Learning Path 6 - Lab 1 - Exercise 1 - Create queries for Microsoft Sentinel using Kusto Query Language (KQL)

Lab scenario

Lab overview.

You are a Security Operations Analyst working at a company that is implementing Microsoft Sentinel. You are responsible for performing log data analysis to search for malicious activity, display visualizations, and perform threat hunting. To query log data, you use the Kusto Query Language (KQL).

Important: This lab involves entering many KQL scripts into Microsoft Sentinel. The scripts were provided in a file at the beginning of this lab. An alternate location to download them is: https://github.com/MicrosoftLearning/SC-200T00A-Microsoft-Security-Operations-Analyst/tree/master/Allfiles

Estimated time to complete this lab: 60 minutes

Task 1: Access the KQL testing area

In this task, you will access a Log Analytics environment where you can practice writing KQL statements.

Login to WIN1 virtual machine as Admin with the password: Pa55w.rd.
In the Microsoft Edge browser, go to https://aka.ms/lademo and login with the Administrator credentials.
Close the Log Analytics video pop-up window that appears.
Explore the available tables and other tools listed in the schema and filter pane on the left side of the screen.
In the query editor, enter the following query and select the Run button. You should see the query results in the bottom window.
```
 SecurityEvent
```
Notice that you have reached the maximum number of results (30,000).
Change the Time range to Last 30 minutes in the Query Window.
Next to the first record, select the > to expand the information for the row.

Task 2: Run Basic KQL Statements

In this task, you will build basic KQL statements.

Important: For each query, clear the previous statement from the Query Window or open a new Query Window by selecting + after the last opened tab (up to 25).

The following statement demonstrates the search operator, which searches all columns in the table for the value.
Change the Time range to Last 30 minutes in the Query Window.
In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:
```
 search "location"
```
Note: Using the Search operator without specific tables or qualifying clauses is less efficient than table-specific and column-specific text filtering.
The following statement demonstrates search across tables listed within the in clause. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:
```
 search in (SecurityEvent,App*) "new"
```
Change back the Time range to Last 24 hours in the Query Window.
The following statements demonstrates the where operator, which filters on a specific predicate. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:

Important: You should select Run after entering each query from the code blocks below.
```
 SecurityEvent  
 | where TimeGenerated > ago(1h)
```
Note: The Time range now shows Set in query since we are filtering with the TimeGenerated column.
```
 SecurityEvent  
 | where TimeGenerated > ago(1h) and EventID == 4624
```
```
 SecurityEvent  
 | where TimeGenerated > ago(1h)
 | where EventID == 4624  
 | where AccountType =~ "user"
```
```
 SecurityEvent  
 | where TimeGenerated > ago(1h) and EventID in (4624, 4625)
 
```

The following statement demonstrates the use of the let statement to declare variables. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:

 let timeOffset = 1h;
 let discardEventId = 4688;
 SecurityEvent
 | where TimeGenerated > ago(timeOffset*2) and TimeGenerated < ago(timeOffset)
 | where EventID != discardEventId

The following statement demonstrates the use of the let statement to declare a dynamic list. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:
```
 let suspiciousAccounts = datatable(account: string) [
   @"NA\timadmin", 
   @"NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM"
 ];
 SecurityEvent  
 | where TimeGenerated > ago(1h)
 | where Account in (suspiciousAccounts)
```
Tip: You can re-format the query easily by selecting the ellipsis (…) in the Query window and select Format query.

The following statement demonstrates the use of the let statement to declare a dynamic table. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:

 let LowActivityAccounts =
     SecurityEvent 
     | summarize cnt = count() by Account 
     | where cnt < 1000;
 LowActivityAccounts | where Account contains "sql"

Change the Time range to Last hour in the Query Window. This will limit our results for the following statements.

