AWS GuardDuty Detector Deleted Or Updated

Status: experimental
Severity: high
Log source: product aws, service cloudtrail
Author: suktech24
Source: github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detects successful deletion or disabling of an AWS GuardDuty detector, possibly by an attacker trying to avoid detection of its malicious activities. Upon deletion, GuardDuty stops monitoring the environment and all existing findings are lost. Verify with the user identity that this activity is legitimate.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Defense Impairment	`T1685.002` Disable or Modify Tools: Disable or Modify Cloud Log

Event coverage

Provider	Event
AWS-guardduty	DeleteDetector
AWS-guardduty	UpdateDetector

Rules detecting the same action

Other rules on this platform that filter on the same API call or operation.

AWS GuardDuty Detector Deletion (Elastic)

Rule body yaml

title: AWS GuardDuty Detector Deleted Or Updated
id: d2656e78-c069-4571-8220-9e0ab5913f19
status: experimental
description: |
    Detects successful deletion or disabling of an AWS GuardDuty detector, possibly by an attacker trying to avoid detection of its malicious activities.
    Upon deletion, GuardDuty stops monitoring the environment and all existing findings are lost.
    Verify with the user identity that this activity is legitimate.
references:
    - https://docs.aws.amazon.com/guardduty/latest/APIReference/API_DeleteDetector.html
    - https://docs.aws.amazon.com/guardduty/latest/APIReference/API_UpdateDetector.html
    - https://docs.aws.amazon.com/guardduty/latest/ug/guardduty_suspend-disable.html
    - https://docs.datadoghq.com/security/default_rules/719-39f-9cd/
    - https://docs.prismacloud.io/en/enterprise-edition/policy-reference/aws-policies/aws-general-policies/ensure-aws-guardduty-detector-is-enabled
    - https://docs.stellarcyber.ai/5.2.x/Using/ML/Alert-Rule-Based-Potentially_Malicious_AWS_Activity.html
    - https://github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel/blob/master/Solutions/Amazon%20Web%20Services/Analytic%20Rules/AWS_GuardDutyDisabled.yaml
    - https://github.com/elastic/detection-rules/blob/main/rules/integrations/aws/defense_evasion_guardduty_detector_deletion.toml
    - https://help.fortinet.com/fsiem/Public_Resource_Access/7_4_0/rules/PH_RULE_AWS_GuardDuty_Detector_Deletion.htm
    - https://research.splunk.com/sources/5d8bd475-c8bc-4447-b27f-efa508728b90/
    - https://suktech24.com/2025/07/17/aws-threat-detection-rule-guardduty-detector-disabled-or-suspended/
    - https://www.atomicredteam.io/atomic-red-team/atomics/T156001#atomic-test-46---aws---guardduty-suspension-or-deletion
author: suktech24
date: 2025-11-27
tags:
    - attack.defense-impairment
    - attack.t1685
    - attack.t1685.002
logsource:
    product: aws
    service: cloudtrail
detection:
    selection_event_source:
        eventSource: 'guardduty.amazonaws.com'
    selection_action_delete:
        eventName: 'DeleteDetector'
    selection_action_update:
        eventName: 'UpdateDetector'
        requestParameters.enable: 'false'
    selection_status_success:
        errorCode: 'Success'
    selection_status_null:
        errorCode: null
    condition: selection_event_source and 1 of selection_action_* and 1 of selection_status_*
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate detector deletion by an admin (e.g., during account decommissioning).
    - Temporary disablement for troubleshooting (verify via change management tickets).
    - Automated deployment tools (e.g. Terraform) managing GuardDuty state.
level: high

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

selection_event_source and 1 of selection_action_* and 1 of selection_status_*

Stage 1: `selection_event_source`

selection_event_source:
    eventSource: 'guardduty.amazonaws.com'

Stage 2: `selection_action_delete`

selection_action_delete:
    eventName: 'DeleteDetector'

Stage 3: `selection_action_update`

selection_action_update:
    eventName: 'UpdateDetector'
    requestParameters.enable: 'false'

Stage 4: `selection_status_success`

selection_status_success:
    errorCode: 'Success'

Stage 5: `selection_status_null`

selection_status_null:
    errorCode: null

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.

