MITRE ATT&CK  /  T1070.001

T1070.001

Clear Windows Event Logs

Description

Adversaries may clear Windows Event Logs to hide the activity of an intrusion. Windows Event Logs are a record of a computer's alerts and notifications. There are three system-defined sources of events: System, Application, and Security, with five event types: Error, Warning, Information, Success Audit, and Failure Audit.With administrator privileges, the event logs can be cleared with the following utility commands:* <code>wevtutil cl system</code> * <code>wevtutil cl application</code> * <code>wevtutil cl security</code>These logs may also be cleared through other mechanisms, such as the event viewer GUI or [PowerShell](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1059/001). For example, adversaries may use the PowerShell command <code>Remove-EventLog -LogName Security</code> to delete the Security EventLog and after reboot, disable future logging. Note: events may still be generated and logged in the .evtx file between the time the command is run and the reboot.(Citation: disable_win_evt_logging)Adversaries may also attempt to clear logs by directly deleting the stored log files within `C:\Windows\System32\winevt\logs\`.

Platforms

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Source: MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise matrix. View on attack.mitre.org →