Sigma rule: MERCURY APT Activity

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-d2452ad9b3ca, updated 2023-03-10T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
MERCURY APT Activity
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
Date
2022-08-26
Modified
2023-03-10
File
rules-emerging-threats/2022/TA/MERCURY/proc_creation_win_apt_mercury.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects suspicious command line patterns seen being used by MERCURY APT

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - '-exec bypass -w 1 -enc'
        - 'UwB0AGEAcgB0AC0ASgBvAGIAIAAtAFMAYwByAGkAcAB0AEIAbABvAGMAawAgAHsAKABzAGEAcABzACAAKAAiAHAA'  # Start-Job -ScriptBlock
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.execution
  • attack.t1059.001
  • attack.g0069
  • detection.emerging-threats

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/rules-emerging-threats/2022/TA/MERCURY/proc_creation_win_apt_mercury.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "MERCURY APT Activity" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-emerging-threats/2022/TA/MERCURY/proc_creation_win_apt_mercury.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: MERCURY APT Activity",
entity page, dataset version ref-d2452ad9b3ca, updated 2023-03-10T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/a62298a3-1fe0-422f-9a68-ffbcbc5a123d (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule a62298a3-1fe0-422f-9a68-ffbcbc5a123d, 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.