Security Software Discovery
Adversaries enumerate installed security software, defensive tools, and monitoring agents prior to executing payloads or deploying evasion techniques. By identifying what endpoint protection, EDR, firewalls, and cloud monitoring agents are present, adversaries can determine whether to proceed with infection, disable specific defenses, or select evasion techniques tailored to the detected product. Common methods include WMI queries to the SecurityCenter2 namespace (enumerating AntiVirusProduct, FirewallProduct, AntiSpywareProduct classes), PowerShell Get-WmiObject/Get-CimInstance targeting security product WMI classes, tasklist and WMIC process enumeration filtered to known AV/EDR binary names, and registry inspection of installed software keys for security vendor paths. Threat actors including Darkhotel, Clop, QakBot, Raspberry Robin, TONESHELL (Mustang Panda), and Sidewinder are documented performing this technique in the wild.
let AvProcessNames = dynamic([
"ekrn.exe", "egui.exe", "mssense.exe", "msmpeng.exe", "mbam.exe", "mbamservice.exe",
"avp.exe", "avguard.exe", "avgnt.exe", "avscan.exe", "avastui.exe", "avastsvc.exe",
"bdservicehost.exe", "bdredline.exe", "bdagent.exe",
"sophosav.exe", "sophossps.exe", "savservice.exe", "hmpalert.exe",
"csfalconservice.exe", "csagent.exe", "falconhost.exe",
"cbdaemon.exe", "carbonblackk.exe",
"sentinelagent.exe", "sentinelservicehost.exe", "sentinelstaticengine.exe",
"cybereason", "amsi", "cylancesvc.exe", "taniumclient.exe",
"fireeye", "xagt.exe", "trellix", "hxtsr.exe"
]);
// WMI SecurityCenter2 namespace queries — highest fidelity indicator
let WmiSecCenter = DeviceProcessEvents
| where Timestamp > ago(24h)
| where FileName =~ "wmic.exe"
| where ProcessCommandLine has "SecurityCenter"
or (ProcessCommandLine has_any ("AntiVirusProduct", "AntiSpywareProduct", "FirewallProduct")
and ProcessCommandLine has_any ("displayName", "Get", "path"))
| extend DetectionSource = "WMI_SecurityCenter2", RiskScore = 80;
// PowerShell WMI/CIM queries targeting security product classes
let PsWmiSec = DeviceProcessEvents
| where Timestamp > ago(24h)
| where FileName in~ ("powershell.exe", "pwsh.exe")
| where ProcessCommandLine has "SecurityCenter"
or (ProcessCommandLine has_any ("Get-WmiObject", "Get-CimInstance", "gwmi", "gcim", "Invoke-WmiMethod")
and ProcessCommandLine has_any ("AntiVirusProduct", "AntiSpywareProduct", "FirewallProduct"))
| extend DetectionSource = "PS_WMI_SecurityCenter2", RiskScore = 75;
// Tasklist or WMIC process enumeration filtered to known AV/EDR binary names
let ProcessEnumAv = DeviceProcessEvents
| where Timestamp > ago(24h)
| where FileName in~ ("tasklist.exe", "wmic.exe")
| where ProcessCommandLine has_any (AvProcessNames)
| extend DetectionSource = "Process_Enum_AV", RiskScore = 60;
// Registry queries targeting known security vendor install paths
let RegAvQuery = DeviceProcessEvents
| where Timestamp > ago(24h)
| where FileName =~ "reg.exe"
| where ProcessCommandLine has "query"
| where ProcessCommandLine has_any (
"SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Services\\WinDefend",
"SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows Defender",
"SOFTWARE\\ESET", "SOFTWARE\\Kaspersky Lab",
"SOFTWARE\\McAfee", "SOFTWARE\\Sophos",
"SOFTWARE\\CrowdStrike", "SOFTWARE\\Carbon Black",
"SOFTWARE\\SentinelOne", "SOFTWARE\\Cylance",
"SOFTWARE\\Symantec", "SOFTWARE\\Bitdefender",
"SOFTWARE\\Malwarebytes", "SOFTWARE\\Avast", "SOFTWARE\\AVG")
| extend DetectionSource = "Registry_AV_Query", RiskScore = 65;
union WmiSecCenter, PsWmiSec, ProcessEnumAv, RegAvQuery
| project Timestamp, DeviceName, AccountName, FileName, ProcessCommandLine,
InitiatingProcessFileName, InitiatingProcessCommandLine,
DetectionSource, RiskScore
| sort by Timestamp desc Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives
- IT asset management and inventory platforms (Lansweeper, ServiceNow Discovery, SCCM hardware inventory agent) that query WMI SecurityCenter2 during scheduled asset collection cycles
- Vulnerability scanners (Tenable Nessus, Qualys Cloud Agent, Rapid7 InsightVM) enumerating endpoint security posture during credentialed network scans
- Help desk and ITSM automation scripts that check AV product status or version before creating incident tickets or routing to the appropriate support team
- Endpoint compliance tools (Ivanti, Tanium Comply, BigFix) performing scheduled security policy audits that verify required security software is installed and running
- Internal security operations scripts run by SOC analysts or engineers during incident response or baseline auditing activities
References (9)
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1518/001/
- https://securelist.com/the-darkhotel-apt/66779/
- https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/22/l/raspberry-robin-malware-targets-telecom-financial-industries.html
- https://www.mcafee.com/blogs/other-blogs/mcafee-labs/clop-ransomware/
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/wmisdk/wmi-namespaces
- https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/master/atomics/T1518.001/T1518.001.md
- https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_wmic_security_software_discovery.yml
- https://www.rewterz.com/rewterz-news/rewterz-threat-alert-sidewinder-apt-group-active-iocs
- https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/threat-intelligence/2021/12/sidecopy-apt-connecting-lures-to-victims-payloads-to-infrastructure
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