Analytics Story: Windows Service Abuse

Description

Windows services are often used by attackers for persistence and the ability to load drivers or otherwise interact with the Windows kernel. This Analytic Story helps you monitor your environment for indications that Windows services are being modified or created in a suspicious manner.

Why it matters

The Windows operating system uses a services architecture to allow for running code in the background, similar to a UNIX daemon. Attackers will often leverage Windows services for persistence, hiding in plain sight, seeking the ability to run privileged code that can interact with the kernel. In many cases, attackers will create a new service to host their malicious code. Attackers have also been observed modifying unnecessary or unused services to point to their own code, as opposed to what was intended. In these cases, attackers often use tools to create or modify services in ways that are not typical for most environments, providing opportunities for detection.

Detections

Data Sources

Name ▲▼	Platform ▲▼	Sourcetype ▲▼	Source ▲▼
CrowdStrike ProcessRollup2	N/A	crowdstrike:events:sensor	crowdstrike
Sysmon EventID 1	Windows	xmlwineventlog	XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
Windows Event Log Security 4688	Windows	xmlwineventlog	XmlWinEventLog:Security
Windows Event Log System 7036	Windows	xmlwineventlog	XmlWinEventLog:System

References

• https://attack.mitre.org/wiki/Technique/T1050
• https://attack.mitre.org/wiki/Technique/T1031

Source: GitHub | Version: 3