As a Security Operations Analyst, one of the essential skills you must possess is the ability to configure automation rules, to enhance the efficiency of security operations. This is even more critical if you’re looking to ace the SC-200 Microsoft Security Operations Analyst exam. This exam essentially evaluates your capacity to mitigate threats using Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Sentinel, and Microsoft Cloud App Security.
Why Automation Rules?
Automation rules are valuable in operating a security operations center (SOC) more effectively because they can transform numerous time-consuming tasks into streamlined processes. When properly configured, automation rules can detect, investigate, respond, and manage threats without the need for human intervention.
Let’s now delve into how to configure automation rules in Microsoft 365 Defender and Microsoft Sentinel, two crucial parts of the SC-200 exam.
Configuring Automation Rules in Microsoft 365 Defender
Microsoft 365 Defender, previously known as Microsoft Threat Protection, provides functionalities to automate and simplify your response to threats. Using the Microsoft 365 Defender portal, you can streamline your response to well-known threats by auto-remediating them or automatically assigning them to the most appropriate team for review.
To create an automation rule in Microsoft 365 Defender:
- Navigate to the Microsoft 365 security center (https://security.microsoft.com) and sign in.
- In the navigational pane, select ‘Settings’ -> ‘Automation Rules.’
- Select ‘Create Rule.’
From here, there are three main steps to set a new rule:
- Set the conditions: You’ll need to specify the conditions that will determine when the rule should be triggered. This can include parameters such as severity, category, or status.
- Set the actions: Once the rule is triggered, specify what it should do. This could involve changing the incident’s status, assigning it to a user, or starting an automated investigation.
- Review and create: Review your settings before creating the rule.
Configuring Automation Rules in Microsoft Sentinel
Microsoft Sentinel (Azure Sentinel) is a scalable, cloud-native, Security Information Event Management (SIEM) and Security Orchestration Automated Response (SOAR) solution. Azure Sentinel provides efficient threat detection, threat visibility, proactive hunting, and threat response.
To create an automation rule in Azure Sentinel:
- Sign in to the Azure portal.
- Navigate to ‘Azure Sentinel’ -> ‘Automation.’
- Locate and select ‘+ Create.’
In creating a rule in Azure Sentinel, follow these steps:
- Rule details: Give your rule a name and a detailed description.
- Set conditions: This includes the rule logic, where you specify when the rule should be triggered. These can include severity, tactic, statuses, or incident related properties.
- Add actions: Specify your automated responses. You can set the system to change the status or severity of an incident, or add comments, labels, and owners automatically.
- Review your rule: Double-check the rule before you create it.
Prioritizing Automation Rules
In both Microsoft 365 Defender and Microsoft Sentinel, automation rules execute based on their order, from top to bottom. Consequently, if an incident meets the criteria for multiple rules, the rule higher on the list will execute first. Based on your organization’s unique requirements, consider prioritizing the automation rules appropriately.
To modify the priority of automation rules:
- Navigate to ‘Settings’ -> ‘Automation Rules.’
- Use the arrow buttons to move the rules up and down, ordering them based on their priority.
Should a conflict occur between the actions of two or more rules, remember that the ‘Mute’ and ‘Change Status’ actions will always override others, even if they are lower in the priority order.
Conclusion
Automation is a vital tool for every Security Operations Analyst, cutting down on time-consuming manual tasks and freeing analysts to focus more on complex investigations and threat hunting. With these steps, both candidates preparing for the SC-200 exam and SOC teams can more effectively automate their threat response, improving their overall threat mitigation strategy. Remember, practice makes perfect, so get hands-on experience in configuring automation rules in Microsoft 365 Defender and Azure Sentinel to become more proficient.
Practice Test
True/False: Automation rules in Microsoft can be set up based on severity and alert type.
- True
Answer: True
Explanation: Automation rules in Microsoft 365 Defender can be configured based on various conditions including the severity and type of the alert, enabling targeted automated responses.
Which of the following actions can be automated when a rule condition is met in Microsoft 365 Defender?
- a) Assigning alert to a user
- b) Changing the status of an alert
- c) Deleting the alert
- d) Suppressing the alert
Answer: a), b) & d)
Explanation: Automation rules can perform various actions such as assigning alerts to users, changing alert status, and suppressing alerts. Deleting alerts is typically not an automated action.
