It is a common practice for attackers of all types to leverage native Windows tools and functionality to execute commands for malicious reasons, and Netsh.exe is one of these tools with abuse potential. It can be used locally or remotely as a command-line scripting utility to display or modify the network configuration of a computer that is currently running.
You are an analyst responsible for your organization's overall security posture. You need to be able to detect activities associated with the abuse of Netsh, through which netsh.exe can disable local firewall settings or set up a remote connection to a host from an infected system.
Required data
- Microsoft: Windows process launch logs and Sysmon
How to use Splunk software for this use case
To deploy this use case, make sure that you have the Splunk ES Content Updates installed on your Splunk Enterprise Security deployment. This extensive content library empowers you to deploy out-of-the-box security detections and analytic stories to enhance your investigations and improve your security posture. If you do not have Splunk Enterprise Security, these detections will still give you an idea of what you can accomplish with SPL in the Splunk platform or with the free app, Splunk Security Essentials.
Some of the detections that can help you with this use case include:
Next steps
You might also find this use case helpful in your threat hunting efforts:
Splunk OnDemand Services: Use these credit-based services for direct access to Splunk technical consultants with a variety of technical services from a pre-defined catalog. Most customers have OnDemand Services per their license support plan. Engage the ODS team at ondemand@splunk.com if you would like assistance.
