Elastic Security Detection Rules

Downloaded URL Files

Last updated 13 days ago on 2025-06-11
Created 5 years ago on 2020-09-02

About

Identifies .url shortcut files downloaded from outside the local network. These shortcut files are commonly used in phishing campaigns.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: ExecutionData Source: Elastic DefendLanguage: eql
Severity
medium
Risk Score
47
MITRE ATT&CK™

Execution (TA0002)(opens in a new tab or window)

↳ User Execution (T1204)(opens in a new tab or window)

Initial Access (TA0001)(opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Phishing (T1566)(opens in a new tab or window)

License
Elastic License v2(opens in a new tab or window)

Definition

Rule Type
Event Correlation Rule
Integration Pack
Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns
logs-endpoint.events.file-*
Related Integrations

endpoint(opens in a new tab or window)

Query
file where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "creation" and file.extension == "url"
   and file.Ext.windows.zone_identifier == 3

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Downloaded URL Files in the Elastic Security detection engine by installing this rule into your Elastic Stack.

To setup this rule, check out the installation guide for Prebuilt Security Detection Rules(opens in a new tab or window).