian or Vietnamese layout load in user session on systems maintained by US staff only

Log source

product
windows
category
registry_set
definition
Requirements: Sysmon config that monitors \Keyboard Layout\Preload subkey of the HKLU hives - see https://github.com/SwiftOnSecurity/sysmon-config/pull/92/files

Detection

selection_registry:
    TargetObject|contains:
        - '\Keyboard Layout\Preload\'
        - '\Keyboard Layout\Substitutes\'
    Details|contains:
        - 00000429  # Persian (Iran)
        - 00050429  # Persian (Iran)
        - 0000042a  # Vietnamese
condition: selection_registry

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Administrators or users that actually use the selected keyboard layouts (heavily depends on the organisation's user base)

Tags

  • attack.resource-development
  • attack.t1588.002

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

References

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/registry/registry_set/registry_set_susp_keyboard_layout_load.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Suspicious Keyboard Layout Load" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/registry/registry_set/registry_set_susp_keyboard_layout_load.yml.
    Licensed under the Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/Detection-Rule-License

    Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1

Cite this page

Dragons Eye Ransomware Tracker, "Sigma rule: Suspicious Keyboard Layout Load",
entity page, dataset version ref-8a6dc434a278, updated 2023-08-17T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/34aa0252-6039-40ff-951f-939fd6ce47d8 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 34aa0252-6039-40ff-951f-939fd6ce47d8, commit ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84.

Pages change. The dataset version identifies the data, but no archive of old versions is kept, so this citation cannot be replayed later.