AWS KMS Imported Key Material Usage

01

description

What this is, in brief.

Detects the import or deletion of key material in AWS KMS, which can be used as part of ransomware attacks. This activity is uncommon and provides a high certainty signal.

02

rule source (YAML)

title: AWS KMS Imported Key Material Usage
id: 1279262f-1464-422f-ac0d-5b545320c526
status: experimental
description: |
    Detects the import or deletion of key material in AWS KMS, which can be used as part of ransomware attacks. This activity is uncommon and provides a high certainty signal.
references:
    - https://www.chrisfarris.com/post/effective-aws-ransomware/
    - https://docs.aws.amazon.com/kms/latest/developerguide/ct-importkeymaterial.html
    - https://docs.aws.amazon.com/kms/latest/developerguide/ct-deleteimportedkeymaterial.html
author: toopricey
date: 2025-10-18
tags:
    - attack.impact
    - attack.t1486
    - attack.resource-development
    - attack.t1608.003
logsource:
    product: aws
    service: cloudtrail
detection:
    selection:
        eventSource: 'kms.amazonaws.com'
        eventName:
            - 'ImportKeyMaterial'
            - 'DeleteImportedKeyMaterial'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use cases for imported key material are rare, but may include, Organizations with hybrid cloud architectures that import external key material for compliance requirements.
    - Development or testing environments that simulate external key management scenarios. Even in these cases, such activity is typically infrequent and should not add significant noise.
level: high

04

detects techniques (2)

ATT&CK techniques this enables or maps to.

05

references

External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.