Okta ThreatInsight Threat Detected

Status: production
Severity: low
Group by: "client.device", "outcome.reason", "outcome.result", app, aws::userAgent, city, country, dest, displayMessage, eventType, severity, signature, src_ip, state
Author: Michael Haag, Mauricio Velazco, Splunk
Source: github.com/splunk/security_content

The following analytic identifies threats detected by Okta ThreatInsight, such as password spraying, login failures, and high counts of unknown user login attempts. It leverages Okta Identity Management logs, specifically focusing on security.threat.detected events. This activity is significant for a SOC as it highlights potential unauthorized access attempts and credential-based attacks. If confirmed malicious, these activities could lead to unauthorized access, data breaches, and further exploitation of compromised accounts, posing a significant risk to the organization's security posture.

Known false positives

False positives may occur. It is recommended to fine-tune Okta settings and the analytic to ensure high fidelity. Adjust the risk score as necessary.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Initial Access	`T1078.004` Valid Accounts: Cloud Accounts
Persistence	`T1078.004` Valid Accounts: Cloud Accounts
Privilege Escalation	`T1078.004` Valid Accounts: Cloud Accounts
Stealth	`T1078.004` Valid Accounts: Cloud Accounts

Telemetry coverage

Platform	Record / event type
Okta	System Log event type `security.threat.detected`: Request from malicious IP detected by ThreatInsight

Rules detecting the same action

These rules filter on the same operation.

Device Registration from Malicious IP (Kusto)
Okta Security Threat Detected (Sigma)
Okta ThreatInsight Login Failure With High Unknown Users (YARA-L)
Okta ThreatInsight Security Threat Detected (Panther)
Okta ThreatInsight Suspected Bruteforce Attack (YARA-L)
Okta ThreatInsight Suspected Password Spray Attack (YARA-L)
Okta ThreatInsight Threat Suspected Promotion (Elastic)

Rule body

name: Okta ThreatInsight Threat Detected
id: 140504ae-5fe2-4d65-b2bc-a211813fbca6
version: 12
creation_date: '2022-12-19'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Michael Haag, Mauricio Velazco, Splunk
status: production
type: Anomaly
description: The following analytic identifies threats detected by Okta ThreatInsight, such as password spraying, login failures, and high counts of unknown user login attempts. It leverages Okta Identity Management logs, specifically focusing on security.threat.detected events. This activity is significant for a SOC as it highlights potential unauthorized access attempts and credential-based attacks. If confirmed malicious, these activities could lead to unauthorized access, data breaches, and further exploitation of compromised accounts, posing a significant risk to the organization's security posture.
data_source:
    - Okta
search: |-
    `okta` eventType = security.threat.detected
      | rename client.geographicalContext.country as country, client.geographicalContext.state as state, client.geographicalContext.city as city
      | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
        BY app src_ip dest
           signature eventType displayMessage
           client.device city state
           country user_agent outcome.reason
           outcome.result severity
      | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
      | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
      | `okta_threatinsight_threat_detected_filter`
how_to_implement: This detection utilizes logs from Okta Identity Management (IM) environments. It requires the ingestion of OktaIm2 logs through the Splunk Add-on for Okta Identity Cloud (https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/6553).
known_false_positives: False positives may occur. It is recommended to fine-tune Okta settings and the analytic to ensure high fidelity. Adjust the risk score as necessary.
references:
    - https://developer.okta.com/docs/reference/api/event-types/?q=security.threat.detected
intermediate_findings:
    entities:
        - field: app
          type: system
          score: 20
          message: The following $src_ip$ has been identified as a threat by Okta ThreatInsight. Investigate further to determine if this was authorized.
threat_objects:
    - field: src_ip
      type: ip_address
analytic_story:
    - Okta Account Takeover
asset_type: Infrastructure
mitre_attack_id:
    - T1078.004
product:
    - Splunk Enterprise
    - Splunk Enterprise Security
    - Splunk Cloud
category: application
security_domain: access

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `search`

`okta` eventType = security.threat.detected

Stage 2: `rename`

| rename client.geographicalContext.country as country, client.geographicalContext.state as state, client.geographicalContext.city as city

Stage 3: `stats`

| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
    BY app src_ip dest
       signature eventType displayMessage
       client.device city state
       country user_agent outcome.reason
       outcome.result severity

Stage 4: `search`

| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`

Stage 5: `search`

| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`

Stage 6: `search`

| `okta_threatinsight_threat_detected_filter`

Indicators

These rows show field, operator, and value matches.

Field	Kind	Values	Search
`eventType`	eq	`security.threat.detected`	`field:"eventType" kind:eq value:"security.threat.detected"`
`sourcetype`	eq	`OktaIM2:log`	`field:"sourcetype" kind:eq value:"OktaIM2:log"`