Suspicious disablement of the Windows Firewall using PowerShell commands

Synopsis

Field	Value
Activation Period	14 Days
Training Period	30 Days
Test Period	N/A (single event)
Deduplication Period	1 Day
Required Data	XDR Agent with eXtended Threat Hunting (XTH)
ATT&CK Tactic	Defense Impairment (TA0112)
ATT&CK Technique	Disable or Modify System Firewall (T1686)
Severity	Medium

Description

The Windows Firewall has been disabled using PowerShell. Malware may turn it off to exfiltrate data and communicate with C2 servers.

Attacker's Goals

An attacker may turn the firewall off to exfiltrate data and communicate with C2 servers.

Investigative actions

• Check Windows event logs to see the PowerShell command or script that was executed.
• Check whether the PowerShell command is benign or normal for the host and/or user performing it.
• Investigate the endpoint to determine if it's a legitimate process that disabled the firewall.