Persistence and Execution at Scale via GPO Scheduled Task

SigmaHQ Detections@sigmaHQ

•updated Oct 23, 2025•0•29

Detects the creation or modification of scheduled tasks via Group Policy Objects (GPO), which can be used by adversaries for persistence, execution, and lateral movement, often seen in ransomware deployment scenarios. The rule specifically looks for Event ID 5136 (Directory Service Changes) indicating modifications to GPO attributes related to machine or user extension names, and Event ID 5145 (Detailed File Share) indicating write access to ScheduledTasks.xml within the SYSVOL share.