Lab 10: Microsoft Sentinel

Student lab manual

Lab scenario

Note: Azure Sentinel is renamed to Microsoft Sentinel

You have been asked to create a proof of concept of Microsoft Sentinel-based threat detection and response. Specifically, you want to:

Start collecting data from Azure Activity and Microsoft Defender for Cloud.
Add built in and custom alerts
Review how Playbooks can be used to automate a response to an incident.

For all the resources in this lab, we are using the East US region. Verify with your instructor this is the region to use for class.

Lab objectives

In this lab, you will complete the following exercise:

Exercise 1: Implement Microsoft Sentinel

Microsoft Sentinel diagram

Instructions

Lab files:

\Allfiles\Labs\15\changeincidentseverity.json

Exercise 1: Implement Microsoft Sentinel

Estimated timing: 30 minutes

In this exercise, you will complete the following tasks:

Task 1: On-board Microsoft Sentinel
Task 2: Connect Azure Activity to Sentinel
Task 3: Create a rule that uses the Azure Activity data connector.
Task 4: Create a playbook
Task 5: Create a custom alert and configure the playbook as an automated response.
Task 6: Invoke an incident and review the associated actions.

Task 1: On-board Azure Sentinel

In this task, you will on-board Microsoft Sentinel and connect the Log Analytics workspace.

Sign-in to the Azure portal https://portal.azure.com/.

Note: Sign in to the Azure portal using an account that has the Owner or Contributor role in the Azure subscription you are using for this lab.
In the Azure portal, in the Search resources, services, and docs text box at the top of the Azure portal page, type Microsoft Sentinel and press the Enter key.

Note: If this is your first attempt to action Microsoft Sentinel in the Azure dashboard complete the following step(s): In the Azure portal, in the Search resources, services, and docs text box at the top of the Azure portal page, type Microsoft Sentinel and press the Enter key. Select Microsoft Sentinel from the Services view.
On the Microsoft Sentinel blade, click + Create.
On the Add Microsoft Sentinel to a workspace blade, select the Log Analytics workspace you created in the Azure Monitor lab and click Add.

Note: Microsoft Sentinel has very specific requirements for workspaces. For example, workspaces created by Microsoft Defender for Cloud can not be used. Read more at Quickstart: On-board Azure Sentinel

Task 2: Configure Microsoft Sentinel to use the Azure Activity data connector.

In this task, you will configure Sentinel to use the Azure Activity data connector.

In the Azure portal, on the Microsoft Sentinel | Overview blade, in the Content management section, click Content hub.
On the Microsoft Sentinel | Content hub blade, review the list of available content.
Type Azure into the search bar and select the entry representing Azure Activity. Review its description at the far right, and then click Install.
Wait for the Install Success notification. In the left navigation panel, in the Configuration section, click Data connectors.
On the Microsoft Sentinel | Data connectors blade, click Refresh and review the list of available connectors. Select the entry representing the Azure Activity connector (hide the menu bar on the left using << if needed), review its description and status at the far right, and then click Open connector page.
On the Azure Activity blade the Instructions tab should be selected, note the Prerequisites and scroll down to the Configuration. Take note of the information describing the connector update. Your Azure Pass subscription never used the legacy connection method so you can skip step 1 (the Disconnect All button will be grayed out) and proceed to step 2.
In step 2 Connect your subscriptions through diagnostic settings new pipeline, review the “Launch the Azure Policy Assignment wizard and follow the steps” instructions then click Launch the Azure Policy Assignment wizard>.
On the Configure Azure Activity logs to stream to specified Log Analytics workspace (Assign Policy page) Basics tab, click the Scope elipsis (…) button. In the Scope page choose your Azure Pass subscription from the drop-down subscription list and click the Select button at the bottom of the page.

Note: Do not choose a Resource Group
Click the Next button at the bottom of the Basics tab twice to proceed to the Parameters tab. On the Parameters tab click the Primary Log Analytics workspace elipsis (…) button. In the Primary Log Analytics workspace page, make sure your Azure pass subscription is selected and use the workspaces drop-down to select the Log Analytics workspace you are using for Sentinel. When done click the Select button at the bottom of the page.
Click the Next button at the bottom of the Parameters tab to proceed to the Remediation tab. On the Remediation tab select the Create a remediation task checkbox. This will enable the “Configure Azure Activity logs to stream to specified Log Analytics workspace” in the Policy to remediate drop-down. In the System assigned identity location drop-down, select the region (East US for example) you selected earlier for your Log Analytics workspace.
Click the Next button at the bottom of the Remediation tab to proceed to the Non-compliance message tab. Enter a Non-compliance message if you wish (this is optional) and click the Review + Create button at the bottom of the Non-compliance message tab.
Click the Create button. You should observe three succeeded status messages: Creating policy assignment succeeded, Role Assignments creation succeeded, and Remediation task creation succeeded.

