Sigma rule: Windows Defender Exclusion Deleted

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-b1bff33b5cd8, updated 2025-01-30T00:00:00.000Z.

SigmaHQ marks this rule as deprecated.

Rule

Title
Windows Defender Exclusion Deleted
Status
deprecated
Level
medium
Author
@BarryShooshooga
Date
2019-10-26
Modified
2025-01-30
File
deprecated/windows/win_security_windows_defender_exclusions_write_deleted.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects when a Windows Defender exclusion has been deleted. This could indicate an attacker trying to delete their tracks by removing the added exclusions

Log source

product
windows
service
security
definition
Requirements: Audit Policy : Security Settings/Local Policies/Audit Policy, Registry System Access Control (SACL): Auditing/User

Detection

selection:
    EventID: 4660 # An object was deleted.
    ObjectName|contains: '\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Exclusions\'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.defense-evasion
  • attack.t1562.001

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/deprecated/windows/win_security_windows_defender_exclusions_write_deleted.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Windows Defender Exclusion Deleted" by @BarryShooshooga (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/deprecated/windows/win_security_windows_defender_exclusions_write_deleted.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: Windows Defender Exclusion Deleted",
entity page, dataset version ref-b1bff33b5cd8, updated 2025-01-30T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/a33f8808-2812-4373-ae95-8cfb82134978 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule a33f8808-2812-4373-ae95-8cfb82134978, 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.