This rule identifies the execution of known .NET-based Red and Blue Team utility names to distinguish legitimate security testing activities from potential adversary tooling that mimics these signatures. Proactive hunting for this behavior in Azure Sentinel is essential to validate authorized engagement campaigns and prevent attackers from leveraging similar .NET tools to blend into normal operational noise while establishing persistence or reconnaissance footholds.
rule HKTL_NET_NAME_AsStrongAsFuck {
meta:
description = "Detects .NET red/black-team tools via name"
reference = "https://github.com/Charterino/AsStrongAsFuck"
author = "Arnim Rupp"
date = "2021-01-22"
strings:
$name = "AsStrongAsFuck" ascii wide
$compile = "AssemblyTitle" ascii wide
condition:
(uint16(0) == 0x5A4D and uint32(uint32(0x3C)) == 0x00004550) and all of them
}
This YARA rule can be deployed in the following contexts:
This rule contains 2 string patterns in its detection logic.
Here are 5 specific false positive scenarios for the rule “Detects .NET red/blue-team tools via name,” along with suggested filters and exclusions:
Scenario: A DevOps engineer executes a standard build pipeline using Octopus Deploy or TeamCity, which utilizes underlying .NET executables (e.g., Octo.exe, JetBrains.TeamCity.Agent.exe) that match the rule’s naming pattern for red-team tools.
NT SERVICE\OctopusDeploy or DEV-BUILD-SVC) and restrict detection to non-build server hostnames (exclude *-BUILD-01, *-CI-Server).Scenario: The IT Operations team runs a scheduled nightly backup job using Veeam Backup & Replication or Rubrik, where the .NET-based agent (Veeam.Backup.Service.exe) is launched on multiple endpoints, mimicking the behavior of security scanning tools.
Task Scheduler (svchost.exe with specific service name) or filter by a known list of backup-related executable paths (e.g., C:\Program Files\Veeam\Backup and Replication).Scenario: A system administrator performs routine patching using Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (SCCM) or Intune Management Extension, which triggers .NET processes like ccmsetup.exe or IntuneManagementExtension.exe that contain keywords often associated with security tooling.
/install, /update, or /patch, and exclude known SCCM site server FQDNs from the source IP list.Scenario: The Finance department utilizes a custom