Black Basta Hunting with Microsoft Defender XDR

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The MessageEvents table in Microsoft Defender XDR’s advanced hunting schema provides critical insights into messages sent and received within an organization. This is particularly useful for tracking threats like Black Basta ransomware and other email-based attacks.

🔗 Reference: MessageEvents Table in Defender XDR

You Should Know: Advanced Hunting with KQL

1. Extracting Suspicious Emails

Use KQL (Kusto Query Language) to detect phishing or malware-laden emails:

MessageEvents 
| where SenderFromAddress contains "blackbasta" 
| where Subject has "Urgent" or Subject has "Payment" 
| project Timestamp, SenderFromAddress, RecipientEmailAddress, Subject, InternetMessageId

2. Detecting Malicious Attachments

Identify emails with executable attachments:

MessageEvents 
| where AttachmentCount > 0 
| where FileName endswith ".exe" or FileName endswith ".js" 
| summarize Count=count() by SenderFromAddress, FileName
  1. Tracking Email Forwarding Rules (Potential Account Takeover)

Attackers often create forwarding rules post-compromise:

MessageEvents 
| where ActionType == "MailForwarded" 
| where RecipientEmailAddress != UserEmail 
| project Timestamp, UserEmail, RecipientEmailAddress
  1. Hunting for Black Basta Command-and-Control (C2) Communications

Look for suspicious URLs in emails:

MessageEvents 
| where URLCount > 0 
| where EmailDirection == "Inbound" 
| where URL has "blackbasta" or URL has "malicious-domain.com"
  1. Enabling Defender XDR for MessageEvents (If Missing)

If the `MessageEvents` table isn’t visible, ensure:

  • Defender for Office 365 is enabled.
  • Advanced Hunting preview features are activated.

Run in PowerShell (Admin):

Set-OrganizationConfig -AdvancedHuntingSchemaExtensions @("MessageEvents")

What Undercode Say

  • Defender XDR’s advanced hunting is a powerful tool for tracking ransomware campaigns like Black Basta.
  • KQL queries help automate threat detection in email traffic.
  • Always monitor unusual email forwarding and malicious attachments.
  • Enable logging if `MessageEvents` is missing (requires Defender for Office 365).

Additional Useful Commands

Linux (Log Analysis)

grep -i "blackbasta" /var/log/mail.log 
journalctl -u postfix --since "1 hour ago" | grep "[email protected]"

Windows (Defender & Logs)

Get-MessageTrace -Sender "[email protected]" -StartDate (Get-Date).AddDays(-7) 
Get-MalwareFilterPolicy | Select-Object Name, Action

MITRE ATT&CK Techniques Related to Black Basta

  • T1566.001 (Phishing: Spearphishing Attachment)
  • T1071.001 (Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols)

Prediction

As Black Basta evolves, expect:

  • More obfuscated email lures (e.g., PDFs with embedded scripts).
  • Increased use of legitimate cloud services for C2.
  • Defender XDR will likely add more pre-built hunting queries for ransomware.

Expected Output:

  • KQL queries for email threat hunting.
  • PowerShell commands to enable logging.
  • Linux/Windows commands for log analysis.
  • Prediction on Black Basta’s next moves.

🔗 Further Reading: Microsoft Defender XDR Documentation

References:

Reported By: 0x534c Defenderxdr – Hackers Feeds
Extra Hub: Undercode MoN
Basic Verification: Pass ✅

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