Azure Sentinel Documentation

Introduction to Azure Sentinel

Azure Sentinel is a scalable, cloud-native solution that provides security information and event management (SIEM) and security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) capabilities. Sentinel delivers intelligent security analytics and threat intelligence across the enterprise, providing a single solution for threat detection, threat visibility, proactive hunting, and threat response.

Key benefits of Azure Sentinel include:

• Cloud-Native: Built on Azure, offering scalability and flexibility.
• AI and ML Powered: Leverages machine learning for advanced threat detection.
• Unified Experience: Combines SIEM and SOAR capabilities.
• Broad Connectivity: Connects to a vast array of data sources.
• Proactive Hunting: Empowers security analysts to hunt for threats.

Getting Started with Azure Sentinel

To get started with Azure Sentinel, you need to:

1. Create an Azure Sentinel Workspace: This involves setting up a Log Analytics workspace where your security data will be stored.
2. Enable Azure Sentinel: Once the workspace is created, you can enable Azure Sentinel on it.
3. Connect Data Sources: Configure data connectors to ingest logs and events from various sources like Azure resources, Microsoft 365 services, firewalls, and other security solutions.

Data Connectors

Azure Sentinel offers a wide range of built-in data connectors to ingest data from various sources. These include:

• Microsoft Services (Azure AD, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Microsoft 365 Defender)
• AWS Services
• Firewalls (Palo Alto, Cisco, Fortinet)
• Operating Systems (Windows, Linux)
• Threat Intelligence Platforms
• And many more...

You can find and configure data connectors in the Azure Sentinel portal under the 'Data connectors' section.

Workbooks

Workbooks provide a flexible canvas for data analysis and the creation of rich visual reports within Azure Sentinel. They allow you to visualize your security data, identify trends, and gain insights into your security posture. You can use pre-built templates or create your own custom workbooks.

Analytics Rules

Analytics rules are the core of threat detection in Azure Sentinel. They allow you to create custom detection logic based on your data. Sentinel supports various types of analytics rules:

• Scheduled queries: Run Kusto Query Language (KQL) queries on a schedule.
• Microsoft Security (formerly Microsoft Threat Protection): Integrate alerts from other Microsoft security products.
• Machine Learning rules: Utilize built-in ML models for anomaly detection.

Incident Management

When an analytics rule triggers, it generates an incident. Azure Sentinel provides a robust incident management system to investigate, triage, and respond to security incidents. Incidents are enriched with contextual information, allowing analysts to make informed decisions.

Threat Hunting

Azure Sentinel empowers your security team to proactively hunt for threats using KQL. You can explore your data, write custom queries, and uncover suspicious activities that might have evaded automated detections. Sentinel provides a dedicated hunting interface and a rich library of hunting queries.

-- Example KQL query for threat hunting
SecurityEvent
| where EventID == 4624  // Successful logon events
| summarize count() by Account, Computer
| where count_ > 10      // Identify accounts with more than 10 successful logons
| project Account, Computer, logonCount = count_
| order by logonCount desc
            

Automation & Playbooks

Automate repetitive tasks and orchestrate response actions with playbooks. Playbooks are powered by Azure Logic Apps and can be triggered manually, by incidents, or by alerts. This allows for rapid response to security events, reducing manual effort and response times.

Authentication & Authorization

Azure Sentinel utilizes Azure's robust identity and access management features. Role-based access control (RBAC) is used to define who can perform what actions within Sentinel and the associated Log Analytics workspace. Ensure you assign appropriate roles to your security analysts.

Troubleshooting

Common troubleshooting steps include:

• Verifying data connector configurations.
• Checking Log Analytics ingestion rates and query performance.
• Reviewing analytics rule logic and thresholds.
• Ensuring correct RBAC permissions are assigned.

Refer to the official Azure documentation for detailed troubleshooting guides.