Query Details

Multiple URL Entity Office Activity

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 = 14d;
let _TIBenignProperty =
    _GetWatchlist('ID-TIBenignProperty')
    | where Notes has_any ("[URL]")
    | project IndicatorId, BenignProperty
;
let _TIExcludedSources = toscalar(
    _GetWatchlist('Activity-ExpectedSignificantActivity')
    | where Activity == "ThreatIndicatorSource"
    | summarize make_list(Auxiliar)
    );
let _URLRegex = toscalar(
    _GetWatchlist('RegEx-SingleRegularExpressions')
    | where UseCase == "Threat Intelligence Indicator URL"
    | project RegEx
    );
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(Url)
        | extend Url = trim_end(@"\/", Url)
        // 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.Url == $right.BenignProperty
        // Deduplicate indicators by Url column, equivalent to using join kind=innerunique afterwards
        | summarize hint.strategy=shuffle
            minTimeGenerated = min(minTimeGenerated),
            take_any(*)
            by Url
        // 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(extract(_URLRegex, 3, Url), ".")[-1])
    //    | summarize make_set_if(AuxiliarField, isnotempty(AuxiliarField), 10000)
    //);
    //let _IndicatorsPrefilterLength = array_length(_IndicatorsPrefilter);
    let _TableEvents =
        OfficeActivity
        | where ingestion_time() between (table_start .. table_end)
        // Filter events that may contain indicators
        | where isnotempty(ModifiedProperties)
        //| where not(_IndicatorsPrefilterLength < 10000 and not(ModifiedProperties has_any (_IndicatorsPrefilter))) // valid TLD ~1500 , "has_any" limit 10000
        | extend Urls = todynamic(dynamic_to_json(extract_all(_URLRegex, dynamic([1]), ModifiedProperties)))
        | mv-expand Url = Urls to typeof(string)
        | where isnotempty(Url)
        | extend Url = trim_end(@"\/", Url)
        //| where not(_IndicatorsLength < 1000000 and not(Url in (toscalar(_Indicators | summarize make_list(Url))))) // "in" limit 1.000.000
        | project-rename OfficeActivity_TimeGenerated = TimeGenerated
    ;
    _Indicators
    | join kind=inner hint.strategy=shuffle _TableEvents on Url
    // Take only a single event by key columns
    //| summarize hint.strategy=shuffle take_any(*) by Url, UserId
    | project
        OfficeActivity_TimeGenerated,
        Description, ActivityGroupNames, IndicatorId, ThreatType, DomainName, Url, ExpirationDateTime, ConfidenceScore, AdditionalInformation,
        OfficeWorkload, RecordType, Operation, UserType, UserId, ClientIP, ResultStatus, OfficeObjectId, Parameters
};
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(OfficeActivity_TimeGenerated, *) by IndicatorId, UserId
| extend
    timestamp = OfficeActivity_TimeGenerated,
    AccountCustomEntity = UserId,
    IPCustomEntity = ClientIP,
    URLCustomEntity = Url

Explanation

This KQL query is designed to identify and correlate threat indicators with Office activity events in Microsoft Sentinel. Here's a simplified breakdown of what the query does:

  1. Setup and Configuration:

    • The query defines several parameters and helper functions to manage time periods and filter criteria.
    • It uses watchlists to exclude certain benign properties and sources from the analysis.
  2. Threat Indicator Processing:

    • The query retrieves threat indicators from the ThreatIntelligenceIndicator table, focusing on those that are active, not expired, and contain URLs.
    • It filters out indicators from specific sources and those with benign properties.
    • It deduplicates the indicators based on the URL.
  3. Office Activity Event Processing:

    • The query retrieves events from the OfficeActivity table within specified time frames.
    • It extracts URLs from the ModifiedProperties field of these events.
    • It prepares these events for correlation with threat indicators.
  4. Correlation and Matching:

    • The query performs two main correlations:
      • Current table events with all available indicators.
      • Past table events with new indicators since the last query execution.
    • It joins the threat indicators with Office activity events based on matching URLs.
  5. Result Compilation:

    • The query summarizes the results to ensure only the most recent event per indicator and user is kept.
    • It extends the results with custom entities for easier analysis and visualization.

Overall, this query helps in identifying potential security threats by correlating threat intelligence data with user activities in Office applications, allowing security teams to focus on relevant incidents.

Details

Jose Sebastián Canós profile picture

Jose Sebastián Canós

Released: December 13, 2023

Tables

ThreatIntelligenceIndicatorOfficeActivity

Keywords

ThreatIntelligenceIndicatorThreatTypeDomainNameUrlOfficeActivityUserIdClientIP

Operators

lethas_anyprojecttoscalarwheresummarizemake_list

Actions

GitHub