GCP Audit Logs - Detect Bulk VM Snapshot Deletion
Detects bulk deletion of Google Cloud VM snapshots within a short time period, which may indicate data destruction or defense evasion activities. VM snapshots are critical for backup and disaster recovery. Bulk…
Description
Detects bulk deletion of Google Cloud VM snapshots within a short time period, which may indicate data destruction or defense evasion activities. VM snapshots are critical for backup and disaster recovery. Bulk deletion of snapshots can prevent recovery from incidents and may indicate malicious activity such as ransomware, data destruction, or an attempt to cover tracks after a security breach. Adversaries may delete snapshots to maximize damage, prevent forensic investigation, or hinder recovery efforts. This rule triggers when multiple snapshots are deleted by the same user within a 1-minute window.
Detection logic
Detection requirements
- Platform
- ContainersESXiIaaSLinuxmacOSNetwork DevicesWindows
The rule states no platform. This is derived from the 3 ATT&CK techniques it maps to.
- Log source product
- gcpauditlogsdefinition
- Log source service
- gcpauditlogs
MITRE ATT&CK mappings
0 exclusive techniques.This is coverage no other published rule has; it is not this rule's total technique count.
No references are available for this detection.
From the source
- At source
- Open at source
- Upstream identifier
- dfdffdc7-929f-4c7e-8f48-30e5ffddb067
- Tagged by the source as
- DefenseEvasionImpact
Licence
- Published under
- MIT LicenseRead the licence
- Attribution
- Required
- Obtained under
- MITRead the origin licence
Authorship
- Published
- Sep 1, 2026
- Version
- 1