Sigma rule: Important Scheduled Task Deleted/Disabled

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-309388af8714, updated 2023-03-13T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Important Scheduled Task Deleted/Disabled
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2022-12-05
Modified
2023-03-13
File
rules/windows/builtin/security/win_security_susp_scheduled_task_delete_or_disable.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects when adversaries stop services or processes by deleting or disabling their respective scheduled tasks in order to conduct data destructive activities

Log source

product
windows
service
security
definition
The Advanced Audit Policy setting Object Access > Audit Other Object Access Events has to be configured to allow this detection. We also recommend extracting the Command field from the embedded XML in the event data.

Detection

selection:
    EventID:
        - 4699 # Task Deleted Event
        - 4701 # Task Disabled Event
    TaskName|contains:
        # Add more important tasks
        - '\Windows\SystemRestore\SR'
        - '\Windows\Windows Defender\'
        - '\Windows\BitLocker'
        - '\Windows\WindowsBackup\'
        - '\Windows\WindowsUpdate\'
        - '\Windows\UpdateOrchestrator\Schedule'
        - '\Windows\ExploitGuard'
filter_main_defender_update:
    EventID: 4699
    SubjectUserName|endswith: '$'  # False positives during upgrades of Defender, where its tasks get removed and added
    TaskName|contains: '\Windows\Windows Defender\'
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.execution
  • attack.privilege-escalation
  • attack.persistence
  • attack.t1053.005

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

Related rules

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/builtin/security/win_security_susp_scheduled_task_delete_or_disable.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Important Scheduled Task Deleted/Disabled" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/builtin/security/win_security_susp_scheduled_task_delete_or_disable.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: Important Scheduled Task Deleted/Disabled",
entity page, dataset version ref-309388af8714, updated 2023-03-13T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/7595ba94-cf3b-4471-aa03-4f6baa9e5fad (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 7595ba94-cf3b-4471-aa03-4f6baa9e5fad, 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.