A User has configured an automation rule in Microsoft Defender. The rule did not run for an alert that was manually triggered. What could be the possible reason?
- a) The rule is turned off
- b) The rule is configured not to run for manually triggered alerts
- c) The rule has conflicting conditions
- d) Both a) and b) are correct
Answer: d) Both a) and b) are correct
Explanation: An automation rule may not run for various reasons including if the rule is turned off or it is configured in a way that it should not run for manually triggered alerts.
You can use Microsoft Playbook Designer for creating and managing automation rules. True/False.
- True
Answer: True
Explanation: Microsoft Playbook Designer can indeed be used for creating and managing automation rules. It provides a visual interface to assist in the process, including import/export capabilities.
Which of the following actions can you perform on automation rules?
- a) Create a new rule
- b) Disable a rule
- c) Update a rule
- d) All of the above
Answer: d) All of the above
Explanation: Users can perform a range of actions on automation rules including creation, disabling and updating them
False/True: Automation rules cannot be exported or imported in Microsoft Defender.
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: Automation rules can be both exported and imported in Microsoft Defender, providing flexibility and easy sharing.
An automation rule can be configured to run at the Alert creation or Alert update. True/False.
- True
Answer: True
Explanation: Timing for an automation rule can indeed be set to run at either the Alert creation or Alert update.
Multiple select: Which of the following allows you to create, edit, and manage automation rules in Security Center?
- a) Azure Function
- b) Logic App
- c) Python script
- d) All of the above
Answer: d) All of the above
Explanation: Automation rules can be created, edited, and managed via Azure Functions, Logic Apps, or through writing scripts in Python.
Automation rules do not require Azure Logic Apps to be effective. True/False.
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: While not always necessary, integration with Azure Logic Apps can extend the power and flexibility of automation rules, and can be used to create complex multi-step workflows.
You need separate automation rules to assign a new alert to a user and change the status of an existing alert. True/False.
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: A single automation rule can be configured to perform multiple actions. You can set the rule to assign a new alert to a user and also change the status of an existing alert as part of the same rule.
Interview Questions
What are automation rules in Microsoft Security?
Automation rules in Microsoft Security are constructs that enable you to automate your response to alerts by defining a set of conditions and corresponding actions that should be executed when the conditions are met.
What feature in Microsoft Threat Protection helps to create automation rules?
The feature that helps to create automation rules is called Automated Incident Response (AIR).
Name the two main components of an automation rule in Microsoft Security Center.
The two main components of an automation rule are its conditions (triggers) and actions.
Can the execution order of automation rules be configured in Microsoft Security Operations?
Yes, the execution order of rules can be set to control the sequence in which they are evaluated.
What are the two categories of automation rule actions in the Microsoft Security Operations?
The two categories of automation rule actions are alert update actions (Change status, Assign to, Add tag, etc.) and playbook actions (Run playbook).
How can an automation rule be created in isolation from an individual alert in Microsoft Security Center?
An automation rule can be created in isolation from the Automation rules page in Microsoft Security Center.
How can an automation rule be tested to verify its effect?
An automation rule can be tested by creating a simulation run. It provides an overview of what the rule would do when triggered without making any actual changes.
How can automation rules be arranged in Microsoft Security Center?
Automation rules can be arranged in either ascending or descending order in terms of their priority of execution.
How can automation rules be disabled without deleting them?
Automation rules can simply be turned off from the Microsoft Security Center automation rules page, thus disabling them without deletion.
Can an automation rule be triggered by events in addition to alerts in Microsoft Security Center?
No, as of now automation rules are primarily triggered by alerts from the Microsoft Threat Protection platform.
In Microsoft security, what happens when two automation rules with the same priority level are triggered simultaneously?
The automation rule that was updated or created most recently is given precedence when two rules have the same priority level.
In role-based access control (RBAC), what role is required to be able to create, edit, and delete automation rules?
To create, edit, and delete automation rules, the role required is Security Administrator.
Can you execute multiple actions together in a single automation rule?
Yes, you can choose multiple actions to execute them together in response to a single trigger.
What is the main prerequisite to use automation rules?
The main prerequisite is to enable Microsoft Defender for Endpoint in your environment.
Can tags be used in automation rules?
Yes, tags can be used to categorize alerts making it easier to sort and manage them. They can be added as an alert action in automation rules.
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