Cybersecruity Compression #

During Sprint II, we'll jump into the heart of our digital domain, proactively seeking out potential threats and honing our capabilities to respond swiftly.

We'll focus on strengthening our threat detection mechanisms and refining our incident response strategies.

But first, let me take you back in time to how everything started.

The Emerge and Advance Of Cybersecurity Since Computer Birth

The history of incident response and threat detection in cybersecurity has witnessed a remarkable evolution over several decades. It began with the nascent stages of cybersecurity in the 1960s and 1970s, where security measures were primarily focused on the physical protection of mainframe computers.

The 1980s brought the first computer viruses, prompting the development of early anti-virus software and simple intrusion detection systems. As the threat landscape expanded, the 1990s saw the rise of firewalls and Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS), with the establishment of CERT organizations for incident response coordination.

The early 2000s marked a turning point with high-profile worm outbreaks, necessitating more advanced threat detection and Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems. Subsequently, the adoption of cybersecurity frameworks, threat intelligence sharing, and the integration of machine learning and artificial intelligence became paramount in the 2010s.

Today, cloud security, automation through SOAR platforms, and the ever-increasing importance of compliance and regulations such as GDPR and CCPA shape the landscape.

Cyber is marked by continual innovation and adaptation to address the evolving threat landscape in a very brief timeline. As cyber threats become more sophisticated, we, the cybersecurity community, continue to develop new tools, techniques, and strategies to protect digital assets and data.

SOCs, Guardians of Cybersecurity #

The Security Operations Center (SOC) is a critical component in modern cybersecurity. In the early days, organizations relied on isolated security measures, such as firewalls and antivirus software.

Security Operations Center, IBM USA Office

The concept of a SOC began to take shape as threats grew in complexity.

Today's SOCs are a far cry from their predecessors. We incorporate advanced technologies, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to analyze vast amounts of data in real-time, enabling proactive threat detection and response.

Organizations began to establish SOC-like functions in response to the emerging need for coordinated and centralized security efforts.

Function	Description
Monitoring	Real-time monitoring of network, system, and application activities to detect anomalies and potential threats.
Incident Response	Quick and effective response to security incidents, minimizing potential damage.
Threat Intelligence	Gathering and analyzing threat intelligence to proactively defend against evolving threats.
Vulnerability Management	Identifying and mitigating vulnerabilities in the organization's systems and infrastructure.
Compliance and Reporting	Ensuring adherence to relevant regulations and providing reports to stakeholders and authorities.

The Security Operations Center has come a long way from its origins, evolving to meet the ever-changing landscape of cybersecurity. Its role in protecting organizations and their data continues to grow in importance as threats become more sophisticated. The future of SOCs promises even more integration of advanced technologies and adaptive strategies to safeguard against evolving threats.

Deciphering Sprint Two #

In today's ever-evolving digital landscape, safeguarding our digital assets is of paramount importance.

The second sprint in our journey is dedicated to augmenting our capabilities in cyberspace, ensuring that we are not just prepared, but exceptionally well-prepared to identify and address security threats effectively.

This sprint revolves around two pivotal processes, both of which are instrumental in fortifying our security posture.

Elucidating Operational Strategies #

Our initial focus lies in elucidating the operational strategies needed to combat modern threats. In this regard, we aim to craft a comprehensive plan to tackle security challenges, ensuring that you, our valued stakeholders, receive timely alerts and robust protection when security incidents occur. The key elements of this endeavor include:

• Implementation of cutting-edge threat detection techniques.
• Streamlining incident classification and response protocols.
• Rigorously evaluating the effectiveness of our security tools and technologies.

To provide you with a clearer insight into our efforts, we have organized this information into a concise table:

Focus Area	Description
Advanced Threat Detection	Incorporating state-of-the-art techniques and tools to identify and preempt emerging security threats.
Incident Response Optimization	Enhancing our ability to swiftly and effectively respond to security incidents, minimizing potential damage.
Tools and Technology Evaluation	A comprehensive assessment of our current security tools and technologies to ensure they meet the evolving threat landscape.

This table provides a succinct overview of the primary areas we will address during this sprint. It encapsulates our commitment to excellence and proactive security practices.

Real-Time Incident Response #

Following the elucidation of our operational strategies, we will delve into the practical aspects of responding to security incidents in real-time. To this end, we will leverage the power of Microsoft Sentinel.

We will provide a comprehensive explanation of how to become efficient in incident response. We look forward to sharing our progress and insights with you as we guide you along the way.

