↳ GitHub sourceAnalytics ruleMedium
Stopping multiple processes using taskkill
Description
This query checks for attempts to stop at least 10 separate processes using the taskkill.exe utility. This is a common technique used by ransomware to stop security products and other processes.
- 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.
// Find attempts to stop processes using taskkill.exe
DeviceProcessEvents
| where FileName =~ "taskkill.exe"
| summarize taskKillCount = dcount(ProcessCommandLine), TaskKillList = make_set(ProcessCommandLine, 10000) by DeviceId, DeviceName, bin(TimeGenerated, 2m)
| where taskKillCount > 10
| 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.
- Commit
9800e51↗- Source identifier
4dd31bd5-11a3-4b9c-a7c5-4927ab4f2a77
GSTEP / CATALOG TRACKING
Added to catalog : 16 Sept 2026 · 05:49 UTC
Last change observed : 16 Sept 2026 · 05:49 UTC