Detection of Defense Impairment through Disabled or Modified Tools across OS Platforms.

Technique Detected:  Disable or Modify Tools | T1685

ID: DET0497
Domains: Enterprise
Analytics: AN1369, AN1370, AN1371, AN1372, AN1373, AN1374, AN2044
Version: 1.1
Created: 21 October 2025
Last Modified: 24 April 2026

Analytics

AN1369

Detection of adversary behavior that disables or modifies security tools, including killing AV/EDR processes, stopping services, altering Sysmon registry keys, or tampering with exclusion lists. Defenders observe process/service termination, registry modification, and abnormal absence of expected telemetry.

Log Sources
Data Component Name Channel
Service Creation (DC0060) WinEventLog:System EventCode=7045
Process Termination (DC0033) WinEventLog:Sysmon EventCode=5
Windows Registry Key Modification (DC0063) WinEventLog:Sysmon EventCode=13, 14
Mutable Elements
Field Description
ProcessNameExclusions List of expected administrative tools/processes to prevent false positives.
TimeWindow Defines correlation window linking process termination, registry edits, and service stoppage.
ServiceNames Customizable list of security service names per enterprise deployment.

AN1370

Detects kill/systemctl/service commands against EDR, auditd, falco, osquery, rsyslog, journald, or agent processes; configuration edits disabling startup; module unload attempts; abrupt cessation of logs after privileged shell execution.

Log Sources
Data Component Name Channel
Process Creation (DC0032) auditd:SYSCALL execve: systemctl stop, service stop, or kill -9 on security daemons (e.g., falcon-sensor, auditd)
Service Metadata (DC0041) auditd:CONFIG_CHANGE delete: Modification of systemd unit files or config for security agents
Mutable Elements
Field Description
AgentServiceNames List of endpoint protection service names (varies across deployments).
AllowedAdminAccounts Accounts permitted to legitimately stop or reconfigure services.

AN1371

Detection of adversary disabling endpoint security tools by unloading launch agents/daemons, modifying configuration profiles, or disabling Gatekeeper/XProtect/logging settings, or removing endpoint agents followed by telemetry loss.

Log Sources
Data Component Name Channel
Process Creation (DC0032) macos:unifiedlog Execution of launchctl unload, kill, or removal of security agent daemons
Service Metadata (DC0041) macos:unifiedlog Modification of system configuration profiles affecting security tools
Mutable Elements
Field Description
DaemonNames Expected security agent daemons (e.g., com.crowdstrike.falcon.Agent).
TimeWindow Detection correlation period for multiple security tool disable actions.

AN1372

Correlates control-plane API actions disabling cloud-native monitoring or sensor agents (CloudTrail, GuardDuty, Security Hub, Defender, monitoring agents), role abuse preceding disablement, or instance agent uninstall events

Log Sources
Data Component Name Channel
Cloud Service Modification (DC0069) AWS:CloudTrail Delete* / Stop*: DeleteAlarms, StopLogging, or DisableMonitoring API calls
Mutable Elements
Field Description
APIActions Customizable list of cloud provider API calls related to monitoring/alerting disablement.
UserContext Distinguishes adversary actions from authorized DevOps/CloudOps activities.

AN1373

Detects disabling container runtime security controls, removing sidecar sensors, modifying seccomp/AppArmor profiles, mounting host proc/sys paths to interfere with host logging, or killing in-container monitoring agents.

Log Sources
Data Component Name Channel
Service Metadata (DC0041) kubernetes:audit kubectl delete or patch of security pods/admission controllers
Mutable Elements
Field Description
NamespaceExclusions Exclusion of namespaces where temporary deletion of monitoring tools is legitimate (e.g., staging).

AN1374

Detects disabling AAA, syslog, SNMP traps, ACL logging, or security features on routers/switches/firewalls; correlates privileged login followed by configuration commit reducing visibility.

Log Sources
Data Component Name Channel
Service Metadata (DC0041) networkdevice:config write: Startup configuration changes disabling security checks
Host Status (DC0018) networkdevice:syslog no logging host, no aaa new-model, no snmp-server, commit
Mutable Elements
Field Description
ConfigBaseline Reference configuration state for detecting unauthorized modifications.

AN2044

Detects esxcli commands disabling syslog, firewall, lockdown mode, or stopping hostd/vpxa; correlates command execution with reduced forwarding activity.

Log Sources
Data Component Name Channel
Command Execution (DC0064) esxi:shell esxcli system syslog config set/reload, services.sh restart/stop
Service Modification (DC0065) esxi:hostd service state change
Mutable Elements
Field Description
ExpectedAdminIPs Authorized management sources.