Spike in File Writes
The following analytic detects a sharp increase in the number of files written to a specific host. It leverages the Endpoint.Filesystem data model, focusing on 'created' actions and comparing current file write…
Description
The following analytic detects a sharp increase in the number of files written to a specific host. It leverages the Endpoint.Filesystem data model, focusing on 'created' actions and comparing current file write counts against historical averages and standard deviations. This activity is significant as a sudden spike in file writes can indicate malicious activities such as ransomware encryption or data exfiltration. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could lead to significant data loss, system compromise, or further propagation of malware within the network.
Detection logic
Detection requirements
- Log source category
- sysmon_eventid_11
Known benign triggers
- It is important to understand that if you happen to install any new applications on your hosts or are copying a large number of files, you can expect to see a large increase of file modifications.
MITRE ATT&CK mappings
Not mapped to ATT&CK.
No references are available for this detection.
From the source
- At source
- Open at source
- Upstream identifier
- fdb0f805-74e4-4539-8c00-618927333aae
- Tagged by the source as
- RansomwareRhysida RansomwareRyuk RansomwareSamSam 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