Detection: AWS Investigate User Activities By AccessKeyId

REMOVED DETECTION

This detection has been removed from the Splunk Threat Research content library and is no longer maintained or supported.

Reason: As of Splunk Enterprise Security version 8.0, Splunk Enterprise Security no longer supports Investigations. As such, all Investigations have been deprecated in ES Content Update.

Removed in version: 5.2.0

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us at research@splunk.com.

Updated Date: 2026-05-13 ID: 703b65a4-a0ae-4171-965d-45507506c64f Author: David Dorsey, Splunk Type: Investigation Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

This search retrieves the times, ARN, source IPs, AWS regions, event names, and the result of the event for specific credentials.

Search

1`cloudtrail` 
2| rename userIdentity.accessKeyId as accessKeyId
3| search accessKeyId=$accessKeyId$ 
4| spath output=user path=userIdentity.arn  
5| rename sourceIPAddress as src_ip 
6| table _time, user, src_ip, awsRegion, eventName, errorCode, errorMessage

Data Source

No data sources specified for this detection.

Macros Used

Name	Value
cloudtrail	`sourcetype=aws:cloudtrail`

Annotations

- MITRE ATT&CK

+ Kill Chain Phases

+ NIST

+ CIS

- Threat Actors

ID	Technique	Tactic

Default Configuration

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

Setting	Value
Disabled	true
Cron Schedule	`N/A`
Earliest Time	`N/A`
Latest Time	`N/A`
Schedule Window	`N/A`
Creates Finding (Notable)	No
Creates Intermediate Finding (Risk Event)	No

Implementation

You must install the AWS App for Splunk (version 5.1.0 or later) and Splunk Add-on for AWS (version 4.4.0 or later), then configure your CloudTrail inputs.

Known False Positives

Associated Analytic Story

AWS Cross Account Activity

Detection Testing

Test Type	Status	Dataset	Source	Sourcetype
Validation	Not Applicable	N/A	N/A	N/A
Unit	Not Applicable	N/A	`N/A`	`N/A`
Integration	Not Applicable	N/A	`N/A`	`N/A`

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: 1