Local user account creation

Cortex XDR Analytics Alert Reference by Alert name

Product

Cortex XDR

Last date published

2024-10-08

Activation Period	14 Days
Training Period	30 Days
Test Period	N/A (single event)
Deduplication Period	1 Day
Required Data	Requires one of the following data sources: Windows Event Collector OR XDR Agent with eXtended Threat Hunting (XTH)
Detection Modules	Identity Analytics
Detector Tags
ATT&CK Tactic	Persistence (TA0003)
ATT&CK Technique	Valid Accounts: Local Accounts (T1078.003)
Severity	Informational

A user was observed creating a rare local user account.

Persistence using a valid account.

Check the user who created the account and verify its activity.
Investigate whether the same account was created on different hosts as part of an installation process.

ATT&CK Tactic	Persistence (TA0003)
ATT&CK Technique	Valid Accounts: Local Accounts (T1078.003)
Severity	Low

A user was observed creating a rare local user account. This user has not been seen creating user accounts in the past 30 days.

Persistence using a valid account.

Check the user who created the account and verify its activity.
Investigate whether the same account was created on different hosts as part of an installation process.