Threat Detection #

Threat detection is a critical component of modern cybersecurity practices. It involves identifying and responding to potential security threats in an organization's systems.

Threat Detection Flow Through Network

Effective threat detection helps organizations mitigate risks and protect sensitive data.

• Minimizing the impact of potential cyberattacks
• Empowering organizations to thrive in a digital world.
• Ensuring rapid identification and containment of security risks.

Our approach to threat detection involved leveraging Microsoft Sentinel, Azure Security Center, and other security solutions to continuously monitor our environment for suspicious activities.

Additionally, we conducted threat hunting exercises to proactively seek out potential threats. During the sprint, our threat detection efforts led to several key findings;

Key Finding	Action Taken
Operate hundred of use cases to enhance security posture	Enterprise Security Assess
Potential insider threat through anomalous access patterns	In-depth analysis and employee training
Critical zero-day vulnerability exploit	Emergency patch deploy

We, then, employed alert rules and machine learning models to detect anomalies in user behavior and system activities, get ready, things will get exposed next.

Intrusion Detection Systems #

IDS is integral to modern cybersecurity and is literally used to collect violations centrally towards our SIEM, they play a crucial role in enhancing threat detection, incident response, and overall security.

The system provides real-time alerts when suspicious activities are detected, allowing security teams to respond promptly to potential threats.

IDS can identify a wide range of threats, including malware, unauthorized access attempts, port scans, and DoS attacks. They record and log incidents, which aids in forensic analysis and understanding the extent of a security breach.

Intrusion Detection Systems

There are two main types of IDS:

• Network-based IDS (NIDS): Monitors network traffic and identifies suspicious patterns or anomalies.
• Host-based IDS (HIDS): Operates on individual hosts or servers, monitoring system activities and file integrity.

We will process IDS alerts in real-time, allowing security teams to receive immediate alerts when suspicious activities are detected and correlate data with other security data sources, providing a more comprehensive view of potential threats and their context.

Intrusion Prevention Systems #

An IPS is a cybersecurity technology that works in conjunction with an IDS and is a component of our SIEM. While IDS is designed to monitor network traffic and detect suspicious or potentially malicious activities, IPS goes a step further by actively preventing or blocking those threats.

Feature	Intrusion Detection System (IDS)	Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)
Function	Monitors network traffic for suspicious activities and security threats.	Not only detects threats but also takes active measures to block or prevent them.
Alerting	Generates alerts or notifications when potential threats are detected.	Notifies and actively blocks or contains malicious activities.
Action	Passive; only observes and reports.	Active; can block, drop, or alter network traffic to prevent attacks.
False Positives	More false positives are acceptable since it doesn't take direct action.	Must minimize false positives, as it can disrupt legitimate traffic.
Network Impact	Minimal network impact.	Can introduce latency or disrupt network traffic if not well-tuned.

The Unified Security Trinity Systems #

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems like Microsoft Sentinel enhance security by aggregating, correlating, and analyzing data from various security sources employing both IDS and IPS.

• IDS Integration: SIEM systems collect alerts and log data generated by IDS. They analyze this data to identify patterns, trends, and potential security incidents. This allows security teams to investigate and respond to detected threats more effectively.

• IPS Integration: SIEM systems also integrate with IPS solutions. They capture and store IPS events, including the actions taken to prevent or block intrusions. This data is valuable for compliance reporting, incident response, and threat hunting.

SIEM systems, like Microsoft Sentinel, integrate with both IDS and IPS to provide comprehensive security monitoring, analysis, and incident response capabilities. Together, these components create a more comprehensive security posture within an organization, helping to identify, respond to, and prevent cyber threats.

Our Approach To Threat Assessment #

In the realm of cybersecurity, the ability to swiftly and effectively detect threats is of paramount importance. Central to this endeavor is the utilization of Kusto Query Language (KQL), a powerful and versatile tool by Microsoft, initialized as part of Data Explorer, that plays a pivotal role in analytics rule creation and data visualization.

Inventing the Deep: Jacques Cousteau's Underwater Breathing Apparatus

Key Reasons for the Importance of KQL #

1. Flexibility and Versatility: KQL offers a high degree of flexibility and adaptability in constructing queries. Security analysts can tailor queries to their specific needs, allowing for the customization of threat detection rules based on the unique characteristics of their network and infrastructure.

2. Real-Time Data Analysis: KQL allows for real-time data analysis, which is crucial in identifying and responding to emerging threats promptly. It empowers organizations to monitor and detect anomalies as they occur, reducing the time window for potential security breaches.

