T1070.001

Sub-technique Windows
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.

  • <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.

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.

Adversaries may also attempt to clear logs by directly deleting the stored log files within `C:\Windows\System32\winevt\logs\`.