↳ GitHub sourceAnalytics ruleLow

Creation of expensive computes in Azure

Description

'Identifies the creation of large size or expensive VMs (with GPUs or with a large number of virtual CPUs) in Azure. An adversary may create new or update existing virtual machines to evade defenses or use them for cryptomining purposes. For Windows/Linux Vm Sizes, see https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/virtual-machines/windows/sizes Azure VM Naming Conventions, see https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/virtual-machines/vm-naming-conventions'
Rule type
Scheduled
Version
2.0.3
Declared status
Available
Query frequency
1d
Query period
1d
Trigger
gt 1

Declared MITRE coverage

Declared sources

Metadata from the source file. No dependencies inferred from KQL.

Connectors

Data types

KQL query

Original query, unchanged.

let tokens = dynamic(["416","208","192","128","120","96","80","72","64","48","44","40","nc12","nc24","nv24"]);
let operationList = dynamic(["microsoft.compute/virtualmachines/write", "microsoft.resources/deployments/write"]);
AzureActivity
| where OperationNameValue in~ (operationList)
| where ActivityStatusValue startswith "Accept"
| where Properties has 'vmSize'
| extend parsed_property= parse_json(tostring((parse_json(Properties).responseBody))).properties
| extend vmSize = tostring((parsed_property.hardwareProfile).vmSize)
| mv-apply token=tokens to typeof(string) on (where vmSize contains token)
| extend ComputerName = tostring((parsed_property.osProfile).computerName)
| project TimeGenerated, OperationNameValue, ActivityStatusValue, Caller, CallerIpAddress, ComputerName, vmSize
| extend Name = tostring(split(Caller,'@',0)[0]), UPNSuffix = tostring(split(Caller,'@',1)[0])

Declared entities

AccountHostIP

Related content

Links established from declared identifiers and solution manifests.

Source provenance

GitHub

Displayed values come from files in Azure/Azure-Sentinel. They describe the published template, not your workspace configuration.

Source identifier
9736e5f1-7b6e-4bfb-a708-e53ff1d182c3
Additional source files 3Solutions/Azure Activity/Analytic Rules/Creation_of_Expensive_Computes_in_Azure.yamlsource ↗Detections/AzureActivity/Creation_of_Expensive_Computes_in_Azure.yamlmigration-note ↗Solutions/Azure Activity/Data/Solution_AzureActivity.jsonsolution-membership ↗
GSTEP / CATALOG TRACKING

Added to catalog : 16 Sept 2026 · 05:49 UTC
Last change observed : 16 Sept 2026 · 05:49 UTC

GSTEP sync dates, separate from the source content’s publication dates.