3. Rich Data Sources: KQL can query a wide variety of data sources, including logs, telemetry, and other security-related data. This breadth of data sources enables comprehensive threat detection, as it can analyze data from diverse points within an organization's IT environment.

4. Scalability: As organizations grow and generate more data, KQL scales efficiently to handle increasing data volumes. It ensures that security teams can maintain effective threat detection, even in large and complex infrastructures.

5. Advanced Query Capabilities: KQL provides advanced query features, such as filtering, aggregating, and joining data from multiple sources. These capabilities enable the creation of sophisticated threat detection rules that can identify complex attack patterns and security breaches.

KQL stands as an indispensable tool for cyber, offering unparalleled flexibility, real-time data analysis, and access to rich data sources.

Its scalability and advanced query capabilities empower security analysts to create and fine-tune threat detection rules tailored to their organization's specific needs.

KQL can also target specific sources and construct workbooks, opening new avenues for in-depth analysis and visualization, ultimately enhancing the overall security posture of organizations.

KQL's Impact on Modern Security #

One of the primary applications of KQL in threat detection is its role in the creation of analytics rules.

These rules are essential for automated threat detection systems, allowing organizations to identify security incidents with minimal manual intervention.

Aspect	Description
Rule Customization	KQL allows security teams to create highly customized rules that align with specific security policies and compliance requirements.
Anomaly Detection	KQL queries can be designed to identify anomalies and deviations from expected behavior, serving as early indicators of potential threats.
Real-Time Alerts	Analytics rules built with KQL can trigger real-time alerts, enabling swift incident response and reducing the impact of security breaches.
Historical Analysis	KQL can be used to analyze historical data, aiding in post-incident investigations and forensic analysis.

Write Your First Query #

We are executing a query on the heartbeat dataset with the 'timechart' output format specified. Once you click 'Run,' a chart will show up for your visualization.

Heartbeat Dataset Transformation into Timecharts

KQL allows you to delve into your existing data to uncover precise insights, create a tailored set of visuals for specific needs, or even craft a sophisticated query for threat detection. And the last is exactly what we can accomplish on Microsoft Sentinel using analytics rules for automating the identification of security threats.

Creating Built-In Analytics Rules #

Analytics rules in Microsoft Sentinel are predefined or custom-designed security detection rules that help organizations identify potential security threats and incidents.

Microsoft Sentinel provides an array of pre-configured analytics rules that are tailored to the overall needs and scenarios within your security environment.

Configuring Microsoft's Built-In Analytics Rules in Sentinel

I'll be guiding you through the process of creating and configuring these rules.

1. Accessing Analytics Rules: Begin by accessing your Azure Sentinel dashboard. On the left pane, locate and click on the "Analytics" option to access the analytics rules.
2. Exploring Built-In Rules: Within the Analytics section, you'll find a collection of built-in analytics rules designed to address a range of security scenarios. Click on the "Built-in" tab to explore these predefined rules.
3. Selecting Your Analytics Rule: Review the available analytics rules, and choose the one that aligns with your specific threat detection requirements.
4. Customizing and Activating the Rule: Click on your selected rule to open it. Customize the rule parameters as needed to fit your security environment. Once configured, activate the rule to start its operation.
5. Monitoring Rule Performance: Keep an eye on the rule's performance and alerts generated in the "Incidents" section. Regularly review and fine-tune the rule to ensure its effectiveness in threat detection and part of the incident response process.

These built-in analytics rules can significantly enhance your threat detection capabilities and speed up ops and are designed to help you proactively identify and respond to security threats in your organization.

Code Custom Analytics Rules #

In Microsoft Sentinel, custom analytics rules play a pivotal role in enhancing threat detection capabilities.

These rules enable organizations to proactively identify and respond to potential security threats within their environment. This guide provides a step-by-step walkthrough for creating a custom analytics rule.

Prerequisites #

Before you begin, ensure that you have the necessary data connectors and a clear understanding of the threat or scenario you intend to address.

In this example, we will create a rule named "Explicit MFA Deny" to detect incidents where users explicitly deny multi-factor authentication (MFA) push notifications, indicating a potential security risk.

For this case, the Azure Active Directory Connector is required, instructed in sprint one.

