
Summary
This rule is designed to detect the execution of AppleScript on macOS systems. AppleScript is a powerful scripting language used to automate tasks on macOS, and its misuse can be indicative of unauthorized or malicious activity, especially in environments where security is paramount. The rule monitors process creation events for the presence of the 'osascript' interpreter, which is the command-line interface to execute AppleScripts. By filtering for command line arguments that are commonly associated with script execution, such as '-e' for inline scripts, '.scpt' for script files, and '.js' for JavaScript files executed via AppleScript, this detection can alert security analysts to potential exploitation or execution of unauthorized scripts. It is crucial to differentiate between legitimate script usage, such as during application installations, and malicious use cases which may indicate an attack or compromise. This rule aims to balance sensitivity and specificity by allowing necessary script executions while flagging suspicious patterns for further investigation.
Categories
- macOS
- Endpoint
- Application
Data Sources
- Process
ATT&CK Techniques
- T1059.002
Created: 2020-10-21