Malware Detections Test
Malware is comprised of viruses and spyware. Viruses infect other programs and data, and they spread throughout your computer looking for programs to infect. Spyware refers to malware that gathers your personal information, such as sign-in information and personal data, and sends it back to the malware author.
Mailboxes hosted in Exchange Online are vulnerable and may get infected by malware. When this happens, administrators should be able to promptly identify the malware that has attacked the mailboxes, accurately capture the files infected by it, and also isolate the senders/receivers who are sending/receiving the malware. This will help them tweak Exchange Online's built-in anti-malware protection policies, so that such policies acquire the ability to shield the mailboxes in Exchange Online from that malware. This is where the Malware Detections test helps!
This test promptly captures the different types of malware infecting the mailboxes in Exchange Online. For each malware type, the test then reports the count of inbound and outbound mails infected by the malware of that type, the count of senders sending that malware, and the count of receivers receiving it. With the help of this information, administrators can assess the severity of the malware infection and may even to choose to review and, if required, reconfigure the default anti-malware protection policies of Exchange Online.
Moreover, the detailed metrics reported by the test reveal the top senders and receivers of malware. This will point you to email traffic that you may want to track closely.
The test also reports the malware size in both incoming and outgoing mails, with detailed diagnosis pointing you to the senders/receivers who sent/received malware of large sizes. If the mailboxes of such senders/receivers exhibit abnormal growth suddenly, you may want to check these detailed metrics to see if that can be attributed to the malware size.
Target of the test : Exchange Online
Agent deploying the test : A remote agent
Outputs of the test : One set of results for each malware that is infecting mailboxes
First-level descriptor: Malware
| Parameters | Description |
|---|---|
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Test period |
How often should the test be executed |
|
Host |
The host for which the test is to be configured. By default, this is portal.office.com |
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Tenant Name |
This parameter applies only if you want the eG agent to use Azure AD Certificate-based Authentication for accessing and monitoring an O365 tenant and its resources. Azure AD certificate-based authentication (CBA) enables customers to allow or require users to authenticate with X.509 certificates against their Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) for applications and browser sign-in. When monitoring highly secure Office 365 environments, you can configure the eG agent to identify itself to a tenant using a valid X.509 certificate, so that it is allowed secure access to the tenant and its resources. By default, the value of this parameter is none. This means that, by default, the eG agent does not use certificate-based authentication to connect to an O365 tenant. On the other hand, if you want the eG agent to use this modern authentication technique to securely access a tenant's resources, you should do the following:
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O365 User Name, O365 Password, and Confirm Password |
For execution, this test requires the privileges of an O365 user who is vested with the View-Only Audit Logs, View-Only Recipients, Mail Recipients, and Mailbox Import Export permissions. Configure the credentials of such a user against O365 User Name and O365 Password text boxes. Confirm the password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box. While you can use the credentials of any existing O365 user with the afore-said privileges, it is recommended that you create a special user for monitoring purposes using the Office 365 portal and use the credentials of that user here. To know how to create a new user using the Office 365 portal and assign the required privileges to that user, refer to Creating a New User in the Office 365 Portal |
|
Domain, Domain User Name, Domain Password, and Confirm Password |
These parameters are applicable only if the eG agent needs to communicate with the Office 365 portal via a Proxy server. In this case, in the Domain text box, specify the name of the Windows domain to which the eG agent host belongs. In the Domain User Name text box, mention the name of a valid domain user with login rights to the eG agent host. Provide the password of that user in the Domain Password text box and confirm that password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box. On the other hand, if the eG agent is not behind a Proxy server, then you need not disturb the default setting of these parameters. By default, these parameters are set to none. |
|
Proxy Host, Proxy Port, Proxy User Name, and Proxy Password |
These parameters are applicable only if the eG agent needs to communicate with the Office 365 portal via a Proxy server. In this case, provide the IP/host name and port number of the Proxy server that the eG agent should use in the Proxy Host and Proxy Port parameters, respectively. If the Proxy server requires authentication, then specify the credentials of a valid Proxy user against the Proxy User Name and Proxy Password text boxes. Confirm that password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box. If the Proxy server does not require authentication, then specify none against the Proxy User Name, Proxy Password, and Confirm Password text boxes. On the other hand, if the eG agent is not behind a Proxy server, then you need not disturb the default setting of any of the Proxy-related parameters. By default, these parameters are set to none. |
