↳ GitHub sourceAnalytics ruleMedium
Detect Windows Update Disabled from Registry
Description
This analytic rule detects any registry value creation or modification of Windows Update registry keys to disable Windows Update. This could be an indication of defense evasion by an adversary on a compromised host.
- 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.
// List of Windows Firewall registry keys to monitor
let windowsUpdateRegistryList = dynamic([
'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\WindowsUpdate',
'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\WindowsUpdate\\AU'
]);
_ASim_RegistryEvent
| where EventType in ('RegistryValueSet', 'RegistryKeyCreated')
| where RegistryKey has_any (windowsUpdateRegistryList)
| where RegistryValue has_any ('AUOptions', 'NoAutoUpdate') and RegistryValueData == '1'
| project
TimeGenerated,
DvcHostname,
ActorUsername,
ActorUsernameType,
ActingProcessId,
ActingProcessName,
ActingProcessCommandLine,
RegistryKey,
RegistryValue,
RegistryValueType,
RegistryValueData
| extend HostName = tostring(split(DvcHostname, '.')[0])
| extend DnsDomain = tostring(strcat_array(array_slice(split(DvcHostname, '.'), 1, -1), '.'))
| extend Username = iff(tostring(ActorUsernameType) == 'Windows', tostring(split(ActorUsername, '\\')[1]), ActorUsername)
| extend NTDomain = iff(tostring(ActorUsernameType) == 'Windows', tostring(split(ActorUsername, '\\')[0]), ActorUsername)
| extend Username = iff(tostring(ActorUsernameType) == 'UPN', tostring(split(ActorUsername, '@')[0]), Username)
| extend UPNSuffix = iff(tostring(ActorUsernameType) == 'UPN', tostring(split(ActorUsername, '@')[1]), '')
| extend RegHive = tostring(split(RegistryKey, '\\')[0]), RegKey = tostring(strcat_array(array_slice(split(RegistryKey, '\\'), 1, -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
f1443a87-78d5-40c3-b051-f468f0f2def0
GSTEP / CATALOG TRACKING
Added to catalog : 16 Sept 2026 · 05:49 UTC
Last change observed : 16 Sept 2026 · 05:49 UTC