The following statement demonstrates the extend operator, which creates a calculated column and adds it to the result set. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:

 SecurityEvent  
 | where TimeGenerated > ago(1h) 
 | where ProcessName != "" and Process != "" 
 | extend StartDir =  substring(ProcessName,0, string_size(ProcessName)-string_size(Process))

The following statement demonstrates the order by operator, which sorts the rows of the input table by one or more columns in ascending or descending order. The order by operator is an alias to the sort by operator. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:
```
 SecurityEvent  
 | where TimeGenerated > ago(1h) 
 | where ProcessName != "" and Process != "" 
 | extend StartDir =  substring(ProcessName,0, string_size(ProcessName)-string_size(Process)) 
 | order by StartDir desc, Process asc
```

The following statements demonstrate the project operator, which selects the columns to include in the order specified. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:

 SecurityEvent  
 | where TimeGenerated > ago(1h) 
 | where ProcessName != "" and Process != "" 
 | extend StartDir =  substring(ProcessName,0, string_size(ProcessName)-string_size(Process)) 
 | order by StartDir desc, Process asc 
 | project Process, StartDir

The following statements demonstrate the project-away operator, which selects the columns to exclude from the output. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:

 SecurityEvent  
 | where TimeGenerated > ago(1h) 
 | where ProcessName != "" and Process != "" 
 | extend StartDir =  substring(ProcessName,0, string_size(ProcessName)-string_size(Process)) 
 | order by StartDir desc, Process asc 
 | project-away ProcessName

Task 3: Analyze Results in KQL with the Summarize Operator

In this task, you will build KQL statements to aggregate data. Summarize groups the rows according to the by group columns, and calculates aggregations over each group.

The following statement demonstrates the count() function, which returns a count of the group. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:
```
 SecurityEvent  
 | where TimeGenerated > ago(1h) and EventID == 4688  
 | summarize count() by Process, Computer
```
The following statement demonstrates the count() function, but in this example, we name the column as cnt. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:
```
 SecurityEvent  
 | where TimeGenerated > ago(1h) and EventID == 4624  
 | summarize cnt=count() by AccountType, Computer
```
The following statement demonstrates the dcount() function, which returns an approximate distinct count of the group elements. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:
```
 SecurityEvent  
 | where TimeGenerated > ago(1h)
 | summarize dcount(IpAddress)
```

The following statement is a rule to detect Invalid password failures across multiple applications for the same account. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:

 let timeframe = 30d;
 let threshold = 1;
 SigninLogs
 | where TimeGenerated >= ago(timeframe)
 | where ResultDescription has "Invalid password"
 | summarize applicationCount = dcount(AppDisplayName) by UserPrincipalName, IPAddress
 | where applicationCount >= threshold

The following statement demonstrates the arg_max() function, which returns one or more expressions when the argument is maximized. The following statement will return the most current row from the SecurityEvent table for the computer SQL10.NA.contosohotels.com. The * in the arg_max function requests all columns for the row. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:
```
 SecurityEvent  
 | where Computer == "SQL10.na.contosohotels.com"
 | summarize arg_max(TimeGenerated,*) by Computer
```
The following statement demonstrates the arg_min() function, which returns one or more expressions when the argument is minimized. In this statement, the oldest SecurityEvent for the computer SQL10.NA.contosohotels.com will be returned as the result set. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:
```
 SecurityEvent  
 | where Computer == "SQL10.na.contosohotels.com"
 | summarize arg_min(TimeGenerated,*) by Computer
```
The following statements demonstrate the importance of understanding results based on the order of the pipe. In the Query Window enter the following queries and run each query separately:
1. Query 1 will have Accounts for which the last activity was a login. The SecurityEvent table will first be summarized and return the most current row for each Account. Then only rows with EventID equals 4624 (login) will be returned.
```
 SecurityEvent  
 | summarize arg_max(TimeGenerated, *) by Account 
 | where EventID == 4624  
```
2. Query 2 will have the most recent login for Accounts that have logged in. The SecurityEvent table will be filtered to only include EventID = 4624. Then these results will be summarized for the most current login row by Account.
```
 SecurityEvent  
 | where EventID == 4624  
 | summarize arg_max(TimeGenerated, *) by Account
```
Note: You can also review the “Total CPU” and “Data used for processed query” by selecting the “Query details” link on the lower right and compare the data between both statements.
The following statement demonstrates the make_list() function, which returns a list of all the values within the group. This KQL query will first filter the EventID with the where operator. Next, for each Computer, the results are a JSON array of Accounts. The resulting JSON array will include duplicate accounts. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:
```
 SecurityEvent  
 | where TimeGenerated > ago(1h)
 | where EventID == 4624  
 | summarize make_list(Account) by Computer
```
The following statement demonstrates the make_set() function, which returns a set of distinct values within the group. This KQL query will first filter the EventID with the where operator. Next, for each Computer, the results are a JSON array of unique Accounts. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:
```
 SecurityEvent  
 | where TimeGenerated > ago(1h)
 | where EventID == 4624  
 | summarize make_set(Account) by Computer
```

Task 4: Create visualizations in KQL with the Render Operator

In this task, you will use generate visualizations with KQL statements.

