Detection: Okta Suspicious Activity Reported

Updated Date: 2025-05-02 ID: bfc840f5-c9c6-454c-aa13-b46fd0bf1e79 Author: Michael Haag, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic identifies when an associate reports a login attempt as suspicious via an email from Okta. It leverages Okta Identity Management logs, specifically the user.account.report_suspicious_activity_by_enduser event type. This activity is significant as it indicates potential unauthorized access attempts, warranting immediate investigation to prevent possible security breaches. If confirmed malicious, the attacker could gain unauthorized access to sensitive systems and data, leading to data theft, privilege escalation, or further compromise of the environment.

1`okta` eventType=user.account.report_suspicious_activity_by_enduser 
2| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(displayMessage) by user dest src eventType client.userAgent.rawUserAgent client.userAgent.browser client.geographicalContext.city  client.geographicalContext.country 
3| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
4| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
5| `okta_suspicious_activity_reported_filter`

Data Source

Name Platform Sourcetype Source
Okta N/A 'OktaIM2:log' 'Okta'

Macros Used

Name Value
okta eventtype=okta_log OR sourcetype = "OktaIM2:log"
okta_suspicious_activity_reported_filter search *
okta_suspicious_activity_reported_filter is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.

Annotations

- MITRE ATT&CK
+ Kill Chain Phases
+ NIST
+ CIS
- Threat Actors
ID Technique Tactic
T1078.001 Default Accounts Defense Evasion
Delivery
Exploitation
Installation
DE.CM
CIS 10

Default Configuration

This detection is configured by default in Splunk Enterprise Security to run with the following settings:

Setting Value
Disabled true
Cron Schedule 0 * * * *
Earliest Time -70m@m
Latest Time -10m@m
Schedule Window auto
Creates Notable Yes
Rule Title %name%
Rule Description %description%
Notable Event Fields user, dest
Creates Risk Event True
This configuration file applies to all detections of type TTP. These detections will use Risk Based Alerting and generate Notable Events.

Implementation

This detection utilizes logs from Okta Identity Management (IM) environments. It requires the ingestion of OktaIm2 logs through the Splunk Add-on for Okta Identity Cloud (https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/6553). Additionally, it necessitates the activation of suspicious activity reporting and training for associates to report such activities.

Known False Positives

False positives should be minimal, given the high fidelity of this detection. marker.

Associated Analytic Story

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message:

A user [$user$] reported suspicious activity in Okta. Investigate further to determine if this was authorized.

Risk Object Risk Object Type Risk Score Threat Objects
user user 25 No Threat Objects

References

Detection Testing

Test Type Status Dataset Source Sourcetype
Validation ✅ Passing N/A N/A N/A
Unit ✅ Passing Dataset Okta OktaIM2:log
Integration ✅ Passing Dataset Okta OktaIM2:log

Replay any dataset to Splunk Enterprise by using our replay.py tool or the UI. Alternatively you can replay a dataset into a Splunk Attack Range

Source: GitHub | Version: 8