Detection rules › Splunk

Zscaler CryptoMiner Downloaded Threat Blocked

Status
production
Severity
low
Group by
action, dest, deviceowner, src, url, urlcategory, user
Author
Gowthamaraj Rajendran, Rod Soto, Splunk
Source
github.com/splunk/security_content

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

TacticTechniques
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.