The following statement demonstrates the render operator (which renders results as a graphical output), using a barchart visualization. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:
```
 SecurityEvent  
 | where TimeGenerated > ago(1h)
 | summarize count() by Account
 | render barchart
```
The following statement demonstrates the render operator visualizing results with a time series. The bin() function rounds all values in a timeframe and groups them, used frequently in combination with summarize. If you have a scattered set of values, the values are grouped into a smaller set of specific values. Combining the generated results and pipe them to a render operator with a timechart provides a time series visualization. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:
```
 SecurityEvent  
 | where TimeGenerated > ago(1h)
 | summarize count() by bin(TimeGenerated, 1m)
 | render timechart
```

Task 5: Build multi-table statements in KQL

In this task, you will build multi-table KQL statements.

Change the Time range to Last hour in the Query Window. This will limit our results for the following statements.
The following statement demonstrates the union operator, which takes two or more tables and returns all their rows. Understanding how results are passed and impacted with the pipe character is essential. In the Query Window enter the following statements and select Run for each query separately to see the results:
1. Query 1 will return all rows of SecurityEvent and all rows of SigninLogs.
```
 SecurityEvent  
 | union SigninLogs  
```
2. Query 2 will return one row and column, which is the count of all rows of SigninLogs and all rows of SecurityEvent.
```
 SecurityEvent  
 | union SigninLogs  
 | summarize count() 
```
3. Query 3 will return all rows of SecurityEvent and one (last) row for SigninLogs. The last row for SigninLogs will have the summarized count of the total number of rows.
```
 SecurityEvent  
 | union (SigninLogs | summarize count() | project count_)
```
Note: The ‘empty row’ in the results will show the summarized count of SigninLogs.
The following statement demonstrates the union operator support to union multiple tables with wildcards. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:
```
 union App*  
 | summarize count() by Type
```
The following statement demonstrates the join operator, which merges the rows of two tables to form a new table by matching values of the specified column(s) from each table. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:
```
 SecurityEvent  
 | where EventID == 4624 
 | summarize LogOnCount=count() by  EventID, Account
 | project LogOnCount, Account
 | join kind = inner( 
  SecurityEvent  
 | where EventID == 4634 
 | summarize LogOffCount=count() by  EventID, Account
 | project LogOffCount, Account
 ) on Account
```
Important: The first table specified in the join is considered the Left table. The table after the join operator is the right table. When working with columns from the tables, the $left.Column name and $right.Column name is to distinguish which tables column are referenced. The join operator supports a full range of types: flouter, inner, innerunique, leftanti, leftantisemi, leftouter, leftsemi, rightanti, rightantisemi, rightouter, rightsemi.
Change back the Time range to Last 24 hours in the Query Window.

Task 6: Work with string data in KQL

In this task, you will work with structured and unstructured string fields with KQL statements.

The following statement demonstrates the extract function, which gets a match for a regular expression from a source string. You have the option to convert the extracted substring to the indicated type. In the Query Window, enter the following statement and select Run:
```
 print extract("x=([0-9.]+)", 1, "hello x=45.6|wo") == "45.6"
```

The following statements use the extract function to pull out the Account Name from the Account field of the SecurityEvent table. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:

 SecurityEvent  
 | where EventID == 4672 and AccountType == 'User' 
 | extend Account_Name = extract(@"^(.*\\)?([^@]*)(@.*)?$", 2, tolower(Account))
 | summarize LoginCount = count() by Account_Name
 | where Account_Name != "" 
 | where LoginCount < 10

