Sigma rule: FTP Connection Open Attempt Via Winscp CLI

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-b070365c0656, updated 2025-10-12T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
FTP Connection Open Attempt Via Winscp CLI
Status
experimental
Level
medium
Author
frack113
Date
2025-10-12
File
rules-threat-hunting/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_winscp_command_open_ftp.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the execution of Winscp with the "-command" and the "open" flags in order to open an FTP connection. Akira ransomware was seen using this technique in order to exfiltrate data.

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\WinSCP.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'winscp.exe'
selection_cmd:
    CommandLine|contains|windash: '-command'
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'open '
        - 'ftp://' # cover ftp and sftp
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.exfiltration
  • attack.t1048
  • detection.threat-hunting

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-threat-hunting/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_winscp_command_open_ftp.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "FTP Connection Open Attempt Via Winscp CLI" by frack113 (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-threat-hunting/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_winscp_command_open_ftp.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: FTP Connection Open Attempt Via Winscp CLI",
entity page, dataset version ref-b070365c0656, updated 2025-10-12T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/c1477deb-37cf-4439-9ffb-44499acb89d0 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule c1477deb-37cf-4439-9ffb-44499acb89d0, 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.