Field	Kind	Values
`errorCode`	eq	`Success`
`errorCode`	is_null	(no value, null check)
`eventName`	eq	`DeleteDetector` `UpdateDetector`
`eventSource`	eq	`guardduty.amazonaws.com`
`requestParameters.enable`	eq	`false`

`j` / `k`	Scroll down / up
`d` / `u`	Half-page down / up
`gg` / `G`	Top / bottom
`h` / `l`	History back / forward
`f`	Follow link (`Shift` = new tab)
`/`	Focus search
`?`	Toggle this help
`↑` / `↓`	Navigate search results
`Enter`	Open highlighted result
`Esc`	Close results / dialog

`type:`	`events` / `rules` / `providers`
`vendor:`	`sigma` / `elastic` / `splunk` / `kusto` / `chronicle` (vendor name alone also works: `sigma:`, `kql:`, `secops:`…)
`tactic:`	TA-id, slug, or name: `credential_access`, `TA0006`
`technique:`	technique or sub-technique ID: `T1003`, `T1003.001` (alias `tech:`)
`severity:`	`critical` / `high` / `medium` / `low` / `informational` (alias `sev:`)
`risk_score`	Numeric comparison on the Elastic risk score (0 to 100): `risk_score>50`, `risk_score<=20`, `risk_score=99` (alias `risk`; Elastic rules only)
`stages:`	Rules with exactly N pipeline stages
`correlation:`	`single_event` / `sequence` / `alternatives` / `alternatives_cross_log` / `all_required` / `correlated`
`with:`	Co-occurrence event-id; stacks (`with:4624 with:4769`) to require all, while a comma list in one occurrence (`with:4624,4769`) is an either-or group. Implies multi-event
`like:`	Structural neighbors of a rule slug (equivalents + subsumption stricter / broader): `like:comsvcs_lsass_memory_dump-splunk-sysmon`
`groupby:`	Entity-grouping substring match against `group_by_keys`: `groupby:user`, `groupby:host`
`uses:`	Rules whose predicate tree touches the field (any kind, any value): `uses:CommandLine`
`excludes:`	Rules with top-level `not()` clauses on the field (FP whitelists): `excludes:ParentImage`
`field:` / `value:`	Predicate search; narrows rule cards to those with a matching leaf and drives the indicator tier. Unquoted = substring, wildcards allowed (`value:mimikatz`)
`indicator:`	Shorthand for `field:F value:V`: `indicator:Image=*\powershell.exe`
`kind:`	Filter by predicate kind. Narrows rule cards to those carrying a matching predicate leaf (`vendor:elastic kind:cidr_match`) and drives the indicator tier: `contains` / `starts_with` / `ends_with` / `regex` / `cidr` / `eq` / `in` … (operator aliases `op:`/`match:`)
`has:` / `no:`	`sample`, `field`, `notes`, `refs`, `trace`, `thirdparty`, `rule`, `pattern`, `timewindow`, `threshold`, `newterms`, `sigma`/`elastic`/`splunk`/`kusto`/`chronicle`
`-op:val`	Exclude matches; works on most operators but not `type:`/`like:`/`has:`/`no:` (use `no:<flag>` to exclude a rule flag): `tactic:execution -vendor:splunk`. Standalone `-kind:`/`-field:`/`-value:` drop every rule carrying a matching predicate leaf (`type:rules -kind:is_null`)
`field:"…"` / `value:"…"`	Quoted value = anchored exact match (also allows spaces): `value:"net user"`
`a,b`	Comma = OR inside one operator (`vendor:sigma,elastic`, `severity:high,critical`); repeating a facet merges the same way. `field:`/`value:` never split (literal commas)
`vendors:` / `stage:`	Singular and plural spellings fold to the canonical operator and value: `tactics:` = `tactic:`, `type:event` = `type:events`, `correlation:sequences` = `correlation:sequence`, `has:thresholds` = `has:threshold`
`"quoted phrase"`	Exact-match a multi-word phrase (free text)

AWS GuardDuty Detector Deleted Or Updated

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rules detecting the same action

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_event_source`

Stage 2: `selection_action_delete`

Stage 3: `selection_action_update`

Stage 4: `selection_status_success`

Stage 5: `selection_status_null`

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

AWS GuardDuty Detector Deleted Or Updated

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rules detecting the same action

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection_event_source

Stage 2: selection_action_delete

Stage 3: selection_action_update

Stage 4: selection_status_success

Stage 5: selection_status_null

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_event_source`

Stage 2: `selection_action_delete`

Stage 3: `selection_action_update`

Stage 4: `selection_status_success`

Stage 5: `selection_status_null`