|
DD Frequency |
Refers to the frequency with which detailed diagnosis measures are to be generated for this test. The default is 1:1. This indicates that, by default, detailed measures will be generated every time the test runs, and also every time the test detects a problem. You can modify this frequency, if you so desire. Also, if you intend to disable the detailed diagnosis capability for this test, you can do so by specifying none against DD Frequency. |
|
Detailed Diagnosis |
To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option. The option to selectively enabled/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled:
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| Measurement | Description | Measurement Unit | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Inbound malware items |
Indicates the number of inbound emails carrying this malware. |
Number |
A high value for this measure is a cause for concern, as it indicates that incoming mail traffic is severely infected by malware. In this case, use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to view the top-20 receivers, in terms of the number of malware-infected mails they received. This information, thus points administrators to those receivers who were worst hit by malware. |
|
Outbound malware items |
Indicates the number of outbound emails carrying this malware. |
Number |
A high value for this measure is a cause for concern, as it indicates that outgoing mail traffic is severely infected by malware. In this case, use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to view the top-20 senders, in terms of the number of malware-infected mails they sent. This will also point you to those senders who are probably responsible for spreading the malware infection. |
|
Inbound malware size |
Indicates the total size of this malware in incoming mails. |
GB |
If the value of this measure is abnormally high, then use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to view the top-20 receivers, in terms of the malware size in the mails they received. If the mailbox of these receivers increase in size suddenly, then check the malware size of these receivers to see if the malware caused the abnormal mailbox growth. |
|
Outbound malware size |
Indicates the total size of this malware in outgoing mails. |
GB |
If the value of this measure is abnormally high, then use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to view the top-20 senders, in terms of the malware size in the mails they sent. If the mailbox size of these senders increase suddenly, then check the malware size of these senders to see if the malware caused the abnormal mailbox growth. |
|
Unique senders |
Indicates the number of unique senders of this malware. |
Number |
Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to view the top-20 senders, in terms of the number of malware-infected mails they sent . |
|
Unique receivers |
Indicates the number of unique receivers of this malware. |
Number |
Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to view the top-20 receivers, in terms of the number of malware-infected mails they received. |
The detailed diagnosis of the Inbound malware items measure lists the top-20 receivers, in terms of the number of malware-infected mails they received. This will point you to that receiver who received the maximum number of malware-infected mails and was hence affected the worst by it. With the help of the detailed metrics, you can also accurately identify who sent the malware-infected mails to the top receiver, the file that was infected, and the malware size. Using this information, administrators can tell over which email communication - i.e., communication between which sender and receiver - the maximum number of malware items were trafficked; such email communication may be pulled up for closer monitoring.
Figure 1 : The detailed diagnosis of the Inbound malware items measure
The detailed diagnosis of the Outbound malware items measure lists the top-20 senders, in terms of the number of malware-infected mails they sent. This will point you to that sender who sent the maximum number of malware-infected mails, thus causing the infection to spread. With the help of the detailed metrics, you can also accurately identify who received the malware-infected mails from the top sender, the file that was infected, and the malware size. Using this information, administrators can tell over which email communication - i.e., communication between which sender and receiver - the maximum number of malware items were trafficked; such email communication may be pulled up for closer monitoring.
Figure 2 : The detailed diagnosis of the Outbound malware items measure
Use the detailed diagnosis of the Unique senders measure to view the top-20 senders, in terms of the number of malware-infected mails they sent . This will point administrators to that sender who caused a malware to spread. The total size of the malware sent by each sender is also displayed.
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Figure 3 : The detailed diagnosis of the Unique senders measure reported by the Malware Detections test
Use the detailed diagnosis of the Unique receivers measure to view the top-20 receivers, in terms of the number of malware-infected mails they received. This will point administrators to that receiver who was most affected by the malware. The total size of the malware received by each receiver is also displayed.
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Figure 4 : The detailed diagnosis of the Unique receivers measure reported by the Malware Detections test
