The Replace.exe Usage detection rule identifies potentially malicious activities involving the Replace.exe utility, which is a standard Windows command-line tool designed to facilitate the replacement of one file with another. Since attackers can exploit legitimate tools to replace critical files with malicious versions as part of their operational tactics, monitoring the usage of Replace.exe is vital. This rule specifically looks for process creation events involving Replace.exe, especially when invoked with the '-a' argument. The combination of these two conditions (the executable's name and the specific command-line argument) is employed to discern potentially unauthorized or suspicious behaviors. This provides security teams an actionable alert to investigate potential command-and-control activities in the environment, thus bolstering defense against file manipulation threats. False positives may arise, hence this rule requires contextual investigation upon triggering.