Critical Financially Motivated TLP:CLEAR

Scattered Spider

Threat Hunting Guide • 4-6 hours

Social engineering specialists targeting identity providers. Native English speakers impersonating IT staff for credential resets, MFA fatigue attacks, SIM swapping, and Okta/Entra ID compromise. Affiliated with DragonForce ransomware.

🎯
Hunt Modules
10
⏱️
Duration
4-6 hrs
⚔️
MITRE Techniques
60+
🌍
Origin
US/UK
💰
RaaS Affiliate
DragonForce
📄

Download Full Hunting Guide

Complete guide with 10 hunt modules, identity provider detection queries, social engineering indicators, and IOCs.

10 Hunt Modules

1
Help Desk Social Engineering Detection
30 min • Critical
2
MFA Anomaly Detection (Push Bombing)
30 min • Critical
3
Identity Provider Compromise Detection
45 min • Critical
4
Phishing Infrastructure Hunting
30 min • High
5
RMM Tool Detection
30 min • High
6
Cloud IAM Anomaly Detection
45 min • Critical
7
Email Manipulation Detection
30 min • High
8
Tunneling & Proxy Detection
30 min • High
9
Credential Dumping & Lateral Movement
30 min • High
10
Data Exfiltration Hunting
30 min • High

Detection Rules

Copy these queries to detect Scattered Spider activity in your environment.

MFA Fatigue Attack Detection (Okta)

index=okta sourcetype=OktaIM2:log
eventType="user.mfa.okta_verify.deny_push"
| bucket _time span=5m
| stats count by user, _time
| where count > 5

New MFA Device Registration

index=okta sourcetype=OktaIM2:log
eventType="user.mfa.factor.activate"
| stats count by user, displayMessage, client.ipAddress
| lookup known_mfa_devices.csv user OUTPUT expected_device
| where isnull(expected_device)

Unauthorized RMM Tool Installation

index=windows sourcetype=WinEventLog
(ProcessName="*TeamViewer*" OR ProcessName="*AnyDesk*" OR ProcessName="*ScreenConnect*" OR ProcessName="*ngrok*")
| stats count by ComputerName, ProcessName, User
| where NOT match(ComputerName, "IT-*")

Need More Detection Rules?

The full guide includes 20+ additional detection signatures for identity providers and cloud environments.

Download Full Guide

Disclaimer: These detection rules are provided for defensive security purposes. Always test rules in a non-production environment before deployment. Rules may require tuning for your specific environment. Sources: CISA AA23-320A, Mandiant UNC3944.

Key Attack Techniques

Social Engineering

• Help desk impersonation calls
• SMS phishing (smishing)
• SIM swapping for MFA bypass
• MFA fatigue / push bombing

Identity Provider Targeting

• Okta admin console access
• Entra ID conditional access bypass
• Federated trust manipulation
• New MFA device registration

Persistence & Access

• TeamViewer, AnyDesk, ngrok
• Email forwarding rules
• Slack/Teams monitoring
• Counter-IR surveillance

Notable Victims

• MGM Resorts ($100M impact)
• Caesars ($15M ransom)
• Marks & Spencer (£300M)
• Snowflake customers
🛡️

Detect Identity-Based Attacks

BRACE monitors for Scattered Spider TTPs including MFA anomalies, identity provider compromise, and social engineering indicators.