Sigma rule: HackTool - NPPSpy Hacktool Usage

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-30e2236f429e, updated 2024-06-27T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title: HackTool - NPPSpy Hacktool Usage
Status: test
Level: high
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
Date: 2021-11-29
Modified: 2024-06-27
File: rules/windows/file/file_event/file_event_win_hktl_nppspy.yml
Commit: ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the use of NPPSpy hacktool that stores cleartext passwords of users that logged in to a local file

Log source

product: windows
category: file_event

Detection

selection:
    TargetFilename|endswith:
        - '\NPPSpy.txt'
        - '\NPPSpy.dll'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

Unknown

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_hktl_nppspy.yml

Sources and licences

SigmaHQ
"HackTool - NPPSpy Hacktool Usage" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/file/file_event/file_event_win_hktl_nppspy.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: HackTool - NPPSpy Hacktool Usage",
entity page, dataset version ref-30e2236f429e, updated 2024-06-27T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/cad1fe90-2406-44dc-bd03-59d0b58fe722 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule cad1fe90-2406-44dc-bd03-59d0b58fe722, 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.