Adversaries may disable, degrade, or tamper with security tools or applications (e.g., endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools, intrusion detection systems (IDS), antivirus, logging agents, sensors, etc.) to impair or reduce visibility of defensive capabilities. This may include stopping specific services, killing processes, modifying or deleting tool configuration files and Registry keys, or preventing tools from updating. This may also include impairing defenses more broadly by disrupting preventative, detection, and response mechanisms across host, network, and cloud environments.[1]

In addition to directly targeting tools, adversaries may block or manipulate indicators and telemetry used for detection. This includes maliciously disabling or redirecting sensors such as Event Tracing for Windows (ETW), modifying event log configurations (e.g., redirecting Security logs), or interfering with logging pipelines and forwarding mechanisms (e.g., SIEM ingestion).[2],[3]

More advanced techniques include leveraging legitimate drivers or debugging mechanisms to render tools non-functional, bypassing anti-tampering protections, and targeting specific defenses such as Sysmon or cloud monitoring agents. Adversaries may also disrupt broader defensive operations, including update mechanisms, logging infrastructure (e.g., syslog), or event aggregation, further degrading an organization’s ability to detect and respond to malicious activity.[4]

References

  1. Shaked, O. (2020, January 20). Anatomy of a Targeted Ransomware Attack. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
  2. Microsoft. (2009, May 17). Backdoor:Win32/Lamin.A. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  3. Palantir. (2018, December 24). Tampering with Windows Event Tracing: Background, Offense, and Defense. Retrieved April 15, 2026.
  4. Cocomazzi, Antonio. (2024, July 17). FIN7 Reboot | Cybercrime Gang Enhances Ops with New EDR Bypasses and Automated Attacks. Retrieved September 24, 2025.

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Tytuł Opis
Modify or Spoof Tool UI

Adversaries may spoof or manipulate security tool user interfaces (UIs) to falsely indicate tools are functioning normally and delay detection and response.

Adversaries may present misleading or falsified security tool interfaces (UIs) that display normal or healthy status indicators, even when underlying security tools have been disabled, degraded, or otherwise tampered with. Security tools typically provide visibility into system health, alerting, and operational status; by misrepresenting this information, adversaries can undermine defender trust in these signals and obscure the true security posture of the system.

This behavior is often used in conjunction with efforts to disable or modify tools, where adversaries first impair the functionality of defenses (e.g., EDR, logging agents) and then replace or mimic their interfaces to conceal the loss of visibility. By maintaining the appearance of normal operations, such as showing active protection, successful updates, or absence of threats, adversaries can delay investigation and response, enabling continued malicious activity.

For example, adversaries may display a fake Windows Security interface or system tray icon indicating a “protected” or “healthy” state after disabling Windows Defender or related services.[1]

References

  1. Antonio Cocomazzi and Antonio Pirozzi. (2022, November 3). Black Basta Ransomware | Attacks Deploy Custom EDR Evasion Tools Tied to FIN7 Threat Actor. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
Disable or Modify Windows Event Log

Adversaries may disable or modify the Windows Event Log to limit data that can be leveraged for detections and audits. Windows Event Log records user and system activity such as login attempts and process creation.[1] This data is used by security tools and analysts to generate detections.

The EventLog service maintains event logs from various system components and applications. By default, the service automatically starts when a system powers on. An audit policy, maintained by the Local Security Policy (secpol.msc), defines which system events the EventLog service logs. Security audit policy settings can be changed by running secpol.msc, then navigating to Security Settings\Local Policies\Audit Policy for basic audit policy settings or Security Settings\Advanced Audit Policy Configuration for advanced audit policy settings.[2],[3] auditpol.exe may also be used to set audit policies.[4]

Adversaries may target system-wide logging or just that of a particular application. For example, the Windows EventLog service may be disabled using the Set-Service -Name EventLog -Status Stopped or sc config eventlog start=disabled commands (followed by manually stopping the service using Stop-Service -Name EventLog). Additionally, the service may be disabled by modifying the "Start" value in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\EventLog then restarting the system for the change to take effect.[5],[6]

There are several ways to disable the EventLog service via registry key modification. Without Administrator privileges, adversaries may modify the "Start" value in the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\WMI\Autologger\EventLog-Security, then reboot the system to disable the Security EventLog.[7] With Administrator privilege, adversaries may modify the same values in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\WMI\Autologger\EventLog-System and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\WMI\Autologger\EventLog-Application to disable the entire EventLog.

Additionally, adversaries may use auditpol and its sub-commands in a command prompt to disable auditing or clear the audit policy. To enable or disable a specified setting or audit category, adversaries may use the /success or /failure parameters. For example, auditpol /set /category:"Account Logon" /success:disable /failure:disable turns off auditing for the Account Logon category.[8] To clear the audit policy, adversaries may run the following lines: auditpol /clear /y or auditpol /remove /allusers.[9]

References

  1. Core Technologies. (2021, May 24). Essential Windows Services: EventLog / Windows Event Log. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  2. Microsoft. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2026.
  3. Microsoft. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2026.
  4. Microsoft. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2026.
  5. dmcxblue. (n.d.). Disable Windows Event Logging. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  6. Heiligenstein, L. (n.d.). REP-25: Disable Windows Event Logging. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  7. Naceri, A. (2021, November 7). Windows Server 2019 file overwrite bug. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  8. STRONTIC. (n.d.). auditpol.exe. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  9. redcanaryco. (2021, September 3). T1562.002 - Disable Windows Event Logging. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
Disable or Modify Linux Audit System Log

Adversaries may disable or modify the Linux Audit system to hide malicious activity and avoid detection. Linux admins use the Linux Audit system to track security-relevant information on a system. The Linux Audit system operates at the kernel-level and maintains event logs on application and system activity such as process, network, file, and login events based on pre-configured rules.

