Investigate and remediate incidents in Microsoft Sentinel
5 minutes
5 Questions
Microsoft Sentinel provides a comprehensive platform for investigating and remediating security incidents through its unified Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) capabilities. When an incident is created in Microsoft Sentinel, …Microsoft Sentinel provides a comprehensive platform for investigating and remediating security incidents through its unified Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) capabilities. When an incident is created in Microsoft Sentinel, analysts can begin their investigation by accessing the Incidents page, which displays all active incidents with severity levels, status, and assigned owners. The investigation process starts with reviewing the incident details, including related alerts, entities such as users, IP addresses, hosts, and files, as well as the timeline of events. Analysts can use the Investigation Graph feature to visualize connections between entities and understand the attack scope. This graphical representation helps identify lateral movement, compromised accounts, and affected resources. During investigation, analysts can run queries using Kusto Query Language (KQL) to search through logs and gather additional evidence. The Entity Behavior feature provides insights into user and entity activities, highlighting anomalous patterns that may indicate compromise. Bookmarks allow analysts to save important findings for later reference and to build a case. For remediation, Microsoft Sentinel integrates with playbooks built on Azure Logic Apps. These automated workflows can perform actions such as isolating compromised hosts, blocking malicious IP addresses, disabling user accounts, or sending notifications to stakeholders. Analysts can trigger playbooks manually or configure them to run automatically when specific conditions are met. After completing the investigation and remediation steps, analysts update the incident status, add comments documenting their findings, and close the incident with an appropriate classification such as True Positive, Benign Positive, or False Positive. This documentation helps improve future detection rules and response procedures. The entire process ensures organizations can effectively detect, investigate, and respond to security threats while maintaining detailed audit trails for compliance and continuous improvement of their security posture.
Investigate and Remediate Incidents in Microsoft Sentinel
Why This Is Important
Incident investigation and remediation in Microsoft Sentinel is a critical skill for Security Operations Analysts. When security alerts are triggered, analysts must quickly assess the threat, understand its scope, and take appropriate action to contain and eliminate the risk. This capability forms the backbone of an effective Security Operations Center (SOC) and is heavily tested in the SC-200 exam.
What Is Incident Investigation in Microsoft Sentinel?
Microsoft Sentinel aggregates alerts from various sources into incidents. An incident represents a potential security threat that requires investigation. Incidents can contain multiple related alerts, entities (such as users, hosts, IP addresses), and evidence that help analysts understand the full attack story.
Key components include: - Incidents: Collections of related alerts grouped together - Entities: Users, devices, IP addresses, files, and other objects involved - Investigation Graph: Visual representation of relationships between entities - Bookmarks: Saved query results for evidence preservation - Comments and Tasks: Collaboration tools for incident management
How Incident Investigation Works
1. Incident Triage: Review the incident queue, assess severity, and assign ownership. Incidents can be filtered by status (New, Active, Closed), severity, and other criteria.
2. Investigation Graph: Use the visual investigation tool to explore entity relationships. Click on entities to see related alerts, timeline of activities, and connections to other entities.
3. Entity Behavior Analytics: Leverage UEBA to identify anomalous behavior patterns for users and devices involved in the incident.
4. Log Queries: Run KQL queries in Log Analytics to gather additional evidence and context.
5. Bookmarks: Save important query results as bookmarks to attach evidence to incidents.
Remediation Actions
Once investigation is complete, analysts can take remediation actions: - Playbooks: Automated response actions using Logic Apps - Manual Actions: Isolate devices, disable accounts, block IPs - Integration with Microsoft Defender: Leverage Microsoft 365 Defender for endpoint remediation
Incident Lifecycle Management
- Change incident status (New → Active → Closed) - Add classification when closing (True Positive, False Positive, Benign Positive) - Document findings through comments - Assign incidents to analysts or teams
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Investigate and Remediate Incidents in Microsoft Sentinel
1. Know the Investigation Graph: Understand that it shows entity relationships visually and allows drilling into connected alerts and entities. Questions often test when to use this feature.
2. Understand Incident Classification: Know the difference between True Positive (confirmed threat), False Positive (not a real threat), and Benign Positive (real activity but not malicious).
3. Bookmarks vs Comments: Bookmarks preserve query evidence; comments are for analyst notes and collaboration. Exam questions may test which to use in specific scenarios.
4. Playbook Triggers: Remember that playbooks can be triggered manually from incidents or automatically through automation rules. Know when each approach is appropriate.
5. Entity Pages: These provide comprehensive views of user and host activity. Questions may ask about finding historical behavior for an entity.
6. UEBA Requirements: User and Entity Behavior Analytics requires specific data connectors (Azure AD, Windows Security Events). Know the prerequisites.
7. Incident Ownership: Understand how to assign incidents to analysts and why this matters for SOC workflow.
8. KQL Proficiency: Be prepared for questions that require understanding basic KQL queries for investigation purposes.
9. Automation Rules vs Playbooks: Automation rules handle incident management tasks; playbooks perform complex response actions. Distinguish between these in scenario questions.
10. Evidence Preservation: Know that bookmarks attached to incidents preserve evidence even if underlying data ages out of the workspace.