T1578.003 — Delete Cloud Instance

Tactic: Defense Impairment · Platforms: IaaS

An adversary may delete a cloud instance after they have performed malicious activities in an attempt to evade detection and remove evidence of their presence. Deleting an instance or virtual machine can remove valuable forensic artifacts and other evidence of suspicious behavior if the instance…

Sub-technique of Modify Cloud Compute Infrastructure (T1578).

Sigma detection rules (1)

T1578.003 Modify Cloud Compute Infrastructure: Delete Cloud Instance

title: "T1578.003 Modify Cloud Compute Infrastructure: Delete Cloud Instance"
id: 5a38dfb3-2b02-43a8-aca8-4c860429e69f
description: 'Detection Strategy for Modify Cloud Compute Infrastructure: Delete Cloud Instance. (Retargeted to the cloudtrail AWS telemetry that actually captures this techniques behavior; see logsource below.) Tune using: UserContext, TimeWindow, GeoLocation, RateThreshold.'
references:
  - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1578/003
author: Shahrukh Khan
date: 2026-04-23
license: MIT
tags:
  - attack.defense-impairment
  - attack.t1578.003

logsource:
  category: cloudtrail
  product: aws

detection:
  selection:
    eventSource: 'ec2.amazonaws.com'
    eventName:
      - 'StopInstances'
      - 'TerminateInstances'

  condition: selection

falsepositives:
  - Scheduled instance shutdown for cost optimization outside business hours or normal autoscaling scale-in activity.

level: medium

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