Chat Messages

What the technique is

Adversaries may directly collect unsecured credentials stored or passed through user communication services. Credentials may be sent and stored in user chat communication applications such as email, chat services like Slack or Teams, collaboration tools like Jira or Trello, and any other services that support user communication. Users may share various forms of credentials (such as usernames and passwords, API keys, or authentication tokens) on private or public corporate internal communications channels. Rather than accessing the stored chat logs (i.e., Credentials In Files), adversaries may directly access credentials within these services on the user endpoint, through servers hosting the services, or through administrator portals for cloud hosted services. Adversaries may also compromise integration tools like Slack Workflows to automatically search through messages to extract user credentials. These credentials may then be abused to perform follow-on activities such as lateral movement or privilege escalation.

What MITRE says you would watch

• AN0309

  Detection correlates message events in email and collaboration tools (e.g., Outlook, Teams) that contain regex-like patterns resembling credentials, API keys, or tokens. Anomalous forwarding or bulk copy activity of chat/email content containing secrets is flagged. Suspicious behavior includes users pasting secrets into direct messages or attaching config files with passwords.

• AN0310

  Detection monitors SaaS collaboration tools (e.g., Slack, Zoom, Jira) for messages or files containing credential-like patterns, or for suspicious API calls retrieving bulk chat histories by non-admin users. Identifies adversary behavior chains where chat logs are queried via APIs or integration bots to systematically extract sensitive material.