Creating the Rule using KQL #

Follow these steps to create the custom analytics rule:

1. Accessing the Azure Sentinel Portal: Access the Azure Sentinel portal, ensuring that you have the necessary permissions to create and manage custom analytics rules.
2. Navigating to Analytics: On the left pane of your Azure Sentinel dashboard, click on the "Analytics" option. This is where you will manage and configure your custom analytics rules.
3. Creating a Scheduled Query Rule: While you're in the "Analytics" section, click on the "Create" button and select "Scheduled query rule." This choice allows you to create a custom rule that operates on a predefined schedule.

Creating a Scheduled Query Analytics Rule In Sentinel

4. Rule Description: As a best practice, provide a comprehensive description for your custom analytics rule. This description should clearly convey the rule's purpose and the security scenario it addresses. This information is essential for your security team's understanding and future reference.

Analytics Rules Tactics, Techniques and Severity

5. Severity and Tactics: Choose the appropriate severity level for your rule, based on the potential impact of the detected incidents. Additionally, select the tactics that align with the rule's purpose and objectives. These choices help in categorizing and prioritizing the rule.
6. Rule Configuration: After defining the description, severity, and tactics, proceed to configure the rule. This is where you will specify the query, which is the core of your custom analytics rule. Code your KQL logic into the designated field and wait for the system to load the query.

Analytics Rule Logic In KQL query

7. Entity Mapping: Entity mapping is a critical step in ensuring that the analytics rule correctly identifies and correlates the relevant entities within your environment. Sentinel, with its ongoing improvements and artificial intelligence capabilities, can automatically map entities if you provide the right information. Entity mapping can include account, IP, and URL information.

Configuring Alert Enrichment and Entity Mapping in Sentinel

8. Incident Settings: In this section, enable incident creation to ensure that you receive notifications on your product homepage when the rule triggers. Additionally, consider organizing your queries into logical groups to facilitate management, especially when dealing with numerous rules.

Incident Settings Page Configuration

The automated response in the asset is an integral component in our upcoming sprint.

For now, you can create a powerful custom analytics rule in Microsoft Sentinel, enabling you to identify and respond to potential security threats effectively. Have faith in my methodology; let's now explore how to manage threats when they arise.

Manual Incident Response #

Manual incident response is one of the key aspects of handling security incidents and a crucial part of a robust cybersecurity strategy. It involves the systematic approach to identifying, managing, and mitigating security incidents. It is the process of identifying, managing, and mitigating security incidents to limit damage and reduce recovery time and costs.

Incident Response Processes

Manual incident response involves the following key steps:

Step	Description
Preparation	Establish policies, teams, and communication protocols. Identify critical assets and plan for incidents.
Detection	Monitor systems for incidents and analyze them for nature and impact.
Containment	Isolate affected systems and prevent further damage.
Eradication	Remove the incident's root cause, patch vulnerabilities, and recover affected systems.
Post-Incident	Review, document lessons, and make improvements. Address legal and regulatory requirements.
Preparation Cycle	Update and refine incident response plans, train personnel, and conduct regular exercises for readiness.

When collecting digital evidence as part of an incident response, it's crucial to maintain a clear and documented chain of custody to ensure the evidence's integrity for legal purposes and beyond. Be aware of regulatory requirements, including breach notification laws.

Incident Severity Exposed #

Incident severity refers to the degree of impact or potential harm that a security incident can have on an organization's assets, operations, and overall security posture.

Security Operations, About Incident Severity

To streamline incident response, we classified incidents into four categories:

• Severe: These incidents require immediate attention and involve security breaches with severe consequences. Critical incidents demand swift and comprehensive response measures to minimize damage and protect critical assets.
• High: High-priority incidents encompass significant threats that necessitate prompt action. While not as severe as critical incidents, high-priority incidents must be addressed quickly to mitigate potential harm.
• Medium: Medium-priority incidents are managed systematically, ensuring a well-structured response that aligns with established protocols. These incidents typically involve potential security issues that require investigation but are not immediate.
• Low: Low-priority incidents are also addressed systematically but with a lower sense of urgency. They are incidents that do not pose an immediate risk but still warrant attention and monitoring as part of a comprehensive security strategy.

These severity levels are essential for organizations to prioritize incident response efforts effectively. I began emphasizing this aspect because it is a crucial factor we will be taking into account when monitoring our incidents.

Response Strategy #

In the realm of cyber, a well-thought-out and efficient response strategy is paramount.

Our response strategy was meticulously structured to adapt to the varying degrees of incident severity.

