Sigma rule: Lace Tempest Cobalt Strike Download

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-59e2259d7ed7, updated 2023-11-09T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Lace Tempest Cobalt Strike Download
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2023-11-09
File
rules-emerging-threats/2023/TA/Lace-Tempest/proc_creation_win_apt_lace_tempest_cobalt_strike_download.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects specific command line execution used by Lace Tempest to download Cobalt Strike as reported by SysAid Team

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - -nop -w hidden -c IEX ((new-object net.webclient).downloadstring(
        - /a')
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unlikely

Tags

  • attack.execution
  • detection.emerging-threats

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/2023/TA/Lace-Tempest/proc_creation_win_apt_lace_tempest_cobalt_strike_download.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Lace Tempest Cobalt Strike Download" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-emerging-threats/2023/TA/Lace-Tempest/proc_creation_win_apt_lace_tempest_cobalt_strike_download.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: Lace Tempest Cobalt Strike Download",
entity page, dataset version ref-59e2259d7ed7, updated 2023-11-09T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/aa5b0a40-ed88-46aa-9fdc-0337b379ca9d (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule aa5b0a40-ed88-46aa-9fdc-0337b379ca9d, 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.