4660 Security log · Object Access medium severity medium volume

Windows Event ID 4660 — An object was deleted

An audited object was deleted. Requires SACL on target.

Why event 4660 matters

Deletion of evidence files, logs, or security artifacts. Correlate with 4663 (access) then 4660 (delete) pattern.

How to detect it

Alert: deletion of sensitive files with SACL configured. Alert: audit logs or security tool configs deleted.

Log source
Security
Advanced Audit Policy — enable the 'Object Access' subcategory (Success and/or Failure).
Fields to pivot on
SubjectUserNameTargetUserNameLogonTypeIpAddressWorkstationName

MITRE ATT&CK mapping

Tactic Technique
Defense Evasion Indicator Removal (T1070)

Detection queries

Starting points — adapt the log source, projected fields and thresholds for your environment.

Sentinel / Defender KQL
SecurityEvent
| where EventID == 4660   // An object was deleted
| project TimeGenerated, Computer, SubjectUserName, TargetUserName, LogonType, IpAddress, WorkstationName
| sort by TimeGenerated desc
Splunk SPL
index=* sourcetype="WinEventLog:Security" EventCode=4660
| stats count earliest(_time) as first_seen latest(_time) as last_seen by ComputerName
| sort - count   `# An object was deleted — add EventData fields: SubjectUserName, TargetUserName, LogonType, IpAddress`
Hunt event 4660 in Sentinel/Defender →
Build a KQL query for this event in the KQL Query Builder.
Search all event IDs →
Open the interactive Windows Event ID lookup.

Related Object Access events

4656 A handle to an object was requested 4657 A registry value was modified 4658 The handle to an object was closed 4663 An attempt was made to access an object 4665 An attempt was made to create an application client context 4670 Permissions on an object were changed 4690 An attempt was made to duplicate a handle to an object 4985 The state of a transaction has changed 5140 A network share object was accessed 5142 A network share object was added 5143 A network share object was modified 5144 A network share object was deleted

Frequently asked questions

What is Windows Event ID 4660?

An object was deleted. An audited object was deleted. Requires SACL on target.

Which log records event 4660?

Event 4660 is written to the Security channel by Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing. Advanced Audit Policy — enable the 'Object Access' subcategory (Success and/or Failure).

What MITRE ATT&CK techniques map to event 4660?

Event 4660 is associated with: Indicator Removal (T1070).

How do you detect activity around event 4660?

Alert: deletion of sensitive files with SACL configured. Alert: audit logs or security tool configs deleted.