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M365 SharePoint Search for Sensitive Content

Identifies search queries in SharePoint containing sensitive terms related to credentials, financial data, PII, legal matters, or infrastructure information. Adversaries who compromise user accounts often search for…

Description

Identifies search queries in SharePoint containing sensitive terms related to credentials, financial data, PII, legal matters, or infrastructure information. Adversaries who compromise user accounts often search for high-value files before exfiltration. This rule detects searches containing terms across multiple sensitivity categories, regardless of the access method (browser, PowerShell, or API). The actual search query text is analyzed against a curated list of sensitive terms to identify potential reconnaissance activity.

Detection logic

Its licence does not clear it for publishing here

Sunturai publishes a detection's own text where the licence it arrived under has been reviewed and permits it, and Elastic License 2.0 has not. The query as its source wrote it, its canonical form and the hash that pins this revision are in the workspace record.

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Detection requirements

Platform
IaaSLinuxmacOSOffice SuiteSaaSWindows

The rule states no platform. This is derived from the 3 ATT&CK techniques it maps to.

Log source category
event_index

Known benign triggers

  • HR or finance personnel legitimately searching for employee or financial records.
  • IT administrators searching for configuration or infrastructure documentation.
  • Legal teams searching for contract or privileged documents.
  • Security or compliance teams using eDiscovery or Content Search for legitimate investigations.

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