Sigma rule: Suspicious Binaries and Scripts in Public Folder

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-d3b7b78413e0, updated 2025-01-23T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title: Suspicious Binaries and Scripts in Public Folder
Status: experimental
Level: high
Author: The DFIR Report
Date: 2025-01-23
File: rules/windows/file/file_event/file_event_win_susp_public_folder_extension.yml
Commit: ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the creation of a file with a suspicious extension in the public folder, which could indicate potential malicious activity.

Log source

product: windows
category: file_event

Detection

selection:
    TargetFilename|contains: ':\Users\Public\'
    TargetFilename|endswith:
        - '.bat'
        - '.dll'
        - '.exe'
        - '.hta'
        - '.js'
        - '.ps1'
        - '.vbe'
        - '.vbs'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

Administrators deploying legitimate binaries to public folders.

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

T1204

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/windows/file/file_event/file_event_win_susp_public_folder_extension.yml

Sources and licences

SigmaHQ
"Suspicious Binaries and Scripts in Public Folder" by The DFIR Report (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/file/file_event/file_event_win_susp_public_folder_extension.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: Suspicious Binaries and Scripts in Public Folder",
entity page, dataset version ref-d3b7b78413e0, updated 2025-01-23T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/b447f7de-1e53-4cbf-bfb4-f1f6d0b04e4e (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule b447f7de-1e53-4cbf-bfb4-f1f6d0b04e4e, 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.