Hidden Scheduled Task Created - Windows (Windows Event Log)

Group by: _time, host
Source: github.com/anvilogic-forge/armory

A hidden scheduled task in Windows is a task configured to run specified actions silently without displaying any visible program windows or interfaces to the user. Threat actors may abuse this feature to persistently execute malicious activities covertly, avoiding detection while maintaining a presence on the victim's system, as observed in breaches involving Industroyer2. This use case detects scheduled task creation events where the 'Hidden' setting is enabled.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Execution	`T1053` Scheduled Task/Job
Persistence	`T1053` Scheduled Task/Job
Privilege Escalation	`T1053` Scheduled Task/Job

References

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Security-Auditing	Event ID 4698	A scheduled task was created.

Rule body yaml

id: '30937.55362'
title: Hidden Scheduled Task Created - Windows
description: A hidden scheduled task in Windows is a task configured to run specified
  actions silently without displaying any visible program windows or interfaces to
  the user. Threat actors may abuse this feature to persistently execute malicious
  activities covertly, avoiding detection while maintaining a presence on the victim's
  system, as observed in breaches involving Industroyer2. This use case detects scheduled
  task creation events where the 'Hidden' setting is enabled.
logic_format: Splunk
logic: '`get_endpoint_data` `get_endpoint_data_winevent` (TERM(EventCode=4698) OR
  "<EventID>4698<") "hidden" "true" | where match(TaskContent, "(?i)Hidden(>|>)true")
  | table _time, host, user, TaskName | bin span=1s | stats values(*) as * by _time,
  host '
techniques:
- execution:scheduled task/job
technique_id: 
- T1053
data_category:
- Windows event logs
references:
- https://research.splunk.com/endpoint/0b730470-5fe8-4b13-93a7-fe0ad014d0cc/
- https://www.welivesecurity.com/2022/04/12/industroyer2-industroyer-reloaded/
- https://cert.gov.ua/article/39518

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `search`

`get_endpoint_data` `get_endpoint_data_winevent` (TERM(EventCode=4698) OR "<EventID>4698<") "hidden" "true"

Stage 2: `where`

| where match(TaskContent, "(?i)Hidden(>|>)true")

Stage 3: `table`

| table _time, host, user, TaskName

Stage 4: `bucket`

| bin span=1s

Stage 5: `stats`

| stats values(*) as * by _time, host

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
`EventCode`	eq	`4698` corpus 14 (splunk 14)
`TaskContent`	match	`"(?i)Hidden(>\|>)true"`

Search terms

Bare-string tokens in the SPL search body. Splunk matches each token against _raw (the untyped raw event text) anywhere it appears, not against a specific field. These don't surface in the Indicators table because they aren't predicates on a known field.

Stage	Term
1	`TERM`
1	`"<EventID>4698<"`
1	`"hidden"`
1	`"true"`

`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)

Hidden Scheduled Task Created - Windows (Windows Event Log)

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

References

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `search`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `table`

Stage 4: `bucket`

Stage 5: `stats`

Indicators

Search terms

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Hidden Scheduled Task Created - Windows (Windows Event Log)

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

References

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: search

Stage 2: where

Stage 3: table

Stage 4: bucket

Stage 5: stats

Indicators

Search terms

Stage 1: `search`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `table`

Stage 4: `bucket`

Stage 5: `stats`