Critical Event IDs every SOC analyst should monitor for threat detection and incident response
Core Authentication & Logon
4624 – Successful logon Shows type of logon (3 = network, 10 = RDP, etc.)
4625 – Failed logon Brute-force, password spray, or bad credentials
4634 – Logoff
4648 – Explicit credentials used Credential theft or pass-the-hash
4675 – SIDs added to an existing token Privilege escalation
4768 – Kerberos TGT request Used for kerberoasting detection
4769 – Kerberos service ticket request Used for golden ticket / abuse
4771 – Kerberos pre-auth failed Password guessing
Account Creation / Modification / Backdoors
4720 – User account created
4722 – User account enabled
4723 – Password change
4724 – Password reset
4725 – User account disabled
4726 – User account deleted
4732 – User added to local security group (Admins)
4728 – User added to domain/global admin group
4756 – New security group created (priv escalation indicator)
Lateral Movement (High Signal)
4624 (Logon Type 3/10) – Network login + RDP login
7045 – New service installed Top persistence + lateral movement event
4697 – New service installed (older Security log version)
5140 – Network share accessed SMB reconnaissance or data theft
5145 – Share access detailed Shows file-level access over SMB
Privilege Escalation
4670 – Permissions on object changed ACL tampering
4672 – Special privileges assigned at logon When someone logs in with admin-level rights
Process & Execution (Sysmon Recommended)
Native Windows has gaps; Sysmon fills them
Windows Native:
4688 – Process creation Shows command line if enabled
4696 – A primary token was assigned Token theft (impersonation)
Sysmon:
Sysmon 1 – Process creation Most detailed version of 4688
Sysmon 7 – Image loaded DLL injection
Sysmon 11 – File created Malware staging
Sysmon 13/14 – Registry modification Persistence
Sysmon 22 – DNS query Malware beaconing tracking
Sysmon 3 – Network connection Outbound C2 detection
Persistence
7045 – New service installed
4697 – Service installed
4702 – Scheduled task updated
106 – Scheduled task created (TaskScheduler log)
5857/5858 – WMI consumer/provider creation Used in fileless persistence (Microsoft-Windows-WMI-Activity/Operational)
Policy & System Changes
4719 – System audit policy changed Attacker trying to hide
4739 – Domain policy changed
4616 – System time changed Timeline tampering
1102 – Audit log cleared Instant red flag
Network, Firewall & Access
5156 – Windows Filtering Platform allowed connection Used for malware outbound connections (no Sysmon)
5158 – Bound to a port
5038 – Code integrity violation Tampered binaries
File, Share, and Object Access
4663 – File access Requires SACLs, but strong for data exfil monitoring
4656 – Handle to object requested First step before file access
Log Deletion / Anti-Forensics
1102 – Security log cleared No excuses—this is malicious unless proven otherwise
104 – Sysmon service shutdown Often attacker trying to disable monitoring
Certificate and Trust Abuse
4886 – Certificate services issued certificate Used for AD CS abuse (ESC1-ESC10)
4887 – Certificate revoked
4890 – CA database accessed