Note: You can check the Notifications, bell icon to verify the three successful tasks.
Verify that the Azure Activity pane displays the Data received graph (you might have to refresh the browser page).

Note: It may take over 15 minutes before the Status shows “Connected” and the graph displays Data received.

Task 3: Create a rule that uses the Azure Activity data connector.

In this task, you will review and create a rule that uses the Azure Activity data connector.

On the Microsoft Sentinel | Configuration blade, click Analytics.
On the Microsoft Sentinel | Analytics blade, click the Rule templates tab.

Note: Review the types of rules you can create. Each rule is associated with a specific Data Source.
In the listing of rule templates, type Suspicious into the search bar form and click the Suspicious number of resource creation or deployment entry associated with the Azure Activity data source. And then, in the pane displaying the rule template properties, click Create rule (scroll to the right of the page if needed).

Note: This rule has the medium severity.
On the General tab of the Analytics rule wizard - Create a new Scheduled rule blade, accept the default settings and click Next: Set rule logic >.
On the Set rule logic tab of the Analytics rule wizard - Create a new Scheduled rule blade, accept the default settings and click Next: Incident settings (Preview) >.
On the Incident settings tab of the Analytics rule wizard - Create a new Scheduled rule blade, accept the default settings and click Next: Automated response >.

Note: This is where you can add a playbook, implemented as a Logic App, to a rule to automate the remediation of an issue.
On the Automated response tab of the Analytics rule wizard - Create a new Scheduled rule blade, accept the default settings and click Next: Review and create >.
On the Review and create tab of the Analytics rule wizard - Create a new Scheduled rule blade, click Save.

Note: You now have an active rule.

Task 4: Create a playbook

In this task, you will create a playbook. A security playbook is a collection of tasks that can be invoked by Microsoft Sentinel in response to an alert.

In the Azure portal, in the Search resources, services, and docs text box at the top of the Azure portal page, type Deploy a custom template and press the Enter key.
On the Custom deployment blade, click the Build your own template in the editor option.
On the Edit template blade, click Load file, locate the \Allfiles\Labs\15\changeincidentseverity.json file and click Open.

Note: You can find sample playbooks at https://github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel/tree/master/Playbooks.
On the Edit template blade, click Save.

On the Custom deployment blade, ensure that the following settings are configured (leave any others with their default values):

Setting	Value
Subscription	the name of the Azure subscription you are using in this lab
Resource group	AZ500LAB131415
Location	(US) East US
Playbook Name	Change-Incident-Severity
User Name	your email address

Click Review + create and then click Create.

Note: Wait for the deployment to complete.
In the Azure portal, in the Search resources, services, and docs text box at the top of the Azure portal page, type Resource groups and press the Enter key.
On the Resource groups blade, in the list of resource group, click the AZ500LAB131415 entry.
On the AZ500LAB131415 resource group blade, in the list of resources, click the entry representing the newly created Change-Incident-Severity logic app.
On the Change-Incident-Severity blade, click Edit.

Note: On the Logic Apps Designer blade, each of the four s displays a warning. This means that each needs to reviewed and configured.
On the Logic Apps Designer blade, click the first s step.
Click Add new, ensure that the entry in the Tenant drop down list contains your Azure AD tenant name and click Sign-in.
When prompted, sign in with the user account that has the Owner or Contributor role in the Azure subscription you are using for this lab.
Click the second s step and, in the list of s, select the second entry, representing the you created in the previous step.
Repeat the previous step for the remaining two s steps.

Note: Ensure there are no warnings displayed on any of the steps.
On the Logic Apps Designer blade, click Save to save your changes.

Task 5: Create a custom alert and configure a playbook as an automated response

In the Azure portal, navigate back to the Microsoft Sentinel | Overview blade.
On the the Microsoft Sentinel | Overview blade, in the Configuration section, click Analytics.
On the Microsoft Sentinel | Analytics blade, click + Create and, in the drop-down menu, click Scheduled query rule.

On the General tab of the Analytics rule wizard - Create a new Scheduled rule blade, specify the following settings (leave others with their default values):

Setting	Value
Name	Playbook Demo
Tactics	Initial Access

Click Next: Set rule logic >.
On the Set rule logic tab of the Analytics rule wizard - Create a new Scheduled rule blade, in the Rule query text box, paste the following rule query.
```
 AzureActivity
  | where ResourceProviderValue =~ "Microsoft.Security" 
  | where OperationNameValue =~ "Microsoft.Security/locations/jitNetworkAccessPolicies/delete" 
```
Note: This rule identifies removal of Just-in-time VM access policies.

