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Microsoft Sentinel is a scalable, cloud-native SIEM and SOAR solution that delivers intelligent security analytics and threat intelligence across an enterprise. Security Operations Analysts, particularly those preparing for the SC-200 Microsoft Security Operations Analyst exam, should be adept at utilizing Microsoft Sentinel to investigate incidents.
An incident in Microsoft Sentinel is an aggregation of related alerts that are potentially associated with malicious or suspicious activities in your electronic environment. To effectively investigate incidents within Microsoft Sentinel, analysts should follow a comprehensive process:
The first step in the investigation process is the identification of incidents. Microsoft Sentinel aggregates alerts into incidents to make it easier for analysts to focus on related alerts in a single view. These incidents are often categorized by severity, status, and related information to prioritize response actions.
Once an incident is identified, the investigation process involves the following steps:
After thoroughly investigating the incident, the following actions may be taken:
After resolving the incident, engaging in post-incident activities is essential to improve future security posture:
Accurate documentation is critical throughout the incident response process. Analysts should record every step taken, from the initial identification of the incident through to the resolution and post-incident activities. This information is invaluable for compliance, auditing purposes, and improving incident response procedures.
For instance, if there is a suspected data exfiltration attempt, an analyst may identify an incident with multiple alerts related to large data transfers and unauthorized access to sensitive information. Using the Investigation Graph, the analyst can visualize the sequence and relationships between the alerts, aiding in identifying the potential exit points of the data and the accounts used in the exfiltration.
Investigating incidents in Microsoft Sentinel involves a methodical approach to address threats effectively. By understanding the features and tools available within Sentinel, and ensuring meticulous documentation and a thoughtful post-incident process, Security Operations Analysts can enhance the security and resilience of their organization’s infrastructure, an essential skill validated by the SC-200 certification.
Answer: False
Explanation: Microsoft Sentinel can ingest data from various sources, including Azure, on-premises, and other cloud providers, not limited to Azure-based sources.
Answer: Playbooks
Explanation: Playbooks in Microsoft Sentinel are used to execute automated responses using Azure Logic Apps, when specific alerts are triggered.
Answer: Workbooks
Explanation: Workbooks in Microsoft Sentinel provide prebuilt dashboards for visualization and analysis of data in a customizable and interactive manner.
Answer: True
Explanation: Kusto Query Language (KQL) is used within Microsoft Sentinel to create custom detection rules, allowing for complex queries and analytics on ingested data for threat detection.
Answer: Data connectors
Explanation: Data connectors are used in Microsoft Sentinel to gather data from a variety of sources to enable security analysis and threat detection.
Answer: False
Explanation: Collaboration is a key feature in Microsoft Sentinel, allowing multiple team members to work together on investigating and resolving incidents.
Answer: Incidents
Explanation: Incidents in Microsoft Sentinel are used for grouping related alerts, enabling a more organized and efficient investigation process.
Answer: Triaging incidents, Assigning ownership, Setting severity levels
Explanation: Within Microsoft Sentinel’s incident management process, triaging incidents to determine priority, assigning ownership to the appropriate team members, and setting severity levels are crucial components to ensure effective response.
Answer: False
Explanation: While hunting queries can be automated to an extent, they often require manual setup and initiation to run on a schedule or as needed, as they are used for proactive threat hunting.
Answer: Bookmarks
Explanation: Bookmarks in Microsoft Sentinel allow analysts to add comments and notes about their findings during an investigation to provide context and insights.
Answer: False
Explanation: Microsoft Sentinel provides built-in machine learning models and capabilities, allowing you to leverage them without needing to provide your own models.
Answer: Document lessons learned
Explanation: After resolving an incident, it’s recommended to document lessons learned to improve future incident response strategies and to retain knowledge within the security operations team.
The incident investigation process in Microsoft Sentinel helps to identify the scope and severity of a security incident and the steps needed to contain and remediate it.
To access the incident investigation tool in Microsoft Sentinel, navigate to the Incidents page in the Azure Sentinel workspace and select the incident you want to investigate.
The first step in the incident investigation process in Microsoft Sentinel is to gather and analyze all available evidence related to the incident, including logs, alerts, and other security-related data.
The query builder in Microsoft Sentinel is used to construct complex queries to search and analyze data from different sources in the Azure Sentinel workspace.
Raw logs in Microsoft Sentinel are the original log data collected from a data source, while normalized logs are processed and enriched logs that have been standardized and categorized for analysis.
To pivot to a different entity in the Microsoft Sentinel incident investigation tool, right-click on an entity in the graph and select the option to pivot to another related entity.
The bookmark feature in the Microsoft Sentinel incident investigation tool allows you to save a specific view or state of the investigation for future reference or sharing with others.
The machine learning insights in the Microsoft Sentinel incident investigation tool can help to identify hidden or complex relationships between different entities and activities, and can provide additional context to help understand the scope and severity of the incident.
You can integrate third-party tools and services with the Microsoft Sentinel incident investigation tool by using APIs or webhooks to send and receive data and events from the incident investigation workflow.
You can improve the incident investigation process in Microsoft Sentinel by regularly reviewing and refining your queries and investigation techniques, leveraging automation and machine learning insights, and collaborating with other security teams and stakeholders to share knowledge and best practices.
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