Detection: O365 PST export alert

Updated Date: 2024-09-30 ID: 5f694cc4-a678-4a60-9410-bffca1b647dc Author: Rod Soto, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic detects instances where a user has initiated an eDiscovery search or exported a PST file in an Office 365 environment. It leverages Office 365 management activity logs, specifically filtering for events under ThreatManagement with the name "eDiscovery search started or exported." This activity is significant as it may indicate data exfiltration attempts or unauthorized access to sensitive information. If confirmed malicious, it suggests an attacker or insider threat is attempting to gather or exfiltrate data, potentially leading to data breaches, loss of intellectual property, or unauthorized access to confidential communications. Immediate investigation is required.

1`o365_management_activity` Category=ThreatManagement Name="eDiscovery search started or exported" 
2| stats count earliest(_time) as firstTime latest(_time) as lastTime by Source Severity AlertEntityId Operation Name 
3|`security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
4|`security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
5| `o365_pst_export_alert_filter`

Data Source

Name Platform Sourcetype Source
O365 N/A 'o365:management:activity' 'o365'

Macros Used

Name Value
o365_management_activity sourcetype=o365:management:activity
o365_pst_export_alert_filter search *
o365_pst_export_alert_filter is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.

Annotations

- MITRE ATT&CK
+ Kill Chain Phases
+ NIST
+ CIS
- Threat Actors
ID Technique Tactic
T1114 Email Collection Collection
KillChainPhase.EXPLOITAITON
NistCategory.DE_CM
Cis18Value.CIS_10
Ember Bear
Magic Hound
Scattered Spider
Silent Librarian

Default Configuration

This detection is configured by default in Splunk Enterprise Security to run with the following settings:

Setting Value
Disabled true
Cron Schedule 0 * * * *
Earliest Time -70m@m
Latest Time -10m@m
Schedule Window auto
Creates Notable Yes
Rule Title %name%
Rule Description %description%
Notable Event Fields user, dest
Creates Risk Event True
This configuration file applies to all detections of type TTP. These detections will use Risk Based Alerting and generate Notable Events.

Implementation

You must install splunk Microsoft Office 365 add-on. This search works with o365:management:activity

Known False Positives

PST export can be done for legitimate purposes but due to the sensitive nature of its content it must be monitored.

Associated Analytic Story

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message Risk Score Impact Confidence
User $Source$ has exported a PST file from the search using this operation- $Operation$ with a severity of $Severity$ 48 80 60
The Risk Score is calculated by the following formula: Risk Score = (Impact * Confidence/100). Initial Confidence and Impact is set by the analytic author.

References

Detection Testing

Test Type Status Dataset Source Sourcetype
Validation ✅ Passing N/A N/A N/A
Unit ✅ Passing Dataset o365 o365:management:activity
Integration ✅ Passing Dataset o365 o365:management:activity

Replay any dataset to Splunk Enterprise by using our replay.py tool or the UI. Alternatively you can replay a dataset into a Splunk Attack Range

Source: GitHub | Version: 4