Windows Hide Notification Features Through Registry

Original Source: [splunk source]
Name:Windows Hide Notification Features Through Registry
id:cafa4bce-9f06-11ec-a7b2-acde48001122
version:7
date:2024-12-08
author:Teoderick Contreras, Splunk, Steven Dick
status:production
type:Anomaly
Description:The following analytic detects suspicious registry modifications aimed at hiding common Windows notification features on a compromised host. It leverages data from the Endpoint.Registry data model, focusing on specific registry paths and values. This activity is significant as it is often used by ransomware to obscure visual indicators, increasing the impact of the attack. If confirmed malicious, this could prevent users from noticing critical system alerts, thereby aiding the attacker in maintaining persistence and furthering their malicious activities undetected.
Data_source:
  • -Sysmon EventID 12
  • -Sysmon EventID 13
search:| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Registry WHERE (Registry.registry_path= "*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\Explorer\\*" Registry.registry_value_name IN ("HideClock", "HideSCAHealth", "HideSCANetwork", "HideSCAPower", "HideSCAVolume") Registry.registry_value_data = "0x00000001") BY _time span=1h Registry.dest Registry.user Registry.registry_path Registry.registry_key_name Registry.registry_value_name Registry.registry_value_data Registry.process_guid
| `drop_dm_object_name(Registry)`
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `windows_hide_notification_features_through_registry_filter`


how_to_implement:To successfully implement this search, you need to be ingesting logs with the registry value name, registry path, and registry value data from your endpoints. If you are using Sysmon, you must have at least version 2.0 of the official Sysmon TA. https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/5709
known_false_positives:unknown
References:
  -https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/threat-encyclopedia/malware/Ransom.Win32.ONALOCKER.A/
drilldown_searches:
name:'View the detection results for - "$dest$"'
search:'%original_detection_search% | search dest = "$dest$"'
earliest_offset:'$info_min_time$'
latest_offset:'$info_max_time$'
name:'View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$dest$"'
search:'| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$dest$") 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:
    - 'Ransomware'
    - 'Windows Defense Evasion Tactics'
    - 'Windows Registry Abuse'
  asset_type:Endpoint
  confidence:70
  impact:70
  message:Registry modification to hide windows notification on $dest$
  mitre_attack_id:
    - 'T1112'
  observable:
    name:'dest'
    type:'Endpoint'
    - role:
      - 'Victim'
  product:
    - 'Splunk Enterprise'
    - 'Splunk Enterprise Security'
    - 'Splunk Cloud'
  required_fields:
    - '_time'
    - 'Registry.dest'
    - 'Registry.registry_value_name'
    - 'Registry.registry_key_name'
    - 'Registry.registry_path'
    - 'Registry.registry_value_data'
    - 'Registry.process_guid'
  risk_score:49
  security_domain:endpoint

tests:
name:'True Positive Test'
 attack_data:
  data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1112/ransomware_disable_reg/sysmon.log
  source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
  sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog
manual_test:None