ID | Technique | Tactic |
---|---|---|
T1114 | Email Collection | Collection |
T1114.003 | Email Forwarding Rule | Collection |
Detection: O365 Email Suspicious Behavior Alert
Description
The following analytic identifies when one of O365 the built-in security detections for suspicious email behaviors are triggered. These alerts often indicate that an attacker may have compromised a mailbox within the environment. Any detections from built-in Office 365 capabilities should be monitored and responded to appropriately. Certain premium Office 365 capabilities further enhance these detection and response functions.
Search
1`o365_management_activity` Workload=SecurityComplianceCenter Operation=AlertEntityGenerated Name IN ("Suspicious email sending patterns detected","User restricted from sending email","Suspicious Email Forwarding Activity","Email sending limit exceeded")
2| fromjson Data
3| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime by AlertId,ObjectId,Operation,Name
4| rename Name as signature, AlertId as signature_id, ObjectId as user
5| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
6| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
7| `o365_email_suspicious_behavior_alert_filter`
Data Source
Name | Platform | Sourcetype | Source | Supported App |
---|---|---|---|---|
N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Macros Used
Name | Value |
---|---|
o365_management_activity | sourcetype=o365:management:activity |
o365_email_suspicious_behavior_alert_filter | search * |
o365_email_suspicious_behavior_alert_filter
is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.
Annotations
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 |
Implementation
You must install the Splunk Microsoft Office 365 Add-on and ingest Office 365 management activity events. The alerts must be enabled in the o365 security portal.
Known False Positives
Users emailing for legitimate business purposes that appear suspicious.
Associated Analytic Story
Risk Based Analytics (RBA)
Risk Message | Risk Score | Impact | Confidence |
---|---|---|---|
The user $user$ triggered the O365 security alert [$signature$] | 90 | 90 | 100 |
References
Detection Testing
Test Type | Status | Dataset | Source | Sourcetype |
---|---|---|---|---|
Validation | ✅ Passing | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Unit | ✅ Passing | Dataset | o365 |
o365:management:activity |
Integration | ✅ Passing | Dataset | o365 |
o365:management:activity |
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: 1