EXPLORE DETECTIONS
O365 Email Transport Rule Changed
The following analytic identifies when a user with sufficient access to Exchange Online alters the mail flow/transport rule configuration of the organization. Transport rules are a set of rules that can be used by attackers to modify or delete emails based on specific conditions, this activity could indicate an attacker hiding or exfiltrated data.
O365 Excessive Authentication Failures Alert
The following analytic identifies an excessive number of authentication failures, including failed attempts against MFA prompt codes. It uses data from the `o365_management_activity` dataset, focusing on events where the authentication status is marked as failure. This behavior is significant as it may indicate a brute force attack or an attempt to compromise user accounts. If confirmed malicious, this activity could lead to unauthorized access, data breaches, or further exploitation within the environment.
O365 Excessive SSO logon errors
The following analytic detects accounts experiencing a high number of Single Sign-On (SSO) logon errors. It leverages data from the `o365_management_activity` dataset, focusing on failed user login attempts with SSO errors. This activity is significant as it may indicate brute-force attempts or the hijacking/reuse of SSO tokens. If confirmed malicious, attackers could potentially gain unauthorized access to user accounts, leading to data breaches, privilege escalation, or further lateral movement within the organization.
O365 Exfiltration via File Access
The following analytic detects when an excessive number of files are access from o365 by the same user over a short period of time. A malicious actor may abuse the "open in app" functionality of SharePoint through scripted or Graph API based access to evade triggering the FileDownloaded Event. This behavior may indicate an attacker staging data for exfiltration or an insider threat removing organizational data. Additional attention should be take with any Azure Guest (#EXT#) accounts.
O365 Exfiltration via File Download
The following analytic detects when an excessive number of files are downloaded from o365 by the same user over a short period of time. O365 may bundle these files together as a ZIP file, however each file will have it's own download event. This behavior may indicate an attacker staging data for exfiltration or an insider threat removing organizational data. Additional attention should be taken with any Azure Guest (#EXT#) accounts.
O365 Exfiltration via File Sync Download
The following analytic detects when an excessive number of files are sync from o365 by the same user over a short period of time. A malicious actor abuse the user-agent string through GUI or API access to evade triggering the FileDownloaded event. This behavior may indicate an attacker staging data for exfiltration or an insider threat removing organizational data. Additional attention should be taken with any Azure Guest (#EXT#) accounts.
O365 External Guest User Invited
The following analytic identifies the invitation of an external guest user within Azure AD. With Azure AD B2B collaboration, users and administrators can invite external users to collaborate with internal users. External guest account invitations should be monitored by security teams as they could potentially lead to unauthorized access. An example of this attack vector was described at BlackHat 2022 by security researcher Dirk-Jan during his tall `Backdooring and Hijacking Azure AD Accounts by Abusing External Identities`. This detection leverages the Universal Audit Log (UAL)/o365:management:activity sourcetype as a detection data source.
O365 External Identity Policy Changed
The following analytic identifies when changes are made to the external guest policies within Azure AD. With Azure AD B2B collaboration, users and administrators can invite external users to collaborate with internal users. This detection also attempts to highlight what may have changed. External guest account invitations should be monitored by security teams as they could potentially lead to unauthorized access. An example of this attack vector was described at BlackHat 2022 by security researcher Dirk-Jan during his tall `Backdooring and Hijacking Azure AD Accounts by Abusing External Identities`.
O365 File Permissioned Application Consent Granted by User
The following analytic identifies instances where a user in the Office 365 environment grants consent to an application requesting file permissions for OneDrive or SharePoint. It leverages O365 audit logs, focusing on OAuth application consent events. This activity is significant because granting such permissions can allow applications to access, modify, or delete files, posing a risk if the application is malicious or overly permissive. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to data breaches, data loss, or unauthorized data manipulation, necessitating immediate investigation to validate the application's legitimacy and assess potential risks.
