Azure Activity Logs: Alert on First-Time Source IP for Subscription-Level Rare Operations

Alerts when specified Azure subscription operations occur from a new, previously unseen source IP.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v5

Product: azure
Service: activitylogs
Author: sawwinnnaung (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2026-07-31

ATT&CK techniques

Cred Access

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
- T1003OS Credential Dumping
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule flags subscription-level Azure activity when a request originates from a source IP that has not been seen before. It focuses on rare operations such as listing access keys for multiple Azure resource types and write actions like snapshot creation and network security group changes. Unfamiliar source IPs can indicate new access paths or potential credential misuse, and the detection relies on Azure Activity Log event telemetry that includes the operation name and request source IP.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1003 — drag to rearrange

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Possible OxideHarvest Stealer Execution via Combined Short Flag Set

Suspicious Credential Dump Attempt via Task Manager (via process_creation)

Suspicious Ivanti EPMM Database Dump via mysqldump with .mifpp Credentials (via process_creation)

Suspicious Credential Dump via lsa.exe Debug Output

Malicious Wdigest Authentication Enabled - Reg via Command (via process_creation)

Azure Activity Logs: Alert on First-Time Source IP for Subscription-Level Rare Operations

Pivot detection · T1003 · 9 related

Changelog

v5
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v4
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v3
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v2
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v1
No changelog recorded for this version.2026-07-30

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.

azure-activity-logs-alert-on-rare-subscription-level-operations-from-new-source--c1182e02

title: "Azure Activity Logs: Alert on First-Time Source IP for Subscription-Level Rare Operations"
id: 29cc27ba-9ce4-449e-bada-0b16c8074ce4
status: test
description: This rule flags subscription-level Azure activity when a request originates from a source IP that has not been seen before. It focuses on rare operations such as listing access keys for multiple Azure resource types and write actions like snapshot creation and network security group changes. Unfamiliar source IPs can indicate new access paths or potential credential misuse, and the detection relies on Azure Activity Log event telemetry that includes the operation name and request source IP.
references:
  - https://github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel/blob/e534407884b1ec5371efc9f76ead282176c9e8bb/Detections/AzureActivity/RareOperations.yaml
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/cloud/azure/activity_logs/azure_rare_operations.yml
author: sawwinnnaung, Huntrule Team
date: 2020-05-07
modified: 2023-10-11
tags:
  - attack.t1003
  - attack.credential-access
logsource:
  product: azure
  service: activitylogs
detection:
  keywords:
    - Microsoft.DocumentDB/databaseAccounts/listKeys/action
    - Microsoft.Maps/accounts/listKeys/action
    - Microsoft.Media/mediaservices/listKeys/action
    - Microsoft.CognitiveServices/accounts/listKeys/action
    - Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/listKeys/action
    - Microsoft.Compute/snapshots/write
    - Microsoft.Network/networkSecurityGroups/write
  condition: keywords
falsepositives:
  - Valid change
level: medium
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: c1182e02-49a3-481c-b3de-0fadc4091488
    type: derived

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