Unusual File Transfer Utility Launched

 1[metadata]
 2creation_date = "2025/02/21"
 3integration = ["endpoint"]
 4maturity = "production"
 5updated_date = "2025/03/20"
 6
 7[rule]
 8author = ["Elastic"]
 9description = """
10This rule leverages ES|QL to detect the execution of unusual file transfer utilities on Linux systems. Attackers may use
11these utilities to exfiltrate data from a compromised system. ES|QL rules have limited fields available in its alert
12documents. Make sure to review the original documents to aid in the investigation of this alert.
13"""
14from = "now-61m"
15interval = "1h"
16language = "esql"
17license = "Elastic License v2"
18name = "Unusual File Transfer Utility Launched"
19risk_score = 21
20rule_id = "8eeeda11-dca6-4c3e-910f-7089db412d1c"
21setup = """## Setup
22
23This rule requires data coming in from one of the following integrations:
24- Elastic Defend
25
26### Elastic Defend Integration Setup
27Elastic Defend is integrated into the Elastic Agent using Fleet. Upon configuration, the integration allows the Elastic Agent to monitor events on your host and send data to the Elastic Security app.
28
29#### Prerequisite Requirements:
30- Fleet is required for Elastic Defend.
31- To configure Fleet Server refer to the [documentation](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/fleet/current/fleet-server.html).
32
33#### The following steps should be executed in order to add the Elastic Defend integration on a Linux System:
34- Go to the Kibana home page and click "Add integrations".
35- In the query bar, search for "Elastic Defend" and select the integration to see more details about it.
36- Click "Add Elastic Defend".
37- Configure the integration name and optionally add a description.
38- Select the type of environment you want to protect, either "Traditional Endpoints" or "Cloud Workloads".
39- Select a configuration preset. Each preset comes with different default settings for Elastic Agent, you can further customize these later by configuring the Elastic Defend integration policy. [Helper guide](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/security/current/configure-endpoint-integration-policy.html).
40- We suggest selecting "Complete EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response)" as a configuration setting, that provides "All events; all preventions"
41- Enter a name for the agent policy in "New agent policy name". If other agent policies already exist, you can click the "Existing hosts" tab and select an existing policy instead.
42For more details on Elastic Agent configuration settings, refer to the [helper guide](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/fleet/8.10/agent-policy.html).
43- Click "Save and Continue".
44- To complete the integration, select "Add Elastic Agent to your hosts" and continue to the next section to install the Elastic Agent on your hosts.
45For more details on Elastic Defend refer to the [helper guide](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/security/current/install-endpoint.html).
46"""
47severity = "low"
48tags = [
49    "Domain: Endpoint",
50    "OS: Linux",
51    "Use Case: Threat Detection",
52    "Tactic: Exfiltration",
53    "Tactic: Execution",
54    "Data Source: Elastic Defend",
55]
56timestamp_override = "event.ingested"
57type = "esql"
58
59query = '''
60from logs-endpoint.events.process-*
61| keep @timestamp, host.os.type, event.type, event.action, process.name, process.executable, process.parent.executable, process.command_line, agent.id
62| where @timestamp > now() - 1 hours
63| where host.os.type == "linux" and event.type == "start" and event.action == "exec" and
64  process.name in ("scp", "ftp", "sftp", "vsftpd", "sftp-server", "rsync")
65| stats cc = count(), agent_count = count_distinct(agent.id) by process.executable, process.parent.executable, process.command_line
66| where agent_count == 1 and cc < 5
67| sort cc asc
68| limit 100
69'''
70
71
72[[rule.threat]]
73framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
74
75[rule.threat.tactic]
76id = "TA0010"
77name = "Exfiltration"
78reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0010/"
79[[rule.threat]]
80framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
81
82[rule.threat.tactic]
83id = "TA0002"
84name = "Execution"
85reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0002/"