Detection: Monitor Unsuccessful Backups

REMOVED DETECTION

This detection has been removed from the Splunk Threat Research content library and is no longer maintained or supported.

Reason: All detection(s) which leverage this baseline have been deprecated. As such, this baseline has been deprecated as well.

Removed in version: 5.2.0

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us at research@splunk.com.

Updated Date: 2026-05-13 ID: b2178fed-592f-492b-b851-74161678aa56 Author: David Dorsey, Splunk Type: Baseline Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

This search is intended to give you a feel for how often backup failures happen in your environments. Fluctuations in these numbers will allow you to determine when you should investigate.

Search

1`netbackup` "An error occurred, failed to backup." 
2| bucket _time span=1d 
3| stats dc(COMPUTERNAME) as count values(COMPUTERNAME) as dest by _time, MESSAGE

Data Source

No data sources specified for this detection.

Macros Used

Name	Value
netbackup	`sourcetype="netbackup_logs"`

Annotations

- MITRE ATT&CK

+ Kill Chain Phases

+ NIST

+ CIS

- Threat Actors

ID	Technique	Tactic

Default Configuration

This detection is configured by default in Splunk Enterprise Security to run with the following settings:

Setting	Value
Disabled	true
Cron Schedule	`N/A`
Earliest Time	`N/A`
Latest Time	`N/A`
Schedule Window	`N/A`
Creates Finding (Notable)	No
Creates Intermediate Finding (Risk Event)	No

Implementation

To successfully implement this search you must be ingesting your backup logs.

Known False Positives

none

Associated Analytic Story

Monitor Backup Solution

Detection Testing

Test Type	Status	Dataset	Source	Sourcetype
Validation	Not Applicable	N/A	N/A	N/A
Unit	Not Applicable	N/A	`N/A`	`N/A`
Integration	Not Applicable	N/A	`N/A`	`N/A`

Replay any dataset to Splunk Enterprise by using our replay.py tool or the UI. Alternatively you can replay a dataset into a Splunk Attack Range

Source: GitHub |

Version: 2