Sigma rule: Use of W32tm as Timer

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-8bfb5e037170, updated 2022-09-25T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title: Use of W32tm as Timer
Status: test
Level: high
Author: frack113
Date: 2022-09-25
File: rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_w32tm.yml
Commit: ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

When configured with suitable command line arguments, w32tm can act as a delay mechanism

Log source

product: windows
category: process_creation

Detection

selection_w32tm:
    - Image|endswith: '\w32tm.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'w32time.dll'
selection_cmd:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - '/stripchart'
        - '/computer:'
        - '/period:'
        - '/dataonly'
        - '/samples:'
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

Legitimate use

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

T1124

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/process_creation/proc_creation_win_w32tm.yml

Sources and licences

SigmaHQ
"Use of W32tm as Timer" by frack113 (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_w32tm.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: Use of W32tm as Timer",
entity page, dataset version ref-8bfb5e037170, updated 2022-09-25T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/6da2c9f5-7c53-401b-aacb-92c040ce1215 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 6da2c9f5-7c53-401b-aacb-92c040ce1215, 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.