Multiple Domain 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 ("[SourceDomain]", "[DestinationDomain]")
| project IndicatorId, BenignProperty
;
let _TIExcludedSources = toscalar(
_GetWatchlist('Activity-ExpectedSignificantActivity')
| where Activity == "ThreatIndicatorSource"
| summarize make_list(Auxiliar)
);
let _DomainRegex = toscalar(
_GetWatchlist('RegEx-SingleRegularExpressions')
| where UseCase == "Threat Intelligence Indicator Domain"
| 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(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 =
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 Domains = todynamic(dynamic_to_json(extract_all(_DomainRegex, dynamic([1]), ModifiedProperties)))
| mv-expand Domain = Domains to typeof(string)
| where isnotempty(Domain)
| summarize hint.strategy=shuffle take_any(*) by OriginalDomain = Domain
//| 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 OfficeActivity_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, 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 = UrlExplanation
This query is designed to identify and correlate threat indicators with Office activity events in Microsoft Sentinel. Here's a simplified breakdown of what it does:
-
Setup and Parameters:
- The query is set to run every hour (
query_frequency = 1h) and looks back over a 14-day period (query_period = 14d). - It uses watchlists to exclude certain benign properties and sources from the analysis.
- The query is set to run every hour (
-
Threat Indicators Filtering:
- It retrieves threat indicators from the
ThreatIntelligenceIndicatortable, focusing on those generated in the last 14 days. - It filters out inactive or expired indicators and those from excluded sources.
- It ensures only indicators with domain names are considered and removes duplicates.
- It retrieves threat indicators from the
-
Office Activity Events:
- It retrieves events from the
OfficeActivitytable that have been ingested within a specified time frame. - It extracts domains from the
ModifiedPropertiesfield using a regular expression and expands them for further analysis.
- It retrieves events from the
-
Matching and Correlation:
- The query attempts to match the domains from the threat indicators with those found in the Office activity events.
- It performs two types of matches:
- Current table events with all available indicators.
- Past table 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 user is retained.
- It extends the results with custom entities for easier identification and analysis in Sentinel.
Overall, this query helps in detecting potential threats by correlating threat intelligence data with user activities, allowing security teams to identify and respond to suspicious activities more effectively.
Details

Jose Sebastián Canós
Released: December 13, 2023
Tables
ThreatIntelligenceIndicatorOfficeActivity
Keywords
ThreatIntelligenceIndicatorOfficeActivityUserIdClientIPUrlDomainNameIndicatorIdActivityGroupNamesThreatTypeExpirationDateTimeConfidenceScoreAdditionalInformationOfficeWorkloadRecordTypeOperationUserTypeResultStatusOfficeObjectIdParameters
Operators
lethas_anyprojecttoscalarwheresummarizemake_listproject-renamejoinextendtolowerisnotemptynotmaterializearg_maxminhint.strategy=shufflebetweeningestion_timedynamic_to_jsonextract_allmv-expandtodynamictypeofrangearray_lengthsplitstrcat_arrayarray_sliceunionagoby