Detect Clear Windows Event Logs in IBM QRadar
Adversaries clear Windows Event Logs to remove evidence of intrusion activity. Primary methods include the wevtutil command-line utility (wevtutil cl system/security/application), the PowerShell Remove-EventLog cmdlet, the Windows Event Viewer GUI, and direct deletion of .evtx log files from C:\Windows\System32\winevt\logs\. When a log is cleared, Windows generates Event ID 1102 (Security log cleared) in the Security log and Event ID 104 (System log cleared) in the System log — but these disappear if the generating log is also cleared. APT28, APT38, APT41, Volt Typhoon, LockBit 2.0/3.0, RansomHub, NotPetya, Olympic Destroyer, BlackCat, and many others routinely clear event logs as post-compromise cleanup.
MITRE ATT&CK
- Tactic
- Defense Evasion
- Technique
- T1070 Indicator Removal
- Sub-technique
- T1070.001 Clear Windows Event Logs
- Canonical reference
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1070/001/
QRadar Detection Query
SELECT
DATEFORMAT(starttime, 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') AS event_time,
logsourcename(logsourceid) AS log_source,
QIDNAME(qid) AS event_name,
username,
devicehostname AS hostname,
"EventID",
"CommandLine",
CATEGORYNAME(category) AS category
FROM events
WHERE
(
"EventID" IN (1102, 104)
AND LOGSOURCETYPEID(logsourceid) IN (12, 13)
)
OR
(
"EventID" = 1
AND (
"CommandLine" ILIKE '%wevtutil%cl %'
OR "CommandLine" ILIKE '%wevtutil%clear-log%'
OR "CommandLine" ILIKE '%wevtutil%clear %'
OR "CommandLine" ILIKE '%Remove-EventLog%'
OR "CommandLine" ILIKE '%Clear-EventLog%'
)
)
ORDER BY starttime DESC
LAST 24 HOURSDetects Windows Event Log clearing in IBM QRadar by querying the events table for EventID 1102 and 104 from Windows Security (LOGSOURCETYPEID 12) and System (LOGSOURCETYPEID 13) log sources, plus Sysmon/WinCollect process-creation events (EventID 1) where the command line contains wevtutil clear variants or PowerShell log-clearing cmdlets.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- IT administrators executing wevtutil as part of workstation imaging or reimaging runbooks that include a clean event log state
- Compliance automation tools clearing application logs after performing a scheduled regulatory audit export
- Remote management platforms (e.g., SCCM, Ansible) invoking PowerShell Clear-EventLog during policy application or software deployment
Other platforms for T1070.001
Testing Methodology
Validate this detection against 3 adversary techniques from Atomic Red Team. Each test below lists the behaviour to exercise and the telemetry you should expect to see. Executable commands and cleanup steps are available with Pro.
- Test 1Clear Security Event Log with wevtutil
Expected signal: Windows Event Log: Security Event ID 1102 (The audit log was cleared) generated just before the log is cleared. Sysmon Event ID 1: wevtutil.exe process creation with 'cl Security' argument. After clearing, the Security log is empty except for the Event ID 4608 (Windows is starting up) that follows a fresh log.
- Test 2Clear Multiple Event Logs Using wevtutil Loop
Expected signal: Multiple Sysmon Event ID 1 events for wevtutil.exe with different log names. Security Event ID 1102 for Security log. System Event ID 104 for each other log cleared. The for loop structure will appear in the parent cmd.exe command line.
- Test 3Clear Event Log via PowerShell Remove-EventLog
Expected signal: PowerShell process creation with Remove-EventLog command. Sysmon Event ID 13 (Registry): removal of the EventLog registry key under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\EventLog\ArgusTest. System Event ID 104 may be generated for the deleted log.
References (5)
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1070/001/
- https://docs.microsoft.com/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/wevtutil
- https://docs.microsoft.com/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.management/clear-eventlog
- https://ptylu.github.io/content/report/report.html?report=25
- https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/master/atomics/T1070.001/T1070.001.md
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