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sublimemediumRule

Service abuse: Microsoft with suspicious indicators in subject

Detects messages impersonating Microsoft account verification that contain suspicious indicators in the subject line, including phone numbers, monetary amounts, suspicious domains, explicit content, or lengthy action-oriented phrases.

MITRE ATT&CK

initial-access

Detection Query

type.inbound
//
//  Warning: This rule contains sexually explicit keywords
//
and sender.email.domain.root_domain == "microsoftonline.com"
and strings.icontains(subject.subject, 'account email verification code')
and (
  // phone number regex
  regex.icontains(strings.replace_confusables(subject.base),
                  '\+?(?:[ilo0-9]{1}.)?\(?[ilo0-9]{3}?\)?.[ilo0-9]{3}.?[ilo0-9]{4}',
                  '\+?(?:[ilo0-9]{1,2})?\s?\(?\d{3}\)?[\s\.\-⋅]{0,5}[ilo0-9]{3}[\s\.\-⋅]{0,5}[ilo0-9]{4}',
                  '\(?[ilo0-9]{3}\)?[^ilo0-9]{0,3}\(?[ilo0-9]{3}\)?.?[ilo0-9]{4}'
  )
  // dollar amounts
  or regex.icontains(subject.base, '(?:USD|\$)\s?\d')
  or regex.icontains(subject.base, '\d+\.\d{2}\s?(?:USD|usd)')
  // suspicious TLDs
  or regex.icontains(subject.base,
                     '\.(?:ac\.th|biz\.id|co\.(?:cl|id|za)|com\.(?:ge|py)|my\.id|ne\.jp|net\.ms|nom\.za|web\.id|accountants|am|app|ar|army|beauty|best|bet|bio|biz|bond|cam|cc|cf|cfd|chat|cl|click|cloud|club|cm|company|consulting|country|cricket|cyou|date|dev|digital|directory|domains|download|enterprises|es|expert|fashion|finance|fit|foo|free|fun|ga|gdn|gf|gq|gu|help|i2p|icu|il|ing|ink|ir|jetzt|kim|kz|lat|life|limited|link|live|loan|lol|ltd|ly|me|meme|men|ml|mom|monster|mov|mq|one|online|ooo|party|photos|pictures|pizza|press|pro|pub|pw|racing|re|ren|rest|review|ro|rsvp|ru|run|sale|sbs|science|shop|site|so|social|solutions|space|store|stream|su|sx|tech|tk|today|tokyo|top|trade|tt|ua|uno|us|vip|vu|wang|website|win|work|works|world|ws|xin|xyz|zip|zone)\b'
  )
  // dating/spam/explicit content lures
  or regex.icontains(strings.replace_confusables(subject.base),
                     '(?:\bs\s?e\s?x\b|horny|hook.?up|private room|wanna meet|wants to meet|naked|porn|webcam|nudes?|sexting|erotic|kinky|seduce|adult community|cam shows|local (?:girls?|women|single)|bed partner)'
  )
  // action verbs + length
  or (
    strings.count(subject.base, " ") > 8
    and regex.icontains(strings.replace_confusables(subject.base),
                        '(?:call|dial|speak to|contact \d|to (?:stop|void|reverse|confirm|secure|verify|unfreeze))'
    )
  )
)

Data Sources

Email MessagesEmail HeadersEmail Attachments

Platforms

email
Raw Content
name: "Service abuse: Microsoft with suspicious indicators in subject"
description: "Detects messages impersonating Microsoft account verification that contain suspicious indicators in the subject line, including phone numbers, monetary amounts, suspicious domains, explicit content, or lengthy action-oriented phrases."
type: "rule"
severity: "medium"
source: |
  type.inbound
  //
  //  Warning: This rule contains sexually explicit keywords
  //
  and sender.email.domain.root_domain == "microsoftonline.com"
  and strings.icontains(subject.subject, 'account email verification code')
  and (
    // phone number regex
    regex.icontains(strings.replace_confusables(subject.base),
                    '\+?(?:[ilo0-9]{1}.)?\(?[ilo0-9]{3}?\)?.[ilo0-9]{3}.?[ilo0-9]{4}',
                    '\+?(?:[ilo0-9]{1,2})?\s?\(?\d{3}\)?[\s\.\-⋅]{0,5}[ilo0-9]{3}[\s\.\-⋅]{0,5}[ilo0-9]{4}',
                    '\(?[ilo0-9]{3}\)?[^ilo0-9]{0,3}\(?[ilo0-9]{3}\)?.?[ilo0-9]{4}'
    )
    // dollar amounts
    or regex.icontains(subject.base, '(?:USD|\$)\s?\d')
    or regex.icontains(subject.base, '\d+\.\d{2}\s?(?:USD|usd)')
    // suspicious TLDs
    or regex.icontains(subject.base,
                       '\.(?:ac\.th|biz\.id|co\.(?:cl|id|za)|com\.(?:ge|py)|my\.id|ne\.jp|net\.ms|nom\.za|web\.id|accountants|am|app|ar|army|beauty|best|bet|bio|biz|bond|cam|cc|cf|cfd|chat|cl|click|cloud|club|cm|company|consulting|country|cricket|cyou|date|dev|digital|directory|domains|download|enterprises|es|expert|fashion|finance|fit|foo|free|fun|ga|gdn|gf|gq|gu|help|i2p|icu|il|ing|ink|ir|jetzt|kim|kz|lat|life|limited|link|live|loan|lol|ltd|ly|me|meme|men|ml|mom|monster|mov|mq|one|online|ooo|party|photos|pictures|pizza|press|pro|pub|pw|racing|re|ren|rest|review|ro|rsvp|ru|run|sale|sbs|science|shop|site|so|social|solutions|space|store|stream|su|sx|tech|tk|today|tokyo|top|trade|tt|ua|uno|us|vip|vu|wang|website|win|work|works|world|ws|xin|xyz|zip|zone)\b'
    )
    // dating/spam/explicit content lures
    or regex.icontains(strings.replace_confusables(subject.base),
                       '(?:\bs\s?e\s?x\b|horny|hook.?up|private room|wanna meet|wants to meet|naked|porn|webcam|nudes?|sexting|erotic|kinky|seduce|adult community|cam shows|local (?:girls?|women|single)|bed partner)'
    )
    // action verbs + length
    or (
      strings.count(subject.base, " ") > 8
      and regex.icontains(strings.replace_confusables(subject.base),
                          '(?:call|dial|speak to|contact \d|to (?:stop|void|reverse|confirm|secure|verify|unfreeze))'
      )
    )
  )
attack_types:
  - "Credential Phishing"
  - "Spam"
tactics_and_techniques:
  - "Impersonation: Brand"
  - "Social engineering"
detection_methods:
  - "Sender analysis"
  - "Content analysis"
id: "8967fec1-2664-5e5e-8f0f-063903ba68cd"