Detection of Lifecycle Policy Modifications for Triggered Deletion in IaaS Cloud Storage

ID: DET0041
Domains: Enterprise
Analytics: AN0117
Version: 1.0
Created: 21 October 2025
Last Modified: 21 October 2025

Analytics

AN0117

Adversary with write access to storage modifies lifecycle policies (e.g., via PutBucketLifecycle) to schedule rapid object deletion across one or more storage buckets. This is often used to trigger impact (destruction), remove logs (defense evasion), or force extortion (ransomware).

Log Sources
Data Component Name Channel
Cloud Storage Modification (DC0023) AWS:CloudTrail PutBucketLifecycle, PutLifecycleConfiguration, SetBucketLifecycle, storage.buckets.update
Mutable Elements
Field Description
LifecycleExpirationDays Policy values setting Expiration in fewer than N days (e.g., 0–1) are highly suspicious.
TargetBucket Filter by bucket types (e.g., log storage, production DB snapshots) to prioritize detection.
Principal Correlate rare or anomalous IAM principals making destructive lifecycle changes.
TimeWindow Link lifecycle policy change with API activity suggesting staged deletion or extortion attempt.