High Process Termination Frequency
The following analytic identifies a high frequency of process termination events on a computer within a short period. It leverages Sysmon EventCode 5 logs to detect instances where 15 or more processes are terminated…
Description
The following analytic identifies a high frequency of process termination events on a computer within a short period. It leverages Sysmon EventCode 5 logs to detect instances where 15 or more processes are terminated within a 3-second window. This behavior is significant as it is commonly associated with ransomware attempting to avoid exceptions during file encryption. If confirmed malicious, this activity could indicate an active ransomware attack, potentially leading to widespread file encryption and significant data loss.
Detection logic
MITRE ATT&CK mappings
0 exclusive techniques.This is coverage no other published rule has; it is not this rule's total technique count.
References
| Reference | Cited by |
|---|---|
| blog.virustotal.com/2020/11/keep-your-friends-close-keep-ransomware.html | 8 |
| www.mandiant.com/resources/fin11-email-campaigns-precursor-for-ransomware-data-theft | 8 |
From the source
- At source
- Open at source
- Upstream identifier
- 17cd75b2-8666-11eb-9ab4-acde48001122
- Tagged by the source as
- BlackByte RansomwareClop RansomwareCrypto StealerHellcat RansomwareInterlock RansomwareLockBit RansomwareMedusa RansomwareNailaoLocker RansomwareRhysida RansomwareSnake KeyloggerTermite RansomwareEndpointendpointSplunk CloudSplunk EnterpriseSplunk Enterprise Securityendpoint
Licence
- Published under
- Apache License 2.0Read the licence
- Attribution
- Required
- Obtained under
- Apache-2.0Read the origin licence
Authorship
- Written by
- Published
- Aug 26, 2026
- Version
- 1