GCP Security Command Center - Detect projects with API Keys present

Status: available
Severity: medium
Time window: 1h
Group by: ProjectId, ProjectName, ResourceName, Severity
Source: github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

Detects Google Cloud projects that have API Keys present using Security Command Center API_KEY_EXISTS findings. Projects with API Keys may expose credentials that enable unauthorized access if keys are leaked.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Credential Access	`T1552` Unsecured Credentials

Rule body kusto

id: 395f3ced-3923-4b83-b05d-8d077fd48c1e
name: GCP Security Command Center - Detect projects with API Keys present
description: |
  Detects Google Cloud projects that have API Keys present using Security Command Center API_KEY_EXISTS findings.
  Projects with API Keys may expose credentials that enable unauthorized access if keys are leaked.
severity: Medium
status: Available
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: GoogleSCCDefinition
    dataTypes:
      - GoogleCloudSCC
queryFrequency: 1h
queryPeriod: 1h
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
  - CredentialAccess
relevantTechniques:
  - T1552
tags:
  - CIS GCP Foundation 3.0 1.12
  - NIST 800-53 R5 PL-8, SA-8
  - PCI-DSS v4.0 2.2.2, 6.2.1
  - ISO-27001 v2022 A.8.27
  - Cloud Controls Matrix 4 DSP-07
  - NIST Cybersecurity Framework 1.0 PR-IP-2
  - CIS Controls 8.0 16.10
query: |
 GoogleCloudSCC
  | where tostring(Findings.state) == "ACTIVE"
  | extend FindingCategory = tostring(Findings.category)
  | where FindingCategory == "API_KEY_EXISTS"
  | extend FindingsJson = parse_json(Findings), FindingsResourceJson = parse_json(FindingsResource)
  | extend ResourceName = tostring(FindingsJson.resourceName)
  | extend ProjectId = extract(@"projects/([^/]+)", 1, ResourceName)
  | extend ProjectName = tostring(FindingsResourceJson.displayName)
  | extend Severity = tostring(FindingsJson.severity),
           FindingName = tostring(FindingsJson.name),
           ExternalUri = tostring(FindingsJson.externalUri),
           Description = tostring(FindingsJson.description)
  // Produce one row per project with an API key finding
  | summarize TimeGenerated = max(TimeGenerated),
              FindingsCount = count(),
              ExternalUri = any(ExternalUri),
              Description = any(Description)
    by ProjectId, ProjectName, Severity, ResourceName
  | project TimeGenerated, ProjectId, ProjectName, ResourceName, FindingsCount, Severity, ExternalUri, Description
entityMappings:
  - entityType: CloudApplication
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: ProjectName
      - identifier: AppId
        columnName: ProjectId
customDetails:
  ProjectId: ProjectId
  ProjectName: ProjectName
  FindingsCount: FindingsCount
  SampleExternalUri: ExternalUri
  SampleDescription: Description
alertDetailsOverride:
  alertDisplayNameFormat: "GCP project {{ProjectName}} has API key(s) present"
  alertDescriptionFormat: |-
    Project {{ProjectName}} ({{ProjectId}}) has {{FindingsCount}} API key finding(s). Review API keys and consider rotating or removing keys and using IAM-based authentication.
version: 1.0.0
kind: Scheduled

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `source`

GoogleCloudSCC

Stage 2: `where`

| where tostring(Findings.state) == "ACTIVE"

Stage 3: `extend`

| extend FindingCategory = tostring(Findings.category)

Stage 4: `where`

| where FindingCategory == "API_KEY_EXISTS"

Stage 5: `extend` (5 consecutive steps)

| extend FindingsJson = parse_json(Findings), FindingsResourceJson = parse_json(FindingsResource)
| extend ResourceName = tostring(FindingsJson.resourceName)
| extend ProjectId = extract(@"projects/([^/]+)", 1, ResourceName)
| extend ProjectName = tostring(FindingsResourceJson.displayName)
| extend Severity = tostring(FindingsJson.severity),
          FindingName = tostring(FindingsJson.name),
          ExternalUri = tostring(FindingsJson.externalUri),
          Description = tostring(FindingsJson.description)

Stage 6: `summarize`

| summarize TimeGenerated = max(TimeGenerated),
             FindingsCount = count(),
             ExternalUri = any(ExternalUri),
             Description = any(Description)
   by ProjectId, ProjectName, Severity, ResourceName

Stage 7: `project`

| project TimeGenerated, ProjectId, ProjectName, ResourceName, FindingsCount, Severity, ExternalUri, Description

Indicators

Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.

