VPN access with an abnormal operating system

Cortex XDR Analytics Alert Reference by data source

Product

Cortex XDR

Last date published

2024-12-03

Synopsis

Activation Period	14 Days
Training Period	30 Days
Test Period	N/A (single event)
Deduplication Period	1 Day
Required Data	Requires one of the following data sources: Palo Alto Networks Global Protect OR Third-Party VPNs
Detection Modules	Identity Analytics
Detector Tags
ATT&CK Tactic	Initial Access (TA0001)
ATT&CK Technique	Valid Accounts: Domain Accounts (T1078.002)
Severity	Informational

Description

A user accessed a VPN with an abnormal operating system.

Attacker's Goals

Use a legitimate user and connect to a VPN service to gain access to the network.

Investigative actions

See whether the service authentication was successful.
Confirm that the activity is benign (e.g. the user has really moved to a new operating system).
Follow actions and suspicious activities regarding the user.

Variations

VPN access with a suspicious operating system

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic	Initial Access (TA0001)
ATT&CK Technique	Valid Accounts: Domain Accounts (T1078.002)
Severity	Medium

Description

A user accessed a VPN with an abnormal operating system.

Attacker's Goals

Use a legitimate user and connect to a VPN service to gain access to the network.

Investigative actions

See whether the service authentication was successful.
Confirm that the activity is benign (e.g. the user has really moved to a new operating system).
Follow actions and suspicious activities regarding the user.

VPN access from an abnormal operating system with suspicious characteristics

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic	Initial Access (TA0001)
ATT&CK Technique	Valid Accounts: Domain Accounts (T1078.002)
Severity	Low

Description

A user accessed a VPN from an abnormal operating system with some more suspicious characteristics that flagged this login attempt as a suspicious login.

Attacker's Goals

Use a legitimate user and connect to a VPN service to gain access to the network.

Investigative actions

See whether the service authentication was successful.
Confirm that the activity is benign (e.g. the user has really moved to a new operating system).
Follow actions and suspicious activities regarding the user.