Sigma rule: Suspicious Application Installed

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-ac309f6be1a7, updated 2022-08-14T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Suspicious Application Installed
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2022-08-14
File
rules/windows/builtin/shell_core/win_shell_core_susp_packages_installed.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects suspicious application installed by looking at the added shortcut to the app resolver cache

Log source

product
windows
service
shell-core

Detection

selection_name:
    EventID: 28115
    Name|contains:
        # Please add more
        - 'Zenmap'
        - 'AnyDesk'
        - 'wireshark'
        - 'openvpn'
selection_packageid:
    EventID: 28115
    AppID|contains:
        # Please add more
        - 'zenmap.exe'
        - 'prokzult ad' # AnyDesk
        - 'wireshark'
        - 'openvpn'
condition: 1 of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Packages or applications being legitimately used by users or administrators

Tags

  • attack.execution

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/shell_core/win_shell_core_susp_packages_installed.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Suspicious Application Installed" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/builtin/shell_core/win_shell_core_susp_packages_installed.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 Application Installed",
entity page, dataset version ref-ac309f6be1a7, updated 2022-08-14T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/83c161b6-ca67-4f33-8ad0-644a0737cf07 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 83c161b6-ca67-4f33-8ad0-644a0737cf07, 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.