Often referred to as auditd, this is the name of the daemon used to write events to disk and is governed by the parameters set in the audit.conf configuration file. Two primary ways to configure the log generation rules are through the command line auditctl utility and the file /etc/audit/audit.rules, containing a sequence of auditctl commands loaded at boot time.[1],[2]

With root privileges, adversaries may be able to ensure their activity is not logged through disabling the Audit system service, editing the configuration/rule files, or by hooking the Audit system library functions. Using the command line, adversaries can disable the Audit system service through killing processes associated with auditd daemon or use systemctl to stop the Audit service. Adversaries can also hook Audit system functions to disable logging or modify the rules contained in the /etc/audit/audit.rules or audit.conf files to ignore malicious activity.[3]

References

  1. IzySec. (2022, January 26). Linux auditd for Threat Detection. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  2. Red Hat. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2026.
  3. M.Léveillé, M.. (2014, February 21). An In-depth Analysis of Linux/Ebury. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
Disable or Modify Cloud Log

An adversary may disable or modify cloud logging capabilities and integrations to limit what data is collected on their activities and avoid detection. Cloud environments allow for collection and analysis of audit and application logs that provide insight into what activities a user does within the environment. If an adversary has sufficient permissions, they can disable or modify logging to avoid detection of their activities.

For example, in AWS an adversary may disable CloudWatch/CloudTrail integrations prior to conducting further malicious activity. They may alternatively tamper with logging functionality, for example, by removing any associated SNS topics, disabling multi-region logging, or disabling settings that validate and/or encrypt log files.[1],[2] In Office 365, an adversary may disable logging on mail collection activities for specific users by using the Set-MailboxAuditBypassAssociation cmdlet, by disabling M365 Advanced Auditing for the user, or by downgrading the user’s license from an Enterprise E5 to an Enterprise E3 license.[3]

References

  1. AWS. (n.d.). update-trail. Retrieved April 15, 2026.
  2. Rhino Security Labs. (2021, April 29). Pacu Detection Disruption Module. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  3. Kelly Sheridan. (2021, August 5). Retrieved April 15, 2026.
Clear Linux or Mac System Logs

Adversaries may clear system logs to hide evidence of an intrusion. macOS and Linux both keep track of system or user-initiated actions via system logs. The majority of native system logging is stored under the /var/log/ directory. Subfolders in this directory categorize logs by their related functions, such as:[1]

  • /var/log/messages:: General and system-related messages
  • /var/log/secure or /var/log/auth.log: Authentication logs
  • /var/log/utmp or /var/log/wtmp: Login records
  • /var/log/kern.log: Kernel logs
  • /var/log/cron.log: Crond logs
  • /var/log/maillog: Mail server logs
  • /var/log/httpd/: Web server access and error logs

References

  1. Marcel. (2018, April 19). 12 Critical Linux Log Files You Must be Monitoring. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
Clear Windows Event Logs

Adversaries may clear Windows Event Logs to hide the activity of an intrusion. Windows Event Logs are a record of a computer's alerts and notifications. There are three system-defined sources of events: System, Application, and Security, with five event types: Error, Warning, Information, Success Audit, and Failure Audit.

With administrator privileges, the event logs can be cleared with the following utility commands:

  • wevtutil cl system
  • wevtutil cl application
  • wevtutil cl security

These logs may also be cleared through other mechanisms, such as the event viewer GUI or PowerShell. For example, adversaries may use the PowerShell command Remove-EventLog -LogName Security to delete the Security EventLog and after reboot, disable future logging. Note: events may still be generated and logged in the .evtx file between the time the command is run and the reboot.[1]

Adversaries may also attempt to clear logs by directly deleting the stored log files within C:\Windows\System32\winevt\logs\.

References

  1. Heiligenstein, L. (n.d.). REP-25: Disable Windows Event Logging. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
Impair Autonomous Defenses

Adversaries may use methods like Indirect Prompt Injection to disrupt, disable, or otherwise impair autonomous defensive capabilities such as LLM-assisted processing of malware, artifacts, or activity.[1] This behavior may cause a system to ignore data, fail to alert on malicious activity, abort analysis, or to be disabled completely.

Adversaries may include content in malware implants that mimic an LLM prompt scaffold that contains fake system messages in order to convince the LLM that it has encountered an error.[2],[3] Depending on the type of error, the LLM may abort analysis, truncate, or refuse to continue. Adversaries may also embed prompts in malware intended to stop agents or systems from analyzing the malware.[4]

References

  1. Tayyeb Nadeem Somro, Bilal Arshad, Dr. Ammara Gul. (2026, June 26). LLM-Powered SOC Assistants: Prompt Injection Risks in Threat Triage. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
  2. Phil Stokes. (2026, June 23). macOS.Gaslight | Rust Backdoor Turns Prompt Injection on the Analyst, Not the Sandbox. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
  3. Rogue Security Research. (2026, June 29). Gaslight's prompt injection against malware analysis. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
  4. Moshe Siman Tov Bustan. (2026, May 12). Shai-Hulud Goes Open Source: Malware Creators Leak Their Own Code to GitHub. Retrieved September 21, 2026.

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