The following statement demonstrates the parse operator, which evaluates a string expression and parses its value into one or more calculated columns. Use for structuring unstructured data. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:

 let Traces = datatable(EventText:string)
 [
 "Event: NotifySliceRelease (resourceName=PipelineScheduler, totalSlices=27, sliceNumber=23, lockTime=02/17/2016 08:40:01, releaseTime=02/17/2016 08:40:01, previousLockTime=02/17/2016 08:39:01)",
 "Event: NotifySliceRelease (resourceName=PipelineScheduler, totalSlices=27, sliceNumber=15, lockTime=02/17/2016 08:40:00, releaseTime=02/17/2016 08:40:00, previousLockTime=02/17/2016 08:39:00)",
 "Event: NotifySliceRelease (resourceName=PipelineScheduler, totalSlices=27, sliceNumber=20, lockTime=02/17/2016 08:40:01, releaseTime=02/17/2016 08:40:01, previousLockTime=02/17/2016 08:39:01)",
 "Event: NotifySliceRelease (resourceName=PipelineScheduler, totalSlices=27, sliceNumber=22, lockTime=02/17/2016 08:41:01, releaseTime=02/17/2016 08:41:00, previousLockTime=02/17/2016 08:40:01)",
 "Event: NotifySliceRelease (resourceName=PipelineScheduler, totalSlices=27, sliceNumber=16, lockTime=02/17/2016 08:41:00, releaseTime=02/17/2016 08:41:00, previousLockTime=02/17/2016 08:40:00)"
 ];
 Traces   
 | parse EventText with * "resourceName=" resourceName ", totalSlices=" totalSlices:long * "sliceNumber=" sliceNumber:long * "lockTime=" lockTime ", releaseTime=" releaseTime:date "," * "previousLockTime=" previousLockTime:date ")" *  
 | project resourceName, totalSlices, sliceNumber, lockTime, releaseTime, previousLockTime

Important: The following queries do not currently produce results in the lademo environment used for this lab. Entries in the SigninLogs table have been removed. However, the KQL queries demonstrate important concepts and use cases, so please take time to review them.

The following statement demonstrates working with dynamic fields, which are special since they can take on any value of other data types. In this example, The DeviceDetail field from the SigninLogs table is of type dynamic. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:
```
 SigninLogs 
 | extend OS = DeviceDetail.operatingSystem
```

The following example shows how to break out packed fields for SigninLogs. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:

 SigninLogs 
 | extend OS = DeviceDetail.operatingSystem, Browser = DeviceDetail.browser 
 | extend StatusCode = tostring(Status.errorCode), StatusDetails = tostring(Status.additionalDetails) 
 | extend Date = startofday(TimeGenerated) 
 | summarize count() by Date, Identity, UserDisplayName, UserPrincipalName, IPAddress, ResultType, ResultDescription, StatusCode, StatusDetails 
 | sort by Date

Important: Although the dynamic type appears JSON-like, it can hold values that the JSON model does not represent because they do not exist in JSON. Therefore, in serializing dynamic values into a JSON representation, values that JSON cannot represent are serialized into string values.

The following statements demonstrates operators to manipulate JSON stored in string fields. Many logs submit data in JSON format, which requires you to know how to transform JSON data to fields that can be queried. In the Query Window enter the following statement and select Run:
```
 SigninLogs 
 | extend AuthDetails =  parse_json(AuthenticationDetails) 
 | extend AuthMethod =  AuthDetails[0].authenticationMethod 
 | extend AuthResult = AuthDetails[0].["authenticationStepResultDetail"] 
 | project AuthMethod, AuthResult, AuthDetails 
```
The following statement demonstrates the mv-expand operator, which turns dynamic arrays into rows (multi-value expansion).
```
 SigninLogs 
 | mv-expand AuthDetails = parse_json(AuthenticationDetails) 
 | project AuthDetails
```
Expand the first row by selecting “>” and then again next to AuthDetails to review the expanded results.
The following statement demonstrates the mv-apply operator, which applies a subquery to each record and returns the union of the results of all subqueries.
```
 SigninLogs 
 | mv-apply AuthDetails = parse_json(AuthenticationDetails) on
 (where AuthDetails.authenticationMethod == "Password")
```
A function is a log query that can be used in other log queries with the saved name as a command. To create a function, after running your query, select the Save button and then select Save As function from the drop-down. Enter the name your want (for example: PrivLogins) in the Function name box and enter a Legacy category (for example: General) and select Save. The function will be available in KQL by using the function’s alias:

Note: You will not be able to do this in the lademo environment used for this lab since your account has only Reader permissions, but it is an important concept to make your queries more efficient and effective.
```
 PrivLogins  
```