This approach allowed us to handle different types of security incidents effectively, ensuring the resilience and security of our organization. The strategy can be broken down into the following components:

Critical Incidents #

Critical incidents are those that pose a significant threat to our organization. For these high-impact situations, we followed a predefined and highly structured incident response plan. The strategy involved several crucial steps:

• Isolating Affected Systems: The first step was to promptly isolate the affected systems. This isolation prevented the incident from spreading further and causing more damage.
• Conducting Forensic Analysis: Once the affected systems were isolated, a comprehensive forensic analysis was initiated. This step was essential for understanding the nature and scope of the incident, including its point of origin, methods employed, and potential vulnerabilities that allowed the breach.
• Notifying Relevant Stakeholders: Simultaneously, we prioritized swift communication with all relevant stakeholders, including executive leadership, legal teams, and IT personnel. Effective communication ensured that everyone was on the same page, allowing for a coordinated response.

Microsoft Sentinel Incident Investigations

High-Priority Incidents #

High-priority incidents, while not as critical as the aforementioned critical incidents, still demanded a rigorous response. The strategy for these incidents closely mirrored the approach for critical incidents but allowed for a slightly more flexible timeline. The steps included:

• Isolating Affected Systems: As with critical incidents, the immediate isolation of affected systems remained a priority.
• Conducting Forensic Analysis: A thorough forensic analysis was initiated to understand the incident's scope and potential impact on the organization. The timeline for this analysis was adjusted to the incident's severity, ensuring a balance between thoroughness and expediency.
• Notifying Relevant Stakeholders: Stakeholder communication remained a key aspect of the strategy, ensuring that high-priority incidents received the attention they deserved.

Medium and Low-Priority Incidents #

Medium and low-priority incidents, while not as urgent as critical or high-priority incidents, still required a structured response. To avoid unnecessary disruptions and allocate resources efficiently, we adopted a different approach:

• Scheduled Procedures: These incidents were handled through scheduled procedures. We leveraged our incident response playbook, which outlined step-by-step procedures tailored to different types of incidents, to address these lower-priority cases. By following scheduled procedures, we maintained control over the incident without unnecessarily disrupting regular operations.

Lessons Drawn from Our Journey #

In the process, we encountered several challenges, such as adapting to the constantly evolving threat landscape, ensuring timely response to critical incidents, and refining our incident classification criteria. Our lessons learned from these challenges include the importance of continuous training for our security team and the need for improved communication and coordination during incident response.

A robust response strategy is crucial to ensuring the security and resilience of any organization. It's important to have a tiered approach that adapts to the varying degrees of incident severity.

Microsoft Sentinel, as a security solution, played a vital role in enabling us to detect and respond to security threats effectively.

Cost Analysis Awareness #

When building up your system's detection capabilities, it's crucial to factor in the associated costs. The pricing model operates on a pay-as-you-go basis, meaning expenses can surpass your initial expectations. This serves as a call to action, urging you to carefully evaluate each step as you delve deeper into the product.

• Resource Allocation and Budgeting: Understanding the costs associated with different threat detection and response measures is crucial for effective resource allocation and budgeting. By investing in the right tools and technologies, organizations can optimize their security strategies while preventing unnecessary financial strain.

• Return on Investment (ROI): Evaluating the ROI of security measures implemented in Microsoft Sentinel is essential for measuring their effectiveness. This assessment helps organizations make informed decisions about optimizing their security infrastructure to ensure tangible and cost-effective results.

• Scalability and Risk Management: Cost analysis facilitates planning for scalability, ensuring that threat detection and incident response capabilities can grow with the organization. It also contributes to better risk management by prioritizing threats based on potential impact and allocating resources accordingly.

• Tool Optimization and Operational Efficiency: Identifying cost-effective security tools and streamlining processes in Microsoft Sentinel lead to increased operational efficiency. This not only reduces the time and resources required for threat mitigation but also enhances the overall effectiveness of the security strategy.

Conclusion #

Drawing from real-world experience, it's not uncommon to find yourself facing unexpected costs, potentially amounting to thousands of dollars within a single month to maintain and sustain the system.

Thus, consider a strategic approach to cost analysis by aligning security measures with the organization's budget and financial goals.

This is our second sprint, diligently managing our daily tasks in monitoring the digital workload. We've also shared insights on creating alerts for threat detection and effective response strategies with you.

Threat detection and incident response are integral components of a robust cybersecurity strategy. Manual incident response is an essential skill.

In the next sprint, we will delve into the automation of incident response, a key aspect of enhancing security capabilities and streamlining the incident response process, further strengthening our organization's security posture and resilience.