Qakbot Discovery Activies | Microsoft Sentinel Analytic Rules

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Id	ba9db6b2-3d05-42ae-8aee-3a15bbe29f27
Rulename	Qakbot Discovery Activies
Description	This query searches for injected processes launching discovery activity. Qakbot has been observed leading to ransomware in numerous instances. It looks for discovery commands such as net.exe, whoami.exe, nslookup.exe, netstat.exe, arp.exe, and ping.exe.
Severity	Medium
Tactics	DefenseEvasion Discovery Execution
Techniques	T1140 T1010 T1059
Required data connectors	MicrosoftThreatProtection
Kind	Scheduled
Query frequency	1h
Query period	1h
Trigger threshold	0
Trigger operator	gt
Source Uri	https://github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel/blob/master/Solutions/Microsoft%20Defender%20XDR/Analytic%20Rules/Ransomware/QakbotDiscoveryActivities.yaml
Version	1.0.0
Arm template	ba9db6b2-3d05-42ae-8aee-3a15bbe29f27.json

KQL

DeviceProcessEvents 
| where InitiatingProcessFileName in~('mobsync.exe','explorer.exe')
| where (FileName =~ 'net.exe' and InitiatingProcessCommandLine has_all('view','/all'))
     or (FileName =~ 'whoami.exe' and InitiatingProcessCommandLine has '/all')
     or (FileName =~ 'nslookup.exe' and InitiatingProcessCommandLine has_all('querytype=ALL','timeout=10'))
     or (FileName =~ 'netstat.exe' and InitiatingProcessCommandLine has '-nao')
     or (FileName =~ 'arp.exe' and InitiatingProcessCommandLine has '-a')
     or (FileName =~ 'ping.exe' and InitiatingProcessCommandLine has '-t' and InitiatingProcessCommandLine endswith '127.0.0.1')
| summarize DiscoveryCommands = dcount(InitiatingProcessCommandLine), make_set(InitiatingProcessFileName), make_set(FileName), make_set(InitiatingProcessCommandLine) by DeviceId, DeviceName, bin(TimeGenerated, 5m)   
| where DiscoveryCommands >= 3
| extend HostName = iff(DeviceName has '.', substring(DeviceName, 0, indexof(DeviceName, '.')), DeviceName)
| extend DnsDomain = iff(DeviceName has '.', substring(DeviceName, indexof(DeviceName, '.') + 1), "")

YAML

triggerThreshold: 0
kind: Scheduled
description: |
  This query searches for injected processes launching discovery activity. Qakbot has been observed leading to ransomware in numerous instances. It looks for discovery commands such as net.exe, whoami.exe, nslookup.exe, netstat.exe, arp.exe, and ping.exe.
queryFrequency: 1h
triggerOperator: gt
relevantTechniques:
- T1140
- T1010
- T1059
entityMappings:
- fieldMappings:
  - identifier: FullName
    columnName: DeviceName
  - identifier: HostName
    columnName: HostName
  - identifier: DnsDomain
    columnName: DnsDomain
  entityType: Host
id: ba9db6b2-3d05-42ae-8aee-3a15bbe29f27
query: |
  DeviceProcessEvents 
  | where InitiatingProcessFileName in~('mobsync.exe','explorer.exe')
  | where (FileName =~ 'net.exe' and InitiatingProcessCommandLine has_all('view','/all'))
       or (FileName =~ 'whoami.exe' and InitiatingProcessCommandLine has '/all')
       or (FileName =~ 'nslookup.exe' and InitiatingProcessCommandLine has_all('querytype=ALL','timeout=10'))
       or (FileName =~ 'netstat.exe' and InitiatingProcessCommandLine has '-nao')
       or (FileName =~ 'arp.exe' and InitiatingProcessCommandLine has '-a')
       or (FileName =~ 'ping.exe' and InitiatingProcessCommandLine has '-t' and InitiatingProcessCommandLine endswith '127.0.0.1')
  | summarize DiscoveryCommands = dcount(InitiatingProcessCommandLine), make_set(InitiatingProcessFileName), make_set(FileName), make_set(InitiatingProcessCommandLine) by DeviceId, DeviceName, bin(TimeGenerated, 5m)   
  | where DiscoveryCommands >= 3
  | extend HostName = iff(DeviceName has '.', substring(DeviceName, 0, indexof(DeviceName, '.')), DeviceName)
  | extend DnsDomain = iff(DeviceName has '.', substring(DeviceName, indexof(DeviceName, '.') + 1), "")
version: 1.0.0
OriginalUri: https://github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel/blob/master/Solutions/Microsoft%20Defender%20XDR/Analytic%20Rules/Ransomware/QakbotDiscoveryActivities.yaml
tags:
- Ransomware
- Qakbot
- Discovery
requiredDataConnectors:
- dataTypes:
  - DeviceProcessEvents
  connectorId: MicrosoftThreatProtection
tactics:
- DefenseEvasion
- Discovery
- Execution
queryPeriod: 1h
severity: Medium
status: Available
name: Qakbot Discovery Activies

ARM

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
  "parameters": {
    "workspace": {
      "type": "String"
    }
  },
  "resources": [
    {
      "apiVersion": "2024-01-01-preview",
      "id": "[concat(resourceId('Microsoft.OperationalInsights/workspaces/providers', parameters('workspace'), 'Microsoft.SecurityInsights'),'/alertRules/ba9db6b2-3d05-42ae-8aee-3a15bbe29f27')]",
      "kind": "Scheduled",
      "name": "[concat(parameters('workspace'),'/Microsoft.SecurityInsights/ba9db6b2-3d05-42ae-8aee-3a15bbe29f27')]",
      "properties": {
        "alertRuleTemplateName": "ba9db6b2-3d05-42ae-8aee-3a15bbe29f27",
        "customDetails": null,
        "description": "This query searches for injected processes launching discovery activity. Qakbot has been observed leading to ransomware in numerous instances. It looks for discovery commands such as net.exe, whoami.exe, nslookup.exe, netstat.exe, arp.exe, and ping.exe.\n",
        "displayName": "Qakbot Discovery Activies",
        "enabled": true,
        "entityMappings": [
          {
            "entityType": "Host",
            "fieldMappings": [
              {
                "columnName": "DeviceName",
                "identifier": "FullName"
              },
              {
                "columnName": "HostName",
                "identifier": "HostName"
              },
              {
                "columnName": "DnsDomain",
                "identifier": "DnsDomain"
              }
            ]
          }
        ],
        "OriginalUri": "https://github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel/blob/master/Solutions/Microsoft%20Defender%20XDR/Analytic%20Rules/Ransomware/QakbotDiscoveryActivities.yaml",
        "query": "DeviceProcessEvents \n| where InitiatingProcessFileName in~('mobsync.exe','explorer.exe')\n| where (FileName =~ 'net.exe' and InitiatingProcessCommandLine has_all('view','/all'))\n     or (FileName =~ 'whoami.exe' and InitiatingProcessCommandLine has '/all')\n     or (FileName =~ 'nslookup.exe' and InitiatingProcessCommandLine has_all('querytype=ALL','timeout=10'))\n     or (FileName =~ 'netstat.exe' and InitiatingProcessCommandLine has '-nao')\n     or (FileName =~ 'arp.exe' and InitiatingProcessCommandLine has '-a')\n     or (FileName =~ 'ping.exe' and InitiatingProcessCommandLine has '-t' and InitiatingProcessCommandLine endswith '127.0.0.1')\n| summarize DiscoveryCommands = dcount(InitiatingProcessCommandLine), make_set(InitiatingProcessFileName), make_set(FileName), make_set(InitiatingProcessCommandLine) by DeviceId, DeviceName, bin(TimeGenerated, 5m)   \n| where DiscoveryCommands >= 3\n| extend HostName = iff(DeviceName has '.', substring(DeviceName, 0, indexof(DeviceName, '.')), DeviceName)\n| extend DnsDomain = iff(DeviceName has '.', substring(DeviceName, indexof(DeviceName, '.') + 1), \"\")\n",
        "queryFrequency": "PT1H",
        "queryPeriod": "PT1H",
        "severity": "Medium",
        "status": "Available",
        "subTechniques": [],
        "suppressionDuration": "PT1H",
        "suppressionEnabled": false,
        "tactics": [
          "DefenseEvasion",
          "Discovery",
          "Execution"
        ],
        "tags": [
          "Ransomware",
          "Qakbot",
          "Discovery"
        ],
        "techniques": [
          "T1010",
          "T1059",
          "T1140"
        ],
        "templateVersion": "1.0.0",
        "triggerOperator": "GreaterThan",
        "triggerThreshold": 0
      },
      "type": "Microsoft.OperationalInsights/workspaces/providers/alertRules"
    }
  ]
}