External user created a Microsoft Teams conversation with suspicious operations

Cortex XDR Analytics Alert Reference by Alert name

Product
Cortex XDR
Last date published
2026-02-02
Category
Analytics Alert Reference
Index by
Alert name

Synopsis

Activation Period

14 Days

Training Period

30 Days

Test Period

3 Hours

Deduplication Period

1 Day

Required Data

  • Requires:
    • Office 365 Audit

Detection Modules

Identity Threat Module

Detector Tags

Microsoft Teams

ATT&CK Tactic

Initial Access (TA0001)

ATT&CK Technique

Phishing (T1566)

Severity

Informational

Description

An external user created a Microsoft Teams conversation with users in the organization with additional suspicious operations.

Attacker's Goals

Attackers may leverage Microsoft Teams to conduct phishing attacks by exploiting trusted communication channels with users inside the organization.

Investigative actions

  • Confirm that the tenant and user are authorized to start a conversation with users in the organization.
  • Verify whether any user was removed from the conversation, and determine the reason for their removal.
  • Verify the content of the conversation and validate that there is no phishing attempt being made.
  • Inspect links and URLs that might have been sent in the conversation.
  • Check external domain reputation.
  • Review past communication from the external user.
  • Follow further actions done by the account.

Variations

An external user initiated a Microsoft Teams chat in which a suspicious link was shared and a member was removed

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

Initial Access (TA0001)

ATT&CK Technique

Phishing (T1566)

Severity

Low

Description

An external user initiated a Microsoft Teams chat in which a link, with a domain that hasn't been seen the last 30 days, was shared, and a member was removed.

Attacker's Goals

Attackers may leverage Microsoft Teams to conduct phishing attacks by exploiting trusted communication channels with users inside the organization.

Investigative actions

  • Confirm that the tenant and user are authorized to start a conversation with users in the organization.
  • Verify whether any user was removed from the conversation, and determine the reason for their removal.
  • Verify the content of the conversation and validate that there is no phishing attempt being made.
  • Inspect links and URLs that might have been sent in the conversation.
  • Check external domain reputation.
  • Review past communication from the external user.
  • Follow further actions done by the account.


An external user created a chat and shortly after sent a link with a newly seen domain name

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

Initial Access (TA0001)

ATT&CK Technique

Phishing (T1566)

Severity

Low

Description

An external user created a chat and shortly after sent a link to a conversation via Microsoft Teams that refers to a domain that was seen for the first time in the past 30 days.

Attacker's Goals

Attackers may leverage Microsoft Teams to conduct phishing attacks by exploiting trusted communication channels with users inside the organization.

Investigative actions

  • Confirm that the tenant and user are authorized to start a conversation with users in the organization.
  • Verify whether any user was removed from the conversation, and determine the reason for their removal.
  • Verify the content of the conversation and validate that there is no phishing attempt being made.
  • Inspect links and URLs that might have been sent in the conversation.
  • Check external domain reputation.
  • Review past communication from the external user.
  • Follow further actions done by the account.


An external user initiated a Microsoft Teams chat in which a link was shared and a member was removed

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

Initial Access (TA0001)

ATT&CK Technique

Phishing (T1566)

Severity

Low

Description

An external user initiated a Microsoft Teams chat in which a link with a rarely seen domain was shared, and a member was removed.

Attacker's Goals

Attackers may leverage Microsoft Teams to conduct phishing attacks by exploiting trusted communication channels with users inside the organization.

Investigative actions

  • Confirm that the tenant and user are authorized to start a conversation with users in the organization.
  • Verify whether any user was removed from the conversation, and determine the reason for their removal.
  • Verify the content of the conversation and validate that there is no phishing attempt being made.
  • Inspect links and URLs that might have been sent in the conversation.
  • Check external domain reputation.
  • Review past communication from the external user.
  • Follow further actions done by the account.


An external user created a chat then sent a link with a file for the first time via Microsoft Teams

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

Initial Access (TA0001)

ATT&CK Technique

Phishing (T1566)

Severity

Low

Description

An external user sent a link for the first time during the past 30 days in a Microsoft Teams conversation, and the link points to a file.

Attacker's Goals

Attackers may leverage Microsoft Teams to conduct phishing attacks by exploiting trusted communication channels with users inside the organization.