Field	Kind	Values
`FindingCategory`	eq	`API_KEY_EXISTS` transforms: `cased`
`state`	eq	`ACTIVE` transforms: `tostring`, `cased`

Output fields

Fields the rule emits when it matches. Chronicle authors list these in the outcome block; they appear on the detection and $risk_score drives alerting. Sentinel / Defender XDR rules build them up through project / summarize / extend stages. Sentinel maps these into alert fields via entityMappings and customDetails; Defender XDR custom detections surface them as alert fields directly.

Field	Source
`Description`	`project`
`ExternalUri`	`project`
`FindingsCount`	`project`
`ProjectId`	`project`
`ProjectName`	`project`
`ResourceName`	`project`
`Severity`	`project`
`TimeGenerated`	`project`

`j` / `k`	Scroll down / up
`d` / `u`	Half-page down / up
`gg` / `G`	Top / bottom
`h` / `l`	History back / forward
`f`	Follow link (`Shift` = new tab)
`/`	Focus search
`?`	Toggle this help
`↑` / `↓`	Navigate search results
`Enter`	Open highlighted result
`Esc`	Close results / dialog

`type:`	`events` / `rules` / `providers`
`vendor:`	`sigma` / `elastic` / `splunk` / `kusto` / `chronicle` (vendor name alone also works: `sigma:`, `kql:`, `secops:`…)
`tactic:`	TA-id, slug, or name: `credential_access`, `TA0006`
`technique:`	technique or sub-technique ID: `T1003`, `T1003.001` (alias `tech:`)
`severity:`	`critical` / `high` / `medium` / `low` / `informational` (alias `sev:`)
`risk_score`	Numeric comparison on the Elastic risk score (0 to 100): `risk_score>50`, `risk_score<=20`, `risk_score=99` (alias `risk`; Elastic rules only)
`stages:`	Rules with exactly N pipeline stages
`correlation:`	`single_event` / `sequence` / `alternatives` / `alternatives_cross_log` / `all_required` / `correlated`
`with:`	Co-occurrence event-id; stacks (`with:4624 with:4769`) to require all, while a comma list in one occurrence (`with:4624,4769`) is an either-or group. Implies multi-event
`like:`	Structural neighbors of a rule slug (equivalents + subsumption stricter / broader): `like:comsvcs_lsass_memory_dump-splunk-sysmon`
`groupby:`	Entity-grouping substring match against `group_by_keys`: `groupby:user`, `groupby:host`
`uses:`	Rules whose predicate tree touches the field (any kind, any value): `uses:CommandLine`
`excludes:`	Rules with top-level `not()` clauses on the field (FP whitelists): `excludes:ParentImage`
`field:` / `value:`	Predicate search; narrows rule cards to those with a matching leaf and drives the indicator tier. Unquoted = substring, wildcards allowed (`value:mimikatz`)
`indicator:`	Shorthand for `field:F value:V`: `indicator:Image=*\powershell.exe`
`kind:`	Filter by predicate kind. Narrows rule cards to those carrying a matching predicate leaf (`vendor:elastic kind:cidr_match`) and drives the indicator tier: `contains` / `starts_with` / `ends_with` / `regex` / `cidr` / `eq` / `in` … (operator aliases `op:`/`match:`)
`has:` / `no:`	`sample`, `field`, `notes`, `refs`, `trace`, `thirdparty`, `rule`, `pattern`, `timewindow`, `threshold`, `newterms`, `sigma`/`elastic`/`splunk`/`kusto`/`chronicle`
`-op:val`	Exclude matches; works on most operators but not `type:`/`like:`/`has:`/`no:` (use `no:<flag>` to exclude a rule flag): `tactic:execution -vendor:splunk`. Standalone `-kind:`/`-field:`/`-value:` drop every rule carrying a matching predicate leaf (`type:rules -kind:is_null`)
`field:"…"` / `value:"…"`	Quoted value = anchored exact match (also allows spaces): `value:"net user"`
`a,b`	Comma = OR inside one operator (`vendor:sigma,elastic`, `severity:high,critical`); repeating a facet merges the same way. `field:`/`value:` never split (literal commas)
`vendors:` / `stage:`	Singular and plural spellings fold to the canonical operator and value: `tactics:` = `tactic:`, `type:event` = `type:events`, `correlation:sequences` = `correlation:sequence`, `has:thresholds` = `has:threshold`
`"quoted phrase"`	Exact-match a multi-word phrase (free text)

GCP Security Command Center - Detect projects with API Keys present

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `extend`

Stage 4: `where`

Stage 5: `extend` (5 consecutive steps)

Stage 6: `summarize`

Stage 7: `project`

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

GCP Security Command Center - Detect projects with API Keys present

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: source

Stage 2: where

Stage 3: extend

Stage 4: where

Stage 5: extend (5 consecutive steps)

Stage 6: summarize

Stage 7: project

Indicators

Output fields

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `extend`

Stage 4: `where`

Stage 5: `extend` (5 consecutive steps)

Stage 6: `summarize`

Stage 7: `project`