sigmamediumHunting

Suspicious Creation TXT File in User Desktop

Detects creation of .txt files in user desktop folders via cmd.exe. This behavior may indicate ransomware deploying ransom notes, but can also occur during legitimate administrative tasks. Analysts should investigate for suspicious filenames (e.g., "RANSOM", "DECRYPT", "READ_ME"), bulk file creation patterns, or concurrent encryption activity to determine if this is part of a ransomware attack.

MITRE ATT&CK

T1486

impact

Detection Query

selection:
  Image|endswith: \cmd.exe
  TargetFilename|contains|all:
    - \Users\
    - \Desktop\
  TargetFilename|endswith: .txt
condition: selection

Author

frack113

Created

2021-12-26

Data Sources

windowsFile Events

Platforms

windows

References

https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1486/T1486.md#atomic-test-5---purelocker-ransom-note

Tags

attack.impactattack.t1486detection.threat-hunting

Raw Content

title: Suspicious Creation TXT File in User Desktop
id: caf02a0a-1e1c-4552-9b48-5e070bd88d11
status: test
description: |
    Detects creation of .txt files in user desktop folders via cmd.exe. This behavior may indicate ransomware deploying ransom notes, but can also occur during legitimate administrative tasks.
    Analysts should investigate for suspicious filenames (e.g., "RANSOM", "DECRYPT", "READ_ME"), bulk file creation patterns, or concurrent encryption activity to determine if this is part of a ransomware attack.
references:
    - https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1486/T1486.md#atomic-test-5---purelocker-ransom-note
author: frack113
date: 2021-12-26
modified: 2026-01-09
tags:
    - attack.impact
    - attack.t1486
    - detection.threat-hunting
logsource:
    product: windows
    category: file_event
detection:
    selection:
        Image|endswith: '\cmd.exe'
        TargetFilename|contains|all:
            - '\Users\'
            - '\Desktop\'
        TargetFilename|endswith: '.txt'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium