AWS S3 Security Controls Disabled
Description
Detects the disabling of multiple S3 security controls (logging, versioning and MFA delete protection) on the same bucket within a short timeframe. This pattern is a strong indicator of preparation for ransomware or data destruction attacks, as attackers typically disable recovery mechanisms before encrypting or deleting data. Alerting on this activity enables early intervention before actual data loss occurs.
Query
Detection:
- Group:
- ID: Disable S3 Logging
RuleID: AWS.S3.DisableBucketLogging
- ID: Versioning Suspended
RuleID: AWS.S3.SuspendVersioning
- ID: MFA Delete Disabled
RuleID: AWS.S3.DisableMfaDelete
MatchCriteria:
field_name:
- GroupID: Disable S3 Logging
Match: p_alert_context.bucketName
- GroupID: Versioning Suspended
Match: p_alert_context.bucketName
- GroupID: MFA Delete Disabled
Match: p_alert_context.bucketName
LookbackWindowMinutes: 1800
Schedule:
RateMinutes: 1440
TimeoutMinutes: 10
Rule dependencies
⚠ Higher-order rule. It fires on other rules' alerts, not on raw events, so it cannot fire on its own. Deploy the rules it depends on too.
Depends on
-
correlates · Panther group
AWS.S3.DisableBucketLoggingwithin 1800m -
correlates · Panther group
AWS.S3.DisableMfaDeletewithin 1800m -
correlates · Panther group
AWS.S3.SuspendVersioningwithin 1800m
Analyst notes
- Query CloudTrail for all S3 API calls by the actor ARN on the affected bucket in the 24 hours before and after the bucket logging was disabled to identify if this is part of a larger attack pattern
- Check for subsequent suspicious activities on the same bucket including DeleteObject, DeleteObjects, PutBucketEncryption, or GetObject events in the 6 hours after all three security controls were disabled
- Find all other S3 buckets where this actor ARN has disabled logging, versioning, or MFA delete in the past 7 days to determine if this is a widespread attack