O365 FullAccessAsApp Permission Assigned
The following analytic detects the assignment of the 'full_access_as_app' permission to an application registration in Office 365 Exchange Online. This detection leverages Office 365 management activity logs and filters Azure Active Directory workload events to identify when the specific permission, identified by GUID 'dc890d15-9560-4a4c-9b7f-a736ec74ec40', is granted. This activity is significant because it provides extensive control over Office 365 operations, including access to all mailboxes and the ability to send mail as any user. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to unauthorized data access, exfiltration, or account compromise. Immediate investigation is required.
O365 High Number Of Failed Authentications for User
The following analytic identifies an O365 account experiencing more than 20 failed authentication attempts within 5 minutes. It uses O365 Unified Audit Logs, specifically "UserLoginFailed" events, to monitor and flag accounts exceeding this threshold. This activity is significant as it may indicate a brute force attack or password guessing attempt. If confirmed malicious, an attacker could gain unauthorized access to the O365 environment, potentially compromising sensitive emails, documents, and other data. Prompt investigation and action are crucial to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches.
O365 High Privilege Role Granted
The following analytic detects when high-privilege roles such as "Exchange Administrator," "SharePoint Administrator," or "Global Administrator" are granted within Office 365. It leverages O365 audit logs to identify events where these roles are assigned to any user or service account. This activity is significant for SOCs as these roles provide extensive permissions, allowing broad access and control over critical resources and data. If confirmed malicious, this could enable attackers to gain significant control over O365 resources, access, modify, or delete critical data, and compromise the overall security and functionality of the O365 environment.
O365 Mail Permissioned Application Consent Granted by User
The following analytic identifies instances where a user grants consent to an application requesting mail-related permissions within the Office 365 environment. It leverages O365 audit logs, specifically focusing on events related to application permissions and user consent actions. This activity is significant as it can indicate potential security risks, such as data exfiltration or spear phishing, if malicious applications gain access. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to unauthorized data access, email forwarding, or sending malicious emails from the compromised account. Validating the legitimacy of the application and consent context is crucial to prevent data breaches.
O365 Mailbox Email Forwarding Enabled
The following analytic identifies instances where email forwarding has been enabled on mailboxes within an Office 365 environment. It detects this activity by monitoring the Set-Mailbox operation within the o365_management_activity logs, specifically looking for changes to the ForwardingAddress or ForwardingSmtpAddress parameters. This activity is significant as unauthorized email forwarding can lead to data exfiltration and unauthorized access to sensitive information. If confirmed malicious, attackers could intercept and redirect emails, potentially compromising confidential communications and leading to data breaches.
O365 Mailbox Folder Read Permission Assigned
The following analytic identifies instances where read permissions are assigned to mailbox folders within an Office 365 environment. It leverages the `o365_management_activity` data source, specifically monitoring the `ModifyFolderPermissions` and `AddFolderPermissions` operations, while excluding Calendar, Contacts, and PersonMetadata objects. This activity is significant as unauthorized read permissions can lead to data exposure and potential information leakage. If confirmed malicious, an attacker could gain unauthorized access to sensitive emails, leading to data breaches and compromising the confidentiality of organizational communications.
O365 Mailbox Folder Read Permission Granted
The following analytic identifies instances where read permissions are granted to mailbox folders within an Office 365 environment. It detects this activity by monitoring the `o365_management_activity` data source for the `Set-MailboxFolderPermission` and `Add-MailboxFolderPermission` operations. This behavior is significant as it may indicate unauthorized access or changes to mailbox folder permissions, potentially exposing sensitive email content. If confirmed malicious, an attacker could gain unauthorized access to read email communications, leading to data breaches or information leakage.
