Detection rules › Panther

Azure Disk Deleted

Status
Experimental
Severity
informational
Log types
Azure.MonitorActivity
Tags
Impact, Data Destruction, Inhibit System Recovery, Ransomware
Reference
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/compute/disks/delete?view=rest-compute-2025-04-01#:~:text=Deletes%20a%20disk.,version=2025-01-02
Source
github.com/panther-labs/panther-analysis

Detects when an Azure managed disk is deleted. Unauthorized disk deletion can indicate ransomware activity where attackers destroy data or delete backup disks to prevent recovery. This may also indicate legitimate cleanup operations.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body yaml

AnalysisType: rule
Filename: azure_disk_deleted.py
RuleID: "Azure.MonitorActivity.Compute.DiskDeleted"
DisplayName: "Azure Disk Deleted"
Enabled: true
LogTypes:
  - Azure.MonitorActivity
Severity: Info
Status: Experimental
Description: >
  Detects when an Azure managed disk is deleted.
  Unauthorized disk deletion can indicate ransomware activity where attackers destroy data or delete backup disks to prevent recovery.
  This may also indicate legitimate cleanup operations.
Reports:
  MITRE ATT&CK:
    - TA0040:T1485 # Impact: Data Destruction
    - TA0040:T1490 # Impact: Inhibit System Recovery
Tags:
  - Impact
  - Data Destruction
  - Inhibit System Recovery
  - Ransomware
Runbook: |
  1. Query Azure Monitor Activity logs for all disk operations by the callerIpAddress in the 24 hours before and after the alert to identify if multiple disks are being deleted in sequence
  2. Find all compute resource deletion events from the same caller in the past 7 days to assess if this is part of a broader data destruction pattern
  3. Check if the source IP matches known VPN ranges or corporate network addresses associated with authorized administrators
Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/compute/disks/delete?view=rest-compute-2025-04-01#:~:text=Deletes%20a%20disk.,version=2025-01-02
SummaryAttributes:
  - resourceId
  - callerIpAddress
  - correlationId
Tests:
  - Name: Disk Deleted Successfully
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      {
        "time": "2024-12-17T10:30:00.0000000Z",
        "resourceId": "/subscriptions/12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789abc/resourceGroups/myresourcegroup/providers/Microsoft.Compute/disks/mydisk",
        "operationName": "Microsoft.Compute/disks/delete",
        "operationVersion": "2021-04-01",
        "category": "Administrative",
        "resultType": "Success",
        "resultSignature": "200",
        "callerIpAddress": "1.1.1.1",
        "correlationId": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890",

        "location": "eastus",
        "tenantId": "87654321-4321-4321-4321-111111111111"
      }
  - Name: Case Insensitive Match
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      {
        "time": "2024-12-17T11:45:00.0000000Z",
        "resourceId": "/subscriptions/12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789abc/resourceGroups/prod-rg/providers/Microsoft.Compute/disks/proddisk",
        "operationName": "microsoft.compute/disks/delete",
        "operationVersion": "2021-04-01",
        "category": "Administrative",
        "resultType": "Succeeded",
        "callerIpAddress": "1.2.3.4",
        "correlationId": "f9e8d7c6-b5a4-3210-9876-fedcba098765",

        "location": "westus",
        "tenantId": "87654321-4321-4321-4321-111111111111"
      }
  - Name: Different Operation
    ExpectedResult: false
    Log:
      {
        "time": "2024-12-17T13:30:00.0000000Z",
        "resourceId": "/subscriptions/12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789abc/resourceGroups/myresourcegroup/providers/Microsoft.Compute/disks/mydisk",
        "operationName": "Microsoft.Compute/disks/write",
        "operationVersion": "2021-04-01",
        "category": "Administrative",
        "resultType": "Success",
        "callerIpAddress": "203.0.113.75",
        "correlationId": "d4e5f6a7-b8c9-0123-def0-234567890123",

        "location": "centralus",
        "tenantId": "87654321-4321-4321-4321-210987654321"
      }

Detection logic

Condition

operationName eq "MICROSOFT.COMPUTE/DISKS/DELETE"
resultType in ["Success", "Succeeded"]

Indicators

Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.

FieldKindValues
operationNameeq
  • MICROSOFT.COMPUTE/DISKS/DELETE
resultTypein
  • Succeeded
  • Success