Name:Single Letter Process On Endpoint id:a4214f0b-e01c-41bc-8cc4-d2b71e3056b4 version:6 date:2024-11-28 author:David Dorsey, Splunk status:production type:TTP Description:The following analytic detects processes with names consisting of a single letter, which is often indicative of malware or an attacker attempting to evade detection. This detection leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process names and command-line executions. This activity is significant because attackers use such techniques to obscure their presence and carry out malicious activities like data theft or ransomware attacks. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could lead to unauthorized access, data exfiltration, or system compromise. Immediate investigation is required to determine the legitimacy of the process. Data_source:
how_to_implement:The detection is based on data that originates from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents. These agents are designed to provide security-related telemetry from the endpoints where the agent is installed. To implement this search, you must ingest logs that contain the process GUID, process name, and parent process. Additionally, you must ingest complete command-line executions. These logs must be processed using the appropriate Splunk Technology Add-ons that are specific to the EDR product. The logs must also be mapped to the `Processes` node of the `Endpoint` data model. Use the Splunk Common Information Model (CIM) to normalize the field names and speed up the data modeling process. known_false_positives:Single-letter executables are not always malicious. Investigate this activity with your normal incident-response process. References: drilldown_searches: name:'View the detection results for - "$dest$" and "$user$"' search:'%original_detection_search% | search dest = "$dest$" user = "$user$"' earliest_offset:'$info_min_time$' latest_offset:'$info_max_time$' name:'View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$dest$" and "$user$"' search:'| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$dest$", "$user$") starthoursago=168 | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`' earliest_offset:'$info_min_time$' latest_offset:'$info_max_time$' tags: analytic_story: - 'DHS Report TA18-074A' - 'Compromised Windows Host' asset_type:Endpoint confidence:90 impact:70 message:A suspicious process $process_name$ with single letter in host $dest$ mitre_attack_id: - 'T1204' - 'T1204.002' observable: name:'dest' type:'Hostname' - role: - 'Victim' name:'user' type:'User' - role: - 'Victim' product: - 'Splunk Enterprise' - 'Splunk Enterprise Security' - 'Splunk Cloud' required_fields: - '_time' - 'Processes.dest' - 'Processes.user' - 'Processes.process' - 'Processes.process_name' risk_score:63 security_domain:endpoint
