Description
This query was originally published in the threat analytics report, Qakbot blight lingers, seeds ransomware
Qakbot is malware that steals login credentials from banking and financial services. It has been deployed against small businesses as well as major corporations. Some outbreaks have involved targeted ransomware campaigns that use a similar set of techniques. Links to related queries are listed under See also.
The following query detects if an instance of Qakbot has attempted to overwrite its original binary.
Reference - https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2017/11/06/mitigating-and-eliminating-info-stealing-qakbot-and-emotet-in-corporate-networks/
- Rule type
- Scheduled
- Version
- 1.0.0
- Declared status
- Available
- Query frequency
- 1h
- Query period
- 1h
- Trigger
- gt 0
Declared MITRE coverage
Declared sources
Metadata from the source file. No dependencies inferred from KQL.
Connectors
Data types
KQL query
Original query, unchanged.
DeviceProcessEvents
| where FileName =~ "ping.exe"
| where InitiatingProcessFileName =~ "cmd.exe"
| where (InitiatingProcessCommandLine has "calc.exe") and (InitiatingProcessCommandLine has "-n 6") and (InitiatingProcessCommandLine has "127.0.0.1")
| project TimeGenerated, ProcessCommandLine, InitiatingProcessCommandLine, InitiatingProcessParentFileName, DeviceId, DeviceName
| extend HostName = iff(DeviceName has '.', substring(DeviceName, 0, indexof(DeviceName, '.')), DeviceName)
| extend DnsDomain = iff(DeviceName has '.', substring(DeviceName, indexof(DeviceName, '.') + 1), "")
Declared entities
Related content
Links established from declared identifiers and solution manifests.
Source provenance
GitHubDisplayed values come from files in Azure/Azure-Sentinel. They describe the published template, not your workspace configuration.
- File
- Solutions/Microsoft Defender XDR/Analytic Rules/Defense Evasion/QakbotCampaignSelfDeletion.yaml ↗
- Commit
9800e51↗- Source identifier
47c02e21-3949-4e05-a28e-576cd75ff6f6
GSTEP / CATALOG TRACKING
Added to catalog : 16 Sept 2026 · 05:49 UTC
Last change observed : 16 Sept 2026 · 05:49 UTC