Detection rules › Splunk
Zscaler CryptoMiner Downloaded Threat Blocked
The following analytic identifies attempts to download cryptomining software that are blocked by Zscaler. It leverages web proxy logs to detect blocked actions associated with cryptominer threats, analyzing key data points such as device owner, user, URL category, destination URL, and IP. This activity is significant for a SOC as it helps in early identification and mitigation of cryptomining activities, which can compromise network integrity and resource availability. If confirmed malicious, this activity could lead to unauthorized use of network resources for cryptomining, potentially degrading system performance and increasing operational costs.
Known false positives
- False positives are limited to Zscaler configuration.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Initial Access |
Rule body
name: Zscaler CryptoMiner Downloaded Threat Blocked
id: ed76ce37-bab9-4ec0-bf3e-9c6a6cf43365
version: 9
creation_date: '2024-04-17'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Gowthamaraj Rajendran, Rod Soto, Splunk
status: production
type: Anomaly
description: The following analytic identifies attempts to download cryptomining software that are blocked by Zscaler. It leverages web proxy logs to detect blocked actions associated with cryptominer threats, analyzing key data points such as device owner, user, URL category, destination URL, and IP. This activity is significant for a SOC as it helps in early identification and mitigation of cryptomining activities, which can compromise network integrity and resource availability. If confirmed malicious, this activity could lead to unauthorized use of network resources for cryptomining, potentially degrading system performance and increasing operational costs.
data_source: []
search: |-
`zscaler_proxy` action=blocked threatname=*miner*
| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
BY action deviceowner user
urlcategory url src
dest
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `zscaler_cryptominer_downloaded_threat_blocked_filter`
how_to_implement: You must install the latest version of Zscaler Add-on from Splunkbase. You must be ingesting Zscaler events into your Splunk environment through an ingester. This analytic was written to be used with the "zscalernss-web" sourcetype leveraging the Zscaler proxy data. This enables the integration with Splunk Enterprise Security. Security teams are encouraged to adjust the detection parameters, ensuring the detection is tailored to their specific environment.
known_false_positives: False positives are limited to Zscaler configuration.
references:
- https://help.zscaler.com/zia/nss-feed-output-format-web-logs
intermediate_findings:
entities:
- field: src
type: system
score: 20
message: Potential CryptoMiner Downloaded Threat from dest -[$dest$] on $src$ for user-[$user$].
- field: user
type: user
score: 20
message: Potential CryptoMiner Downloaded Threat from dest -[$dest$] on $src$ for user-[$user$].
threat_objects:
- field: url
type: url
analytic_story:
- Zscaler Browser Proxy Threats
asset_type: Web Server
mitre_attack_id:
- T1566
product:
- Splunk Enterprise
- Splunk Enterprise Security
- Splunk Cloud
category: web
security_domain: threat
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: search
`zscaler_proxy` action=blocked threatname=*miner*
Stage 2: stats
| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
BY action deviceowner user
urlcategory url src
dest
Stage 3: search
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
Stage 4: search
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
Stage 5: search
| `zscaler_cryptominer_downloaded_threat_blocked_filter`
Indicators
These rows show field, operator, and value matches.
| Field | Kind | Values | Search |
|---|---|---|---|
action | eq |
| field:"action" kind:eq value:"blocked" |
sourcetype | eq |
| field:"sourcetype" kind:eq value:"zscalernss-web" |
threatname | eq |
| field:"threatname" kind:eq value:"*miner*" |