Detect Abuse of Windows Time Providers for Persistence

Technique Detected:  Time Providers | T1547.003

ID: DET0122
Domains: Enterprise
Analytics: AN0341
Version: 1.0
Created: 21 October 2025
Last Modified: 21 October 2025

Analytics

AN0341

Behavioral correlation of privileged registry key creation under the W32Time TimeProviders path combined with a new DLL written to disk and potential process activity by LocalService. Indicates abuse of Time Providers for persistence.

Log Sources
Data Component Name Channel
Windows Registry Key Modification (DC0063) WinEventLog:Sysmon EventCode=13
File Creation (DC0039) WinEventLog:Sysmon EventCode=11
Module Load (DC0016) WinEventLog:Sysmon EventCode=7
Process Creation (DC0032) WinEventLog:Sysmon EventCode=1
Mutable Elements
Field Description
RegistryPathScope May need to be tuned to only monitor `W32Time\TimeProviders` subkey path for performance optimization
UserContext Should focus on activity from administrative or SYSTEM accounts
TimeWindow Controls correlation window between registry modification and DLL drop
DllPathEntropyThreshold Used for anomaly scoring on DLL path patterns (e.g., random names or temp directories)