Users searching for VIP user activity

Severity: low
Time window: 1d
Author: Microsoft Security Research
Source: github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

This query monitors for users running Log Analytics queries that contain filters for specific, defined VIP user accounts or the VIPUser watchlist template. Use this detection to alert for users specifically searching for activity of sensitive users.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Collection	`T1213` Data from Information Repositories, `T1530` Data from Cloud Storage
Exfiltration	`T1020` Automated Exfiltration

Rule body kusto

id: f7f4a77e-f68f-4b56-9aaf-a0c9d87d7a8e
name: Users searching for VIP user activity
description: |
    This query monitors for users running Log Analytics queries that contain filters for specific, defined VIP user accounts or the VIPUser watchlist template.
    Use this detection to alert for users specifically searching for activity of sensitive users.
severity: Low
requiredDataConnectors: []
queryFrequency: 1d
queryPeriod: 1d
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
  - Collection
  - Exfiltration
relevantTechniques:
  - T1530
  - T1213
  - T1020
query: |
  // Replace these with the username or emails of your VIP users you wish to monitor for.
  let vips = dynamic(['vip1@email.com','vip2@email.com']);
  // Add users who are allowed to conduct these searches - this could be specific SOC team members
  let allowed_users = dynamic([]);
  LAQueryLogs
  | where QueryText has_any (vips) or QueryText has_any ('_GetWatchlist("VIPUsers")', "_GetWatchlist('VIPUsers')")
  | where AADEmail !in (allowed_users)
  | project TimeGenerated, AADEmail, RequestClientApp, QueryText, ResponseRowCount, RequestTarget
  | extend timestamp = TimeGenerated, AccountName = tostring(split(AADEmail, "@")[0]), AccountUPNSuffix = tostring(split(AADEmail, "@")[1])
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: AccountName
      - identifier: UPNSuffix
        columnName: AccountUPNSuffix
  - entityType: AzureResource
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: ResourceId
        columnName: RequestTarget
version: 1.1.4
kind: Scheduled
metadata:
    source:
        kind: Community
    author:
        name: Microsoft Security Research
    support:
        tier: Community
    categories:
        domains: [ "Security - Others" ]

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

let vips = dynamic(['vip1@email.com','vip2@email.com']);
let allowed_users = dynamic([]);

Stage 1: `source`

LAQueryLogs

Stage 2: `where`

| where QueryText has_any (vips) or QueryText has_any ('_GetWatchlist("VIPUsers")', "_GetWatchlist('VIPUsers')")

Stage 3: `where`

| where AADEmail !in (allowed_users)

Stage 4: `project`

| project TimeGenerated, AADEmail, RequestClientApp, QueryText, ResponseRowCount, RequestTarget

Stage 5: `extend`

| extend timestamp = TimeGenerated, AccountName = tostring(split(AADEmail, "@")[0]), AccountUPNSuffix = tostring(split(AADEmail, "@")[1])

Exclusions

Top-level NOT(...) conjuncts: predicates this rule actively suppresses.

Field	Kind	Excluded values
`AADEmail`	eq	`[]`

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
`QueryText`	match	`_GetWatchlist("VIPUsers")` `_GetWatchlist('VIPUsers')` `vip1@email.com` `vip2@email.com`

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
`AADEmail`	`project`
`QueryText`	`project`
`RequestClientApp`	`project`
`RequestTarget`	`project`
`ResponseRowCount`	`project`
`TimeGenerated`	`project`
`AccountName`	`extend`
`AccountUPNSuffix`	`extend`
`timestamp`	`extend`

`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)

Users searching for VIP user activity

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `project`

Stage 5: `extend`

Exclusions

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Users searching for VIP user activity

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Stage 1: source

Stage 2: where

Stage 3: where

Stage 4: project

Stage 5: extend

Exclusions

Indicators

Output fields

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `project`

Stage 5: `extend`