Security Copilot is an AI-powered tool integrated into Microsoft Defender XDR that enhances incident investigation capabilities for security analysts. When investigating incidents, Security Copilot provides natural language interaction to help analysts understand and respond to threats more effecti…Security Copilot is an AI-powered tool integrated into Microsoft Defender XDR that enhances incident investigation capabilities for security analysts. When investigating incidents, Security Copilot provides natural language interaction to help analysts understand and respond to threats more effectively.
To investigate incidents using Security Copilot, analysts can access the tool through the Microsoft Defender portal. The Copilot sidebar appears when viewing incident details, allowing analysts to ask questions about the incident in plain language. For example, analysts can ask 'What happened in this incident?' or 'Which devices are affected?' and receive comprehensive summaries.
Key capabilities include incident summarization, where Copilot analyzes alerts, entities, and evidence to provide a consolidated view of what occurred. This helps analysts quickly understand the scope and severity of an incident. The tool can also perform script analysis, examining PowerShell, batch files, or other scripts found during investigation to determine if they contain malicious code.
Guided response is another valuable feature where Copilot suggests remediation actions based on the incident context. These recommendations help analysts take appropriate steps to contain and resolve threats. Additionally, Copilot can generate reports summarizing investigation findings, which is useful for documentation and stakeholder communication.
Analysts can use natural language queries to explore entity relationships, understand attack timelines, and identify indicators of compromise. The tool correlates data across multiple Microsoft security products, providing a unified investigation experience.
Security Copilot also assists with threat intelligence by providing context about known threat actors, malware families, and attack techniques relevant to the incident. This contextual information helps analysts assess the sophistication and potential impact of attacks.
By leveraging these capabilities, security operations teams can reduce investigation time, improve accuracy in threat assessment, and respond to incidents more efficiently while maintaining comprehensive documentation of their analysis.
Investigate Incidents Using Security Copilot
Why It Is Important
Security Copilot represents a transformative approach to incident investigation in modern security operations. As cyber threats become increasingly sophisticated, security analysts need intelligent assistance to process vast amounts of data quickly and accurately. Security Copilot leverages AI to accelerate incident response times, reduce analyst fatigue, and ensure consistent investigation quality. For the SC-200 exam, understanding this technology demonstrates proficiency in next-generation security tools that Microsoft emphasizes in their security ecosystem.
What Is Security Copilot?
Microsoft Security Copilot is an AI-powered security analysis tool that integrates with Microsoft Sentinel and other Microsoft security products. It uses natural language processing to help security analysts:
• Summarize incidents and alerts in plain language • Analyze complex attack patterns and timelines • Generate investigation reports • Provide recommendations for remediation steps • Query security data using conversational prompts • Correlate information across multiple data sources
How It Works
Security Copilot operates through a prompt-based interface within Microsoft Sentinel. Here's the workflow:
1. Incident Selection: Analysts select an incident from the Sentinel incident queue.
2. Copilot Activation: The analyst opens the Security Copilot pane within the incident view.
3. Natural Language Queries: Analysts ask questions in plain English, such as 'Summarize this incident' or 'What entities are involved?'
4. AI Analysis: Copilot processes the query against available security data, logs, and threat intelligence.
5. Response Generation: Copilot provides structured responses, including summaries, timelines, affected entities, and recommended actions.
6. Iterative Investigation: Analysts can ask follow-up questions to dive deeper into specific aspects of the incident.
Key Features for Investigations
• Incident Summaries: Automatic generation of incident overviews including scope, severity, and affected resources • Entity Analysis: Detailed information about users, devices, and IP addresses involved • Attack Timeline: Chronological view of events leading to and following the incident • Threat Intelligence Integration: Context from Microsoft threat intelligence about indicators of compromise • Script Analysis: Ability to analyze suspicious scripts and explain their functionality • Guided Response: Step-by-step recommendations for containment and remediation
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Investigate Incidents Using Security Copilot
Understand the Integration Points: Know that Security Copilot works within Microsoft Sentinel and can access data from Defender products. Questions may ask about where to access Copilot features.
Focus on Use Cases: Expect scenario-based questions asking which Copilot capability to use for specific investigation tasks. Match the capability to the need (summarization, entity analysis, script review).
Know the Prompt Types: Understand that Copilot uses natural language prompts. Questions might present different prompt options and ask which achieves a specific goal.
Remember the Workflow: The exam may test the sequence of steps in using Copilot for incident investigation. Know that you start with an incident, then query Copilot for analysis.
Permissions and Access: Be aware that Security Copilot requires appropriate licensing and role-based access control permissions. Questions may address who can use these features.
Limitations Awareness: Understand that Copilot assists but does not replace analyst judgment. Questions may test understanding of when human review is still required.
Output Formats: Know that Copilot can generate reports, summaries, and structured data. Questions might ask about sharing investigation findings with stakeholders.