Query Details

Top Level Domains

Query

# Connections to commonly abused top level domains

## Query Information

### MITRE ATT&CK Technique(s)

| Technique ID | Title    | Link    |
| ---  | --- | --- |
| T1608.005 | Resource Development: Stage Capabilities: Link Target | https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1608/005/ |

### Description

Use the below querys to find connections to the commonly aboused domains

#### References

- [Top 10 most abused top level domain (TLD) registries](https://www.spamhaus.org/statistics/tlds/)
- [Google pushes .zip and .mov domains onto the Internet, and the Internet pushes back](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/05/critics-say-googles-new-zip-and-mov-domains-will-be-a-boon-to-scammers/)

### Defender for Endpoint / Sentinel

Spamhaus - The World's Most Abused TLDs. ***Note*** the list changes monthly visit  [Top 10 most abused top level domain (TLD) registries](https://www.spamhaus.org/statistics/tlds/) to update the list.

```kql
let abusedTLD = dynamic(["rest", "okinawa", "live", "beauty", "bar", "fit", "gq", "cfd", "zone", "top"]);
DeviceNetworkEvents
| where isnotempty(RemoteUrl)
| extend hasIPinRemoteUrl = iif(indexof_regex(RemoteUrl,@"\b(?:\d{1,3}\.){3}\d{1,3}\b") == -1,false, true)
| where hasIPinRemoteUrl==false
| extend TLD = tostring(split(extract(@"\.([a-zA-Z]{2,}|[a-zA-Z]{2}\.[a-zA-Z]{2})$",0,RemoteUrl,typeof(string)),".")[1])
| where TLD in~ (abusedTLD)
| extend Domain = replace_regex(tostring(extract(@"[^.]+\.[^.]+$",0,RemoteUrl)),"https://","")
| project TimeGenerated, DeviceName,ActionType,RemoteUrl, TLD,Domain, RemoteIP, RemotePort, InitiatingProcessFileName, InitiatingProcessAccountName
```

ZIP and MOV Domains

```kql
// New Google top level domains
let abusedTLD = dynamic(["zip", "mov"]);
DeviceNetworkEvents
| where isnotempty(RemoteUrl)
| extend hasIPinRemoteUrl = iif(indexof_regex(RemoteUrl,@"\b(?:\d{1,3}\.){3}\d{1,3}\b") == -1,false, true)
| where hasIPinRemoteUrl==false
| extend Domain = extract(@"[^.]+\.[^.]+$",0, extract(@"^(?:https?://)?([^/]+)",1,RemoteUrl))
| extend TLD = tostring(split(extract(@"\.([a-zA-Z]{2,}|[a-zA-Z]{2}\.[a-zA-Z]{2})$",0,Domain,typeof(string)),".")[1])
| where TLD in~ (abusedTLD)
| project TimeGenerated, DeviceName,ActionType,RemoteUrl, TLD,Domain, RemoteIP, RemotePort, InitiatingProcessFileName, InitiatingProcessAccountName
```

```kql
// URLs in emails
let abusedTLD = dynamic(["rest", "okinawa", "live", "beauty", "bar", "fit", "gq", "cfd", "zone", "top"]);
EmailUrlInfo
| extend Domain = extract(@"[^.]+\.[^.]+$",0, extract(@"^(?:https?://)?([^/]+)",1,Url))
| extend TLD = tostring(split(extract(@"\.([a-zA-Z]{2,}|[a-zA-Z]{2}\.[a-zA-Z]{2})$",0,Domain,typeof(string)),".")[1])
| where TLD in~ (abusedTLD)
| join EmailEvents
on $left. NetworkMessageId == $right.NetworkMessageId
| project TimeGenerated, TLD, Domain, DeliveryAction, SenderFromDomain, ThreatTypes, DetectionMethods,Url
//| where Domain != SenderFromDomain
```

```kql
// URL ClickEvents
let abusedTLD = dynamic(["rest", "okinawa", "live", "beauty", "bar", "fit", "gq", "cfd", "zone", "top","zip","mov","xyz"]);
UrlClickEvents
| extend Domain = extract(@"[^.]+\.[^.]+$",0, extract(@"^(?:https?://)?([^/]+)",1,Url))
| extend TLD = tostring(split(extract(@"\.([a-zA-Z]{2,}|[a-zA-Z]{2}\.[a-zA-Z]{2})$",0,Domain,typeof(string)),".")[1])
| where TLD in~ (abusedTLD)
| project TimeGenerated, TLD, Domain, ActionType, Workload,Url
```

Explanation

The query is used to find connections to commonly abused top-level domains. It includes different sections for different types of events, such as DeviceNetworkEvents, EmailUrlInfo, and UrlClickEvents. The query filters the events based on the presence of a remote URL and checks if the URL contains an IP address. It then extracts the top-level domain (TLD) from the URL and compares it to a list of commonly abused TLDs. The query also includes additional fields such as TimeGenerated, DeviceName, ActionType, RemoteIP, and more to provide more context about the connections.

Details

Alex Verboon profile picture

Alex Verboon

Released: June 4, 2023

Tables

DeviceNetworkEvents EmailUrlInfo EmailEvents UrlClickEvents

Keywords

Connections,Devices,Intune,User,TLD,MITREATT&CK,Technique,Link,ResourceDevelopment,StageCapabilities,LinkTarget,DefenderforEndpoint,Sentinel,Spamhaus,World'sMostAbusedTLDs,ZIP,MOV,Google,TopLevelDomains,Emails,EmailUrlInfo,EmailEvents,URLClickEvents,XYZ

Operators

isnotemptyextendiifindexof_regexwherein~replace_regexprojectsplitextracttypeofjoin

Actions