name: USN Journal Deletion
id: b6e0ff70-b122-4227-9368-4cf322ab43c3
version: 2
date: '2018-12-03'
author: David Dorsey, Splunk
type: batch
datamodel:
- Endpoint
description: The fsutil.exe application is a legitimate Windows utility used to perform
  tasks related to the file allocation table (FAT) and NTFS file systems. The update
  sequence number (USN) change journal provides a log of all changes made to the files
  on the disk. This search looks for fsutil.exe deleting the USN journal.
search: '| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count values(Processes.process)
  as process values(Processes.parent_process) as parent_process min(_time) as firstTime
  max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where Processes.process_name=fsutil.exe
  by Processes.user Processes.process_name Processes.parent_process_name Processes.dest  |
  `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)` | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
  | search process="*deletejournal*" AND process="*usn*" | `usn_journal_deletion_filter`'
how_to_implement: You must be ingesting data that records process activity from your
  hosts to populate the Endpoint data model in the Processes node. You must also be
  ingesting logs with both the process name and command line from your endpoints.
  The command-line arguments are mapped to the "process" field in the Endpoint data
  model.
known_false_positives: None identified
references: []
tags:
  analytic_story:
  - Windows Log Manipulation
  - Ransomware
  asset_type: Endpoint
  automated_detection_testing: passed
  cis20:
  - CIS 6
  - CIS 8
  - CIS 10
  dataset:
  - https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1070/atomic_red_team/windows-sysmon.log
  kill_chain_phases:
  - Actions on Objectives
  mitre_attack_id:
  - T1070
  nist:
  - DE.CM
  - PR.PT
  - DE.AE
  - DE.DP
  - PR.IP
  product:
  - Splunk Enterprise
  - Splunk Enterprise Security
  - Splunk Cloud
  required_fields:
  - _time
  - Processes.process
  - Processes.parent_process
  - Processes.process_name
  - Processes.user
  - Processes.parent_process_name
  - Processes.dest
  security_domain: endpoint
