Detection rules › Panther

GSuite Government Backed Attack

Severity
critical
Log types
GSuite.ActivityEvent
Tags
GSuite, APT, Advanced Persistent Threat, Nation State, Targeted Attack, Reconnaissance, Initial Access, Government Backed Attack, High Profile Target
Reference
https://support.google.com/a/answer/9007870?hl=en
Source
github.com/panther-labs/panther-analysis

Detects Google Workspace warnings of government-backed attacks targeting user accounts, issued only when indicators match nation-state threat actors or APT groups. These sophisticated attacks target high-value individuals using advanced tactics including zero-day exploits, spear-phishing, and social engineering. Successful compromise can lead to persistent access, intellectual property theft, and supply chain attacks.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body yaml

AnalysisType: rule
Filename: gsuite_gov_attack.py
RuleID: "GSuite.GovernmentBackedAttack"
DisplayName: "GSuite Government Backed Attack"
Enabled: true
LogTypes:
  - GSuite.ActivityEvent
Tags:
  - GSuite
  - APT
  - Advanced Persistent Threat
  - Nation State
  - Targeted Attack
  - Reconnaissance
  - Initial Access
  - Government Backed Attack
  - High Profile Target
Severity: Critical
Reports:
  MITRE ATT&CK:
    - TA0043:T1595
    - TA0001:T1566
    - TA0042:T1589
Description: >
  Detects Google Workspace warnings of government-backed attacks targeting user accounts, issued only when indicators match nation-state threat actors or APT groups. These sophisticated attacks target high-value individuals using advanced tactics including zero-day exploits, spear-phishing, and social engineering. Successful compromise can lead to persistent access, intellectual property theft, and supply chain attacks.
Reference: https://support.google.com/a/answer/9007870?hl=en
Runbook: |
  1. Query GSuite.ActivityEvent logs for all login events, OAuth app authorizations, email forwarding rules, delegated access grants, and data exports by actor:email in the 90 days before this warning to identify suspicious activity indicating potential compromise
  2. Review login locations, IP addresses, and device information from the targeted user's recent authentication events to detect unusual geographic access patterns or impossible travel that may indicate reconnaissance or account takeover attempts
  3. Contact Google Workspace enterprise support to obtain additional threat intelligence about the government-backed attack including threat actor attribution, attack vectors observed, and specific indicators of compromise related to this incident
SummaryAttributes:
  - actor:email
Tests:
  - Name: Normal Login Event
    ExpectedResult: false
    Log:
      {
        "id": { "applicationName": "login" },
        "actor": { "email": "homer.simpson@example.com" },
        "type": "login",
        "name": "login_success",
        "parameters":
          { "is_suspicious": null, "login_challenge_method": ["none"] },
      }
  - Name: Government Backed Attack Warning
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      {
        "id": { "applicationName": "login" },
        "actor": { "email": "homer.simpson@example.com" },
        "type": "login",
        "name": "gov_attack_warning",
        "parameters":
          { "is_suspicious": null, "login_challenge_method": ["none"] },
      }

Detection logic

Condition

id.applicationName eq "login"
name eq "gov_attack_warning"

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.

FieldKindValues
id.applicationNameeq
  • login
nameeq
  • gov_attack_warning

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.

FieldSource
emailactor.email