Detection rules › Splunk
Windows DNS Query Request by Telegram Bot API
The following analytic detects the execution of a DNS query by a process to the associated Telegram API domain, which could indicate access via a Telegram bot commonly used by malware for command and control (C2) communications. By monitoring DNS queries related to Telegram's infrastructure, the detection identifies potential attempts to establish covert communication channels between a compromised system and external malicious actors. This behavior is often observed in cyberattacks where Telegram bots are used to receive commands or exfiltrate data, making it a key indicator of suspicious or malicious activity within a network.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Command & Control | T1071.004 Application Layer Protocol: DNS, T1102.002 Web Service: Bidirectional Communication |
Event coverage
| Provider | Event ID | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Sysmon | 22 | DNSEvent (DNS query) |
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: search
search EventCode=22 process_name!="telegram.exe" query="api.telegram.org"
Stage 2: stats
stats BY answer, answer_count, dvc, process_exec, process_guid, process_name, query, query_count, reply_code_id, signature, signature_id, src, user_id, vendor_product, QueryName, QueryResults, QueryStatus
Stage 3: search
search
Stage 4: search
search
Stage 5: search
search `macro`
Indicators
Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.
| Field | Kind | Values |
|---|---|---|
EventCode | eq |
|
process_name | ne |
|
query | eq |
|