Sigma rule: PowerShell DownloadFile

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-c10e9450c55f, updated 2025-10-20T00:00:00.000Z.

SigmaHQ marks this rule as deprecated.

Rule

Title
PowerShell DownloadFile
Status
deprecated
Level
high
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
Date
2020-08-28
Modified
2025-10-20
File
deprecated/windows/proc_creation_win_powershell_susp_ps_downloadfile.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the execution of powershell, a WebClient object creation and the invocation of DownloadFile in a single command line

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'powershell'
        - '.DownloadFile'
        - 'System.Net.WebClient'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.execution
  • attack.t1059.001
  • attack.command-and-control
  • attack.t1104
  • attack.t1105

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/deprecated/windows/proc_creation_win_powershell_susp_ps_downloadfile.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "PowerShell DownloadFile" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/deprecated/windows/proc_creation_win_powershell_susp_ps_downloadfile.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: PowerShell DownloadFile",
entity page, dataset version ref-c10e9450c55f, updated 2025-10-20T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/8f70ac5f-1f6f-4f8e-b454-db19561216c5 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 8f70ac5f-1f6f-4f8e-b454-db19561216c5, 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.