Sigma rule: Rare Scheduled Task Creations

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-c8b492273784, updated 2023-02-24T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Rare Scheduled Task Creations
Status
unsupported
Level
low
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
Date
2017/03/17
Modified
2023/02/24
File
unsupported/windows/win_taskscheduler_rare_schtask_creation.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

This rule detects rare scheduled task creations. Typically software gets installed on multiple systems and not only on a few. The aggregation and count function selects tasks with rare names.

Log source

product
windows
service
taskscheduler
definition
the "Microsoft-Windows-TaskScheduler/Operational" is disabled by default and should be enabled in order for this detection to work

Detection

selection:
    EventID: 106
filter1:
    TaskName: \Microsoft\Windows\Windows Defender\Windows Defender Scheduled Scan
timeframe: 7d
condition: selection and not 1 of filter* | count() by TaskName < 5

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Software installation

Tags

  • attack.persistence
  • attack.s0111
  • attack.t1053.005

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/unsupported/windows/win_taskscheduler_rare_schtask_creation.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Rare Scheduled Task Creations" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/unsupported/windows/win_taskscheduler_rare_schtask_creation.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: Rare Scheduled Task Creations",
entity page, dataset version ref-c8b492273784, updated 2023-02-24T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/b20f6158-9438-41be-83da-a5a16ac90c2b (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule b20f6158-9438-41be-83da-a5a16ac90c2b, 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.