sublimemediumRule

Google Notification alert link from non-Google sender

This rule detects messages that leverage a link to notifications.google.com not from google and from an untrusted sender. Commonly abused in salesforce phishing campaigns.

MITRE ATT&CK

T1566 T1566.001 T1566.002 T1598

initial-access

Detection Query

type.inbound
// ignore messages from google[.]com unlesss they fail DMARC authentication
and (
  (
    sender.email.domain.root_domain in ("google.com", "youtube.com", "nest.com")
    and not headers.auth_summary.dmarc.pass
  )
  or sender.email.domain.root_domain not in (
    "google.com",
    "youtube.com",
    "nest.com"
  )
)
and any(body.links,
        .href_url.domain.domain == "notifications.google.com"
        and strings.starts_with(.href_url.path, "/g/p/")
)
and (
  any($suspicious_subjects, strings.icontains(subject.subject, .))
  or strings.ilike(subject.subject, '*verification*')
)
and (
  (
    profile.by_sender().prevalence in ("new", "outlier")
    and not profile.by_sender().solicited
  )
  or (
    profile.by_sender().any_messages_malicious_or_spam
    and not profile.by_sender().any_messages_benign
  )
  // we've observed salesforce abuse
  or sender.email.domain.root_domain == "salesforce.com"
  or headers.return_path.domain.root_domain == "salesforce.com"
)
and not profile.by_sender().any_messages_benign

Data Sources

Email MessagesEmail HeadersEmail Attachments

Platforms

References

https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/comments/15oilcr/meta_business_suite_messenger_phishing_scam_can/

Raw Content

name: "Google Notification alert link from non-Google sender"
description: "This rule detects messages that leverage a link to notifications.google.com not from google and from an untrusted sender. Commonly abused in salesforce phishing campaigns. "
type: "rule"
references:
  - "https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/comments/15oilcr/meta_business_suite_messenger_phishing_scam_can/"
severity: "medium"
source: |
  type.inbound
  // ignore messages from google[.]com unlesss they fail DMARC authentication
  and (
    (
      sender.email.domain.root_domain in ("google.com", "youtube.com", "nest.com")
      and not headers.auth_summary.dmarc.pass
    )
    or sender.email.domain.root_domain not in (
      "google.com",
      "youtube.com",
      "nest.com"
    )
  )
  and any(body.links,
          .href_url.domain.domain == "notifications.google.com"
          and strings.starts_with(.href_url.path, "/g/p/")
  )
  and (
    any($suspicious_subjects, strings.icontains(subject.subject, .))
    or strings.ilike(subject.subject, '*verification*')
  )
  and (
    (
      profile.by_sender().prevalence in ("new", "outlier")
      and not profile.by_sender().solicited
    )
    or (
      profile.by_sender().any_messages_malicious_or_spam
      and not profile.by_sender().any_messages_benign
    )
    // we've observed salesforce abuse
    or sender.email.domain.root_domain == "salesforce.com"
    or headers.return_path.domain.root_domain == "salesforce.com"
  )
  and not profile.by_sender().any_messages_benign
attack_types:
  - "Credential Phishing"
tactics_and_techniques:
  - "Social engineering"
detection_methods:
  - "Content analysis"
  - "Header analysis"
  - "Sender analysis"
  - "URL analysis"
id: "a1c1acfd-9b3b-58a7-81f1-b2c631b02985"