O365 Mailbox Inbox Folder Shared with All Users
The following analytic detects instances where the inbox folder of an Office 365 mailbox is shared with all users within the tenant. It leverages Office 365 management activity events to identify when the 'Inbox' folder permissions are modified to include 'Everyone' with read rights. This activity is significant as it represents a potential security risk, allowing unauthorized access to sensitive emails. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to data breaches, exfiltration of confidential information, and further compromise through spear-phishing or other malicious activities based on the accessed email content.
O365 Mailbox Read Access Granted to Application
The following analytic identifies instances where the Mail.Read Graph API permissions are granted to an application registration within an Office 365 tenant. It leverages O365 audit logs, specifically events related to changes in application permissions within the AzureActiveDirectory workload. This activity is significant because the Mail.Read permission allows applications to access and read all emails within a user's mailbox, which often contain sensitive or confidential information. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to data exfiltration, spear-phishing attacks, or further compromise based on the information gathered from the emails.
O365 Multi-Source Failed Authentications Spike
The following analytic identifies a spike in failed authentication attempts within an Office 365 environment, indicative of a potential distributed password spraying attack. It leverages UserLoginFailed events from O365 Management Activity logs, focusing on ErrorNumber 50126. This detection is significant as it highlights attempts to bypass security controls using multiple IP addresses and user agents. If confirmed malicious, this activity could lead to unauthorized access, data breaches, privilege escalation, and lateral movement within the organization. Early detection is crucial to prevent account takeovers and mitigate subsequent threats.
O365 Multiple AppIDs and UserAgents Authentication Spike
The following analytic identifies unusual authentication activity in an O365 environment, where a single user account experiences more than 8 authentication attempts using 3 or more unique application IDs and over 5 unique user agents within a short timeframe. It leverages O365 audit logs, focusing on authentication events and applying statistical thresholds. This behavior is significant as it may indicate an adversary probing for multi-factor authentication weaknesses. If confirmed malicious, it suggests a compromised account, potentially leading to unauthorized access, privilege escalation, and data exfiltration. Early detection is crucial to prevent further exploitation.
O365 Multiple Failed MFA Requests For User
The following analytic identifies potential "MFA fatigue" attacks targeting Office 365 users by detecting more than nine Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) prompts within a 10-minute timeframe. It leverages O365 management activity logs, focusing on Azure Active Directory events with the UserLoginFailed operation, a Success ResultStatus, and an ErrorNumber of 500121. This activity is significant as attackers may exploit MFA fatigue to gain unauthorized access by overwhelming users with repeated MFA requests. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to data breaches, unauthorized data access, or further compromise within the O365 environment. Immediate investigation is crucial.
O365 Multiple Mailboxes Accessed via API
The following analytic detects when a high number of Office 365 Exchange mailboxes are accessed via API (Microsoft Graph API or Exchange Web Services) within a short timeframe. It leverages 'MailItemsAccessed' operations in Exchange, using AppId and regex to identify API interactions. This activity is significant as it may indicate unauthorized mass email access, potentially signaling data exfiltration or account compromise. If confirmed malicious, attackers could gain access to sensitive information, leading to data breaches and further exploitation of compromised accounts. The threshold is set to flag over five unique mailboxes accessed within 10 minutes, but should be tailored to your environment.
O365 Multiple OS Vendors Authenticating From User
The following analytic identifies when multiple operating systems are used to authenticate to Azure/EntraID/Office 365 by the same user account over a short period of time. This activity could be indicative of attackers enumerating various logon capabilities of Azure/EntraID/Office 365 and attempting to discover weaknesses in the organizational MFA or conditional access configurations. Usage of the tools like "MFASweep" will trigger this detection.
O365 Multiple Service Principals Created by SP
The following analytic identifies instances where a single service principal creates more than three unique OAuth applications within a 10-minute timeframe. It leverages O365 logs from the Unified Audit Log, focusing on the 'Add service principal' operation in the Office 365 Azure Active Directory environment. This activity is significant as it may indicate a compromised or malicious service principal attempting to expand control or access within the network. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to unauthorized access and potential lateral movement within the environment, posing a significant security risk.