Cisco Duo Policy Allow Devices Without Screen Lock

SPLUNK detection rule by Patrick Bareiss, Splunk · Apache-2.0

The following analytic detects when a Duo policy is created or updated to allow devices without a screen lock requirement. It identifies this behavior by searching Duo administrator activity logs for policy creation or update events where the 'require_lock' setting is set to false. This action may indicate a weakening of device security controls, potentially exposing the organization to unauthorized access if devices are lost or stolen. For a Security Operations Center (SOC), identifying such policy changes is critical, as attackers or malicious insiders may attempt to lower authentication standards to facilitate unauthorized access. The impact of this attack could include increased risk of credential compromise, data breaches, or lateral movement within the environment due to reduced device security requirements.

name: Cisco Duo Policy Allow Devices Without Screen Lock
id: 114c616b-c793-465d-a80d-758c9fe8a704
version: 6
creation_date: '2025-07-10'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Patrick Bareiss, Splunk
status: production
type: TTP
description: |
    The following analytic detects when a Duo policy is created or updated to allow devices without a screen lock requirement. It identifies this behavior
    by searching Duo administrator activity logs for policy creation or update events where the 'require_lock' setting is set to false. This action may indicate
    a weakening of device security controls, potentially exposing the organization to unauthorized access if devices are lost or stolen. For a Security Operations
    Center (SOC), identifying such policy changes is critical, as attackers or malicious insiders may attempt to lower authentication standards to facilitate
    unauthorized access. The impact of this attack could include increased risk of credential compromise, data breaches, or lateral movement within the
    environment due to reduced device security requirements.
data_source:
    - Cisco Duo Administrator
search: |-
    `cisco_duo_administrator` action=policy_update OR action=policy_create
      | spath input=description
      | search require_lock=false
      | rename object as user
      | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
        BY action actionlabel description
           user admin_email
      | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
      | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
      | `cisco_duo_policy_allow_devices_without_screen_lock_filter`
how_to_implement: The analytic leverages Duo activity logs to be ingested using the Cisco Security Cloud App (https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/7404).
known_false_positives: No false positives have been identified at this time.
references:
    - https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/7404
drilldown_searches:
    - name: View the detection results for - "$user$"
      search: '%original_detection_search% | search  user = "$user$"'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
    - name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$user$"
      search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$user$") | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
      earliest_offset: 7d
      latest_offset: "0"
finding:
    title: A policy has been created or updated to allow devices without screen lock by user $user$ with email $admin_email$
    entity:
        field: user
        type: user
        score: 50
analytic_story:
    - Cisco Duo Suspicious Activity
asset_type: Identity
mitre_attack_id:
    - T1556
product:
    - Splunk Enterprise
    - Splunk Enterprise Security
    - Splunk Cloud
category: application
security_domain: identity
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1556/cisco_duo_policy_allow_devices_without_screen_lock/cisco_duo_administrator.json
          source: duo
          sourcetype: cisco:duo:administrator
      test_type: unit

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Executable code, not a declarative rule

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Format & documentation suggestions

Not a security issue — this rule is valid and was accepted as-is. These are optional fields/conventions its own format recommends, mainly affecting its quality score and how well it documents itself for other reviewers.

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