Sigma rule: Disable Security Tools

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-080e5a5d009a, updated 2021-11-27T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Disable Security Tools
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Daniil Yugoslavskiy, oscd.community
Date
2020-10-19
Modified
2021-11-27
File
rules/macos/process_creation/proc_creation_macos_disable_security_tools.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects disabling security tools

Log source

product
macos
category
process_creation

Detection

launchctl_unload:
    Image: '/bin/launchctl'
    CommandLine|contains: 'unload'
security_plists:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'com.objective-see.lulu.plist'                     # Objective-See firewall management utility
        - 'com.objective-see.blockblock.plist'               # Objective-See persistence locations watcher/blocker
        - 'com.google.santad.plist'                          # google santa
        - 'com.carbonblack.defense.daemon.plist'             # carbon black
        - 'com.carbonblack.daemon.plist'                     # carbon black
        - 'at.obdev.littlesnitchd.plist'                     # Objective Development Software firewall management utility
        - 'com.tenablesecurity.nessusagent.plist'            # Tenable Nessus
        - 'com.opendns.osx.RoamingClientConfigUpdater.plist' # OpenDNS Umbrella
        - 'com.crowdstrike.falcond.plist'                    # Crowdstrike Falcon
        - 'com.crowdstrike.userdaemon.plist'                 # Crowdstrike Falcon
        - 'osquery'                                          # facebook osquery
        - 'filebeat'                                         # elastic log file shipper
        - 'auditbeat'                                        # elastic auditing agent/log shipper
        - 'packetbeat'                                       # elastic network logger/shipper
        - 'td-agent'                                         # fluentd log shipper
disable_gatekeeper:
    Image: '/usr/sbin/spctl'
    CommandLine|contains: 'disable'
condition: (launchctl_unload and security_plists) or disable_gatekeeper

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Legitimate activities

Tags

  • attack.defense-impairment
  • attack.t1685

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/macos/process_creation/proc_creation_macos_disable_security_tools.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Disable Security Tools" by Daniil Yugoslavskiy, oscd.community (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/macos/process_creation/proc_creation_macos_disable_security_tools.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: Disable Security Tools",
entity page, dataset version ref-080e5a5d009a, updated 2021-11-27T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/ff39f1a6-84ac-476f-a1af-37fcdf53d7c0 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule ff39f1a6-84ac-476f-a1af-37fcdf53d7c0, 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.