
Summary
The detection rule "Cisco Isovalent - Late Process Execution" aims to identify suspicious activities within Kubernetes environments by monitoring the timing of process executions relative to container initializations. Specifically, the rule flags any process that starts more than five minutes after the associated container has begun running. This kind of timing anomaly is indicative of potential nefarious activities, such as interactive shells, injected binaries, or other types of post-compromise tooling. The implementation relies on the process execution data provided by Cisco Isovalent Runtime Security, which must be properly configured to generate relevant logs. The detection search itself involves comparing process start times to their corresponding container start times, and outputs a list of flagged processes including various details pertinent to the incident. It warns users that legitimate administrative tasks could trigger false positives, hence context-specific investigation is necessary. Users are advised to configure and normalize logs within the Splunk Common Information Model for effective monitoring.
Categories
- Kubernetes
- Cloud
- Infrastructure
Data Sources
- Pod
- Container
- Process
ATT&CK Techniques
- T1543
Created: 2026-01-05