Multiple Domain Entity Dns Events
Query
// This query assumes a feed of threat indicators is ingested/synchronized periodically, and each synchronization ingests new indicators and only old indicators that have been modified.
// Active threat indicators in Sentinel are renovated as ThreatIntelligenceIndicator events every ~12 days.
let query_frequency = 1h;
let query_period = 14d;
let query_wait = 0h;
let table_query_lookback = 6h;
let _TIBenignProperty =
_GetWatchlist('ID-TIBenignProperty')
| where Notes has_any ("[DestinationDomain]")
| project IndicatorId, BenignProperty
;
let _TIExcludedSources = toscalar(
_GetWatchlist('Activity-ExpectedSignificantActivity')
| where Activity == "ThreatIndicatorSource"
| summarize make_list(Auxiliar)
);
let _TITableMatch = (table_start: datetime, table_end: datetime, only_new_ti: boolean, ti_start: datetime = datetime(null)) {
// Scheduled Analytics rules have a query period limit of 14d
let _Indicators =// materialize(
ThreatIntelligenceIndicator
| where TimeGenerated > ago(query_period)
// Take the earliest TimeGenerated and the latest column info
| summarize hint.strategy=shuffle
minTimeGenerated = min(TimeGenerated),
arg_max(TimeGenerated, Active, Description, ActivityGroupNames, IndicatorId, ThreatType, DomainName, Url, ExpirationDateTime, ConfidenceScore, AdditionalInformation, ExternalIndicatorId)
by IndicatorId
// Remove inactive or expired indicators
| where not(not(Active) or ExpirationDateTime < now())
// Pick indicators that contain the desired entity type
| where isnotempty(DomainName)
| extend Domain = tolower(DomainName)
// Remove indicators from specific sources
| where not(AdditionalInformation has_any (_TIExcludedSources) or Description has_any (_TIExcludedSources))
// Remove excluded indicators with benign properties
| join kind=leftanti _TIBenignProperty on IndicatorId, $left.Domain == $right.BenignProperty
// Deduplicate indicators by Domain column, equivalent to using join kind=innerunique afterwards
| summarize hint.strategy=shuffle
minTimeGenerated = min(minTimeGenerated),
take_any(*)
by Domain
// If we want only new indicators, remove indicators received previously
| where not(only_new_ti and minTimeGenerated < ti_start)
//)
;
//let _IndicatorsLength = toscalar(_Indicators | summarize count());
//let _IndicatorsPrefilter = toscalar(
// _Indicators
// | extend AuxiliarField = tostring(split(Domain, ".")[-1])
// | summarize make_set_if(AuxiliarField, isnotempty(AuxiliarField))
//);
//let _IndicatorsPrefilterLength = array_length(_IndicatorsPrefilter);
let _TableEvents =
DnsEvents
| where TimeGenerated between (table_start .. table_end)
// Filter events that may contain indicators
| where isnotempty(Name)
//| where not(_IndicatorsPrefilterLength < 10000 and not(Name has_any (_IndicatorsPrefilter))) // valid TLD ~1500 , "has_any" limit 10000
| summarize hint.strategy=shuffle take_any(*) by OriginalDomain = tolower(Name)
//| where not(_IndicatorsPrefilterLength < 10000 and not(tostring(split(OriginalDomain, ".")[-1]) in (_IndicatorsPrefilter)))
| extend SplitLevelDomains = split(OriginalDomain, ".")
| mv-expand Level = range(0, array_length(SplitLevelDomains) - 2) to typeof(int)
| extend Domain = strcat_array(array_slice(SplitLevelDomains, Level, -1), ".")
//| where not(_IndicatorsLength < 1000000 and not(Domain in (toscalar(_Indicators | summarize make_list(Domain))))) // "in" limit 1.000.000
| project-rename DnsEvents_TimeGenerated = TimeGenerated
;
_Indicators
| join kind=inner hint.strategy=shuffle _TableEvents on Domain
// Take only a single event by key columns
//| summarize hint.strategy=shuffle take_any(*) by Domain, ClientIP
| project
DnsEvents_TimeGenerated,
Description, ActivityGroupNames, IndicatorId, ThreatType, DomainName, Url, ExpirationDateTime, ConfidenceScore, AdditionalInformation,
Computer, SubType, ClientIP, QueryType, Name, IPAddresses, MaliciousIP, IndicatorThreatType
};
union// isfuzzy=true
// Match current table events all indicators available
_TITableMatch(ago(query_frequency + query_wait), ago(query_wait), false),
// Match past table events new indicators since last query execution
_TITableMatch(ago(table_query_lookback + query_wait), ago(query_frequency + query_wait), true, ago(query_frequency))
| summarize arg_max(DnsEvents_TimeGenerated, *) by IndicatorId, ClientIP
| extend
timestamp = DnsEvents_TimeGenerated,
IPCustomEntity = ClientIP,
URLCustomEntity = UrlExplanation
This query is designed to identify and analyze potential threats by matching DNS events with threat intelligence indicators. Here's a simplified breakdown of what the query does:
-
Setup and Definitions:
- It defines several parameters like
query_frequency,query_period, andtable_query_lookbackto control the timeframes for data analysis. - It retrieves benign properties and excluded sources from watchlists to filter out non-threatening indicators.
- It defines several parameters like
-
Threat Intelligence Indicators:
- It fetches active threat indicators from the
ThreatIntelligenceIndicatortable, ensuring they are not expired or inactive. - It filters out indicators from specific sources and those with benign properties.
- It deduplicates indicators based on the domain name.
- It fetches active threat indicators from the
-
DNS Events:
- It retrieves DNS events from the
DnsEventstable within specified timeframes. - It processes these events to extract domain names and prepares them for matching against threat indicators.
- It retrieves DNS events from the
-
Matching Process:
- It matches DNS events with threat indicators based on domain names.
- It performs this matching for both current events with all available indicators and past events with new indicators since the last query execution.
-
Result Compilation:
- It summarizes the results to ensure only the most recent event per indicator and client IP is kept.
- It extends the results with additional information like timestamp, client IP, and URL for further analysis.
In essence, this query is designed to continuously monitor DNS events for potential threats by comparing them against a dynamic list of threat indicators, while filtering out known benign or irrelevant data.
Details

Jose Sebastián Canós
Released: December 13, 2023
Tables
ThreatIntelligenceIndicatorDnsEvents
Keywords
ThreatIntelligenceIndicatorDnsEvents
Operators
lethas_anyprojecttoscalarwheresummarizemake_listdatetimematerializeagoarg_maxnotisnotemptyextendtolowerjoinkindleftantitake_anybybetweenmv-expandrangearray_lengthstrcat_arrayarray_sliceproject-renameunionisfuzzy