Clop Ransomware Known Service Name

Description

The following analytic identifies the creation of a service with a known name used by CLOP ransomware for persistence and high-privilege code execution. It detects this activity by monitoring Windows Event Logs (EventCode 7045) for specific service names ("SecurityCenterIBM", "WinCheckDRVs"). This activity is significant because the creation of such services is a common tactic used by ransomware to maintain control over infected systems. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to execute code with elevated privileges, maintain persistence, and potentially disrupt or encrypt critical data.

Query · spl

`wineventlog_system` EventCode=7045 ServiceName IN ("SecurityCenterIBM", "WinCheckDRVs")
  | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
    BY Computer EventCode ServiceName
       StartType ServiceType
  | rename Computer as dest
  | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
  | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
  | `clop_ransomware_known_service_name_filter`

Implementation guide

To successfully implement this search, you need to be ingesting logs with the Service name, Service File Name Service Start type, and Service Type from your endpoints.

Known false positives

  • No false positives have been identified at this time.

Analyst notes

Known false positives: No false positives have been identified at this time.

Raw source Clop Ransomware Known Service Name · SPL
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Published by splunk/security_content ↗, licensed under Apache 2.0 ↗. Reproduced here unmodified. 
name: Clop Ransomware Known Service Name
id: 07e08a12-870c-11eb-b5f9-acde48001122
version: 12
creation_date: '2021-03-19'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Teoderick Contreras
status: production
type: TTP
description: The following analytic identifies the creation of a service with a known name used by CLOP ransomware for persistence and high-privilege code execution. It detects this activity by monitoring Windows Event Logs (EventCode 7045) for specific service names ("SecurityCenterIBM", "WinCheckDRVs"). This activity is significant because the creation of such services is a common tactic used by ransomware to maintain control over infected systems. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to execute code with elevated privileges, maintain persistence, and potentially disrupt or encrypt critical data.
data_source:
    - Windows Event Log System 7045
search: |-
    `wineventlog_system` EventCode=7045 ServiceName IN ("SecurityCenterIBM", "WinCheckDRVs")
      | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
        BY Computer EventCode ServiceName
           StartType ServiceType
      | rename Computer as dest
      | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
      | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
      | `clop_ransomware_known_service_name_filter`
how_to_implement: To successfully implement this search, you need to be ingesting logs with the Service name, Service File Name Service Start type, and Service Type from your endpoints.
known_false_positives: No false positives have been identified at this time.
references:
    - https://www.mandiant.com/resources/fin11-email-campaigns-precursor-for-ransomware-data-theft
    - https://blog.virustotal.com/2020/11/keep-your-friends-close-keep-ransomware.html
drilldown_searches:
    - name: View the detection results for - "$dest$"
      search: '%original_detection_search% | search  dest = "$dest$"'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
    - name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$dest$"
      search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$dest$") | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
      earliest_offset: 7d
      latest_offset: "0"
finding:
    title: An instance of a known Clop Ransomware Service Name detected on $dest$
    entity:
        field: dest
        type: system
        score: 50
analytic_story:
    - Compromised Windows Host
    - Clop Ransomware
asset_type: Endpoint
mitre_attack_id:
    - T1543
product:
    - Splunk Enterprise
    - Splunk Enterprise Security
    - Splunk Cloud
category: endpoint
security_domain: endpoint
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/malware/clop/clop_a/windows-xml.log
          source: XmlWinEventLog:System
          sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog
      test_type: unit

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