Sigma rule: Important Scheduled Task Deleted or Disabled

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-afe0ac31f253, updated 2026-03-11T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title: Important Scheduled Task Deleted or Disabled
Status: test
Level: high
Author: frack113
Date: 2023-01-13
Modified: 2026-03-11
File: rules/windows/builtin/taskscheduler/win_taskscheduler_susp_schtasks_delete_or_disable.yml
Commit: ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

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

Log source

product: windows
service: taskscheduler
definition: Requirements: The "Microsoft-Windows-TaskScheduler/Operational" is disabled by default and needs to be enabled in order for this detection to trigger

Detection

selection:
    EventID:
        - 141 # Task Deleted
        - 142 # Task Disabled
    TaskName|contains:
        - '\Windows\SystemRestore\SR'
        - '\Windows\Windows Defender\'
        - '\Windows\BitLocker'
        - '\Windows\WindowsBackup\'
        - '\Windows\WindowsUpdate\'
        - '\Windows\UpdateOrchestrator\'
        - '\Windows\ExploitGuard'
filter_main_user:
    UserName|contains:
        - 'AUTHORI'
        - 'AUTORI'
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

Unknown

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

T1489

Related rules

References

https://www.socinvestigation.com/most-common-windows-event-ids-to-hunt-mind-map/

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/taskscheduler/win_taskscheduler_susp_schtasks_delete_or_disable.yml

Sources and licences

SigmaHQ
"Important Scheduled Task Deleted or Disabled" by frack113 (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/builtin/taskscheduler/win_taskscheduler_susp_schtasks_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 or Disabled",
entity page, dataset version ref-afe0ac31f253, updated 2026-03-11T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/9e3cb244-bdb8-4632-8c90-6079c8f4f16d (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 9e3cb244-bdb8-4632-8c90-6079c8f4f16d, 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.