Note if you receive a parse error, intellisense may have added values to your query. Ensure the query matches otherwise paste the query into notepad and then from notepad to the rule query.
On the Set rule logic tab of the Analytics rule wizard - Create a new Scheduled rule blade, in the Query scheduling section, set the Run query every to 5 Minutes.
On the Set rule logic tab of the Analytics rule wizard - Create a new Scheduled rule blade, accept the default values of the remaining settings and click Next: Incident settings >.
On the Incident settings tab of the Analytics rule wizard - Create a new Scheduled rule blade, accept the default settings and click Next: Automated response >.
On the Automated response tab of the Analytic rule wizard - Create a new Scheduled rule blade, under Automation rules, click + Add new.
In the Create new automation rule window, enter Run Change-Severity Playbook for the Automation rule name; under the Trigger field, click the drop-down menu and select When alert is created.
In the Create new automation rule window, under Actions, read the note and then click Manage playbook permissions. On the Manage permissions window, select the checkbox next to the previously created Resource group AZ500LAB1314151 and then click Apply.
In the Create new automation rule window, under Actions, click the second drop-down menu and select the Change-Incident-Severity logic app. On the Create new automation rule window, click Apply.
On the Automated response tab of the Analytic rule wizard - Create a new Scheduled rule blade, click Next: Review and create > and click Save

Note: You now have a new active rule called Playbook Demo. If an event identified by the rue logic occurs, it will result in a medium severity alert, which will generate a corresponding incident.

Task 6: Invoke an incident and review the associated actions.

In the Azure portal, navigate to the Microsoft Defender for Cloud | Overview blade.

Note: Check your secure score. By now it should have updated.
On the Microsoft Defender for Cloud | Overview blade, click Workload protections under Cloud Security in the left navigation.
On the Microsoft Defender for Cloud | Workload protections blade, scroll down and click Just-in-time VM access tile under Advanced protection.
On the Just-in-time VM access blade, on the right hand side of the row referencing the myVM virtual machine, click the ellipsis (…) button, click Remove and then click Yes.

Note: If the VM is not listed in the Just-in-time VMs, navigate to Virutal Machine blade and click the Configuration, Click the Enable the Just-in-time VMs option under the Just-in-time Vm’s access. Repeat the above step to navigate back to the Microsoft Defender for Cloud and refresh the page, the VM will appear.
In the Azure portal, in the Search resources, services, and docs text box at the top of the Azure portal page, type Activity log and press the Enter key.
Navigate to the Activity log blade, note an Delete JIT Network Access Policies entry.

Note: This may take a few minutes to appear. Refresh the page if it does not appear.
In the Azure portal, navigate back to the Microsoft Sentinel | Overview blade.
On the Microsoft Sentinel | Overview blade, review the dashboard and verify that it displays an incident corresponding to the deletion of the Just-in-time VM access policy.

Note: It can take up to 5 minutes for alerts to appear on the Microsoft Sentinel | Overview blade. If you are not seeing an alert at that point, run the query rule referenced in the previous task to verify that the Just-in-time access policy deletion activity has been propagated to the Log Analytics workspace associated with your Microsoft Sentinel instance. If that is not the case, re-create the Just-in-time VM access policy and delete it again.
On the Microsoft Sentinel | Overview blade, in the Threat Management section, click Incidents.
Verify that the blade displays an incident with either medium or high severity level.

Note: It can take up to 5 minutes for the incident to appear on the Microsoft Sentinel | Incidents blade.

Note: Review the Microsoft Sentinel | Playbooks blade. You will find there the count of succesfull and failed runs.

Note: You have the option of assigning a different severity level and status to an incident.

Results: You have created an Microsoft Sentinel workspace, connected it to Azure Activity logs, created a playbook and custom alerts that are triggered in response to the removal of Just-in-time VM access policies, and verified that the configuration is valid.

Clean up resources

Remember to remove any newly created Azure resources that you no longer use. Removing unused resources ensures you will not incur unexpected costs.

In the Azure portal, open the Cloud Shell by clicking the first icon in the top right of the Azure Portal. If prompted, click PowerShell and Create storage.
Ensure PowerShell is selected in the drop-down menu in the upper-left corner of the Cloud Shell pane.
In the PowerShell session within the Cloud Shell pane, run the following to remove the resource group you created in this lab:
```
 Remove-AzResourceGroup -Name "AZ500LAB131415" -Force -AsJob
```
Close the Cloud Shell pane.