Sharepoint Threat Hunting

Importance of Threat Hunting in SharePoint Online

As organizations increasingly rely on cloud-based services like SharePoint Online, the attack surface grows, making it a target for cyberattacks. Threat hunting in this environment is critical for identifying malicious activity that might evade traditional security tools.

Key Factors to Consider:

• Cloud Usage Increases Complexity: With remote work and global collaboration, more users access SharePoint from various locations, increasing the chances of a compromised account.

• Insider Threats: With sensitive information stored in SharePoint, an insider with the right permissions could easily exfiltrate data.

• Third-Party Integrations: SharePoint's integrations with tools like OneDrive and Microsoft Teams create additional entry points for attackers.

• Common Threats in SharePoint Online: Data exfiltration, unauthorized file sharing, privilege escalation, and account compromise are some of the major concerns.

By proactively hunting for these threats, you can catch potential incidents before they escalate into full-blown breaches.

Understanding the Threat Landscape

To effectively hunt threats in SharePoint Online, you need to understand the various types of attacks that could compromise the environment.

Common Attack Vectors:

• Phishing: Attackers often target users with phishing emails to steal credentials. Once inside, they can access SharePoint resources and exfiltrate sensitive data.

• Compromised Credentials: If an attacker gains access to a user's SharePoint account, they can easily download files, modify permissions, or share documents with external parties.

• Data Exfiltration: Threat actors may abuse sharing features, either by downloading large volumes of files or by setting up external sharing links to send documents out of the organization.

• Malware Propagation: SharePoint can be used to store and share malware, which may infect other users or systems in the network.

Case Studies of Real-World Attacks:

• Example 1: Account Compromise in a SharePoint Environment

  • A user’s credentials were stolen through a phishing email. The attacker accessed the user's SharePoint site, downloaded sensitive financial documents, and shared them with an external domain. The activity went undetected for weeks due to a lack of proactive monitoring.

• Example 2: Insider Threat Exploiting File Permissions

  • An employee with access to highly sensitive files misused their permissions to exfiltrate data via external sharing links. Threat hunting identified unusual patterns of file access and sharing activities, leading to the mitigation of the incident before significant data loss occurred.