Google Compute Engine image created

Goal

Detect when a Google Compute Engine image is created.

Strategy

Monitor Google Cloud Audit Logs to determine when the following method is invoked from an external IP adddress:

  • v*.compute.images.insert

Triage and response

  1. Investigate the user ({{@usr.id}}) and IP address ({{@network.client.ip}}) where the image creation activity originated from and determine whether they are authorised to perform this activity.
  2. If the action is legitimate, consider including the user in a suppression list. See Best practices for creating detection rules with Datadog Cloud SIEM for more information.
  3. Otherwise, use the Cloud SIEM - User Investigation dashboard to see if the user {{@usr.id}} has taken other actions.
  4. If the results of the triage indicate that an attacker has taken the action, begin your company’s incident response process and an investigation.

Changelog

  • 17 August 2023 - Updated query to replace attribute @threat_intel.results.subcategory:tor with @threat_intel.results.category:tor.