Investigative actions

  • Confirm that the tenant and user are authorized to start a conversation with users in the organization.
  • Verify whether any user was removed from the conversation, and determine the reason for their removal.
  • Verify the content of the conversation and validate that there is no phishing attempt being made.
  • Inspect links and URLs that might have been sent in the conversation.
  • Check external domain reputation.
  • Review past communication from the external user.
  • Follow further actions done by the account.


An external user created a chat with a suspicious user or chat name and then sent a link via Microsoft Teams

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

Initial Access (TA0001)

ATT&CK Technique

Phishing (T1566)

Severity

Low

Description

An external user created a chat with a suspicious user or chat name and sent a link in Microsoft Teams, which can be a phishing attempt.

Attacker's Goals

Attackers may leverage Microsoft Teams to conduct phishing attacks by exploiting trusted communication channels with users inside the organization.

Investigative actions

  • Confirm that the tenant and user are authorized to start a conversation with users in the organization.
  • Verify whether any user was removed from the conversation, and determine the reason for their removal.
  • Verify the content of the conversation and validate that there is no phishing attempt being made.
  • Inspect links and URLs that might have been sent in the conversation.
  • Check external domain reputation.
  • Review past communication from the external user.
  • Follow further actions done by the account.


External user created a Microsoft Teams conversation with a suspicious user or chat name and shortly after removed a user from it

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

Initial Access (TA0001)

ATT&CK Technique

Phishing (T1566)

Severity

Low

Description

An external user created a conversation with a suspicious user or chat name, and then removed a member, which could indicate potential suspicious activity.

Attacker's Goals

Attackers may leverage Microsoft Teams to conduct phishing attacks by exploiting trusted communication channels with users inside the organization.

Investigative actions

  • Confirm that the tenant and user are authorized to start a conversation with users in the organization.
  • Verify whether any user was removed from the conversation, and determine the reason for their removal.
  • Verify the content of the conversation and validate that there is no phishing attempt being made.
  • Inspect links and URLs that might have been sent in the conversation.
  • Check external domain reputation.
  • Review past communication from the external user.
  • Follow further actions done by the account.


An external user created a chat then sent a link via Microsoft Teams

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

Initial Access (TA0001)

ATT&CK Technique

Phishing (T1566)

Severity

Informational

Description

An external user created a chat and sent a link in Microsoft Teams, which can be a phishing attempt.

Attacker's Goals

Attackers may leverage Microsoft Teams to conduct phishing attacks by exploiting trusted communication channels with users inside the organization.

Investigative actions

  • Confirm that the tenant and user are authorized to start a conversation with users in the organization.
  • Verify whether any user was removed from the conversation, and determine the reason for their removal.
  • Verify the content of the conversation and validate that there is no phishing attempt being made.
  • Inspect links and URLs that might have been sent in the conversation.
  • Check external domain reputation.
  • Review past communication from the external user.
  • Follow further actions done by the account.


An external user created a chat and then sent a link via Microsoft Teams

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

Initial Access (TA0001)

ATT&CK Technique

Phishing (T1566)

Severity

Informational

Description

An external user created a chat and sent a link in Microsoft Teams, which can be a phishing attempt.

Attacker's Goals

Attackers may leverage Microsoft Teams to conduct phishing attacks by exploiting trusted communication channels with users inside the organization.

Investigative actions

  • Confirm that the tenant and user are authorized to start a conversation with users in the organization.
  • Verify whether any user was removed from the conversation, and determine the reason for their removal.
  • Verify the content of the conversation and validate that there is no phishing attempt being made.
  • Inspect links and URLs that might have been sent in the conversation.
  • Check external domain reputation.
  • Review past communication from the external user.
  • Follow further actions done by the account.


External user created a Microsoft Teams conversation and shortly after removed a user from it

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

Initial Access (TA0001)

ATT&CK Technique

Phishing (T1566)

Severity

Informational

Description

An external user created a conversation and then removed a member, which could indicate potential suspicious activity.

Attacker's Goals

Attackers may leverage Microsoft Teams to conduct phishing attacks by exploiting trusted communication channels with users inside the organization.

Investigative actions

  • Confirm that the tenant and user are authorized to start a conversation with users in the organization.
  • Verify whether any user was removed from the conversation, and determine the reason for their removal.
  • Verify the content of the conversation and validate that there is no phishing attempt being made.
  • Inspect links and URLs that might have been sent in the conversation.
  • Check external domain reputation.
  • Review past communication from the external user.
  • Follow further actions done by the account.