sigmamediumHunting

Time Machine Backup Deletion Attempt Via Tmutil - MacOS

Detects deletion attempts of MacOS Time Machine backups via the native backup utility "tmutil". An adversary may perform this action before launching a ransonware attack to prevent the victim from restoring their files.

MITRE ATT&CK

T1490

impact

Detection Query

selection_img:
  - Image|endswith: /tmutil
  - CommandLine|contains: tmutil
selection_cmd:
  CommandLine|contains: delete
condition: all of selection_*

Author

Pratinav Chandra

Created

2024-05-29

Data Sources

macosProcess Creation Events

Platforms

macos

References

Tags

attack.impactattack.t1490

Raw Content

title: Time Machine Backup Deletion Attempt Via Tmutil - MacOS
id: 452df256-da78-427a-866f-49fa04417d74
status: test
description: |
    Detects deletion attempts of MacOS Time Machine backups via the native backup utility "tmutil".
    An adversary may perform this action before launching a ransonware attack to prevent the victim from restoring their files.
references:
    - https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/master/atomics/T1490/T1490.md#atomic-test-12---disable-time-machine
    - https://www.loobins.io/binaries/tmutil/
author: Pratinav Chandra
date: 2024-05-29
tags:
    - attack.impact
    - attack.t1490
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: macos
detection:
    selection_img:
        - Image|endswith: '/tmutil'
        - CommandLine|contains: 'tmutil'
    selection_cmd:
        CommandLine|contains: 'delete'
    condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate activities
level: medium