Call to Action: Migrate Your Classic Alert‑trigger Automations to Automation Rules Before March 2026
Reminder: Following the Retirement Announcement published in March 2023, classic alert‑trigger automation in Microsoft Sentinel, where playbooks are triggered directly from analytic rules will be deprecated in March 2026. To ensure your alert‑driven automations continue to run without interruption, please migrate to automation rules. How to Identify the Impacted Rules To help you quickly identify if any analytic rules should be updated, we created a Logic App solution that identifies all the analytic rules which use classic automation. The solution is available in two deployment options: Subscription-level version – scans all workspaces in the subscription Workspace-level version – scans a single workspace (useful when subscription Owner permissions are not available) Both options create an output of a list of analytic rules which need to be updated as described in the next section. The solution is published as part of Sentinel's GitHub community solutions with deployment instructions and further details: sentinel-classic-automation-detection After deploying and running the tool, open the Logic App run history. The final action contains the list of the analytic rules which require migration. How to Migrate the identified Analytic Rules from Classic Alert‑trigger Automations Once you have identified the analytic rules using classic automation, follow the official Microsoft Learn guidance to migrate them to automation rules: migrate-playbooks-to-automation-rules In short: Identify classic automation in your analytic rules Create automation rules to replace the classic automation To complete the migration, remove the Alert Automation Classic Actions identified in step #1 by clicking on the three dots and 'Remove' Summary Classic automation will retire in March 2026 Use the detection tool to identify any remaining classic alert-trigger playbooks Follow the official Microsoft documentation to complete the required changes Act now to ensure your SOC automations continue to run smoothly
What’s New in Microsoft Sentinel: November 2025
Welcome to our new Microsoft Sentinel blog series! We’re excited to launch a new blog series focused on Microsoft Sentinel. From the latest product innovations and feature updates to industry recognition, success stories, and major events, you’ll find it all here. This first post kicks off the series by celebrating Microsoft’s recognition as a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for SIEM 1 . It also introduces the latest innovations designed to deliver measurable impact and empower defenders with adaptable, collaborative tools in an evolving threat landscape. Microsoft is recognized as a Leader in 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Microsoft Sentinel continues to drive security innovation—and the industry is taking notice. Microsoft was named a leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) 1 , published on October 8, 2025. We believe this acknowledgment reinforces our commitment to helping organizations stay secure in a rapidly changing threat landscape. Read blog for more information. Take advantage of M365 E5 benefit and Microsoft Sentinel promotional pricing Microsoft 365 E5 benefit Customers with Microsoft 365 E5, A5, F5, or G5 licenses automatically receive up to 5 MB of free data ingestion per user per day, covering key security data sources like Azure AD sign-in logs and Microsoft Cloud App Security discovery logs—no enrollment required. Read more about M365 benefits for Microsoft Sentinel. New 50GB promotional pricing To make Microsoft Sentinel more accessible to small and mid-sized organizations, we introduced a new 50 GB commitment tier in public preview, with promotional pricing starting October 1, 2025, through March 31, 2026. Customers who choose the 50 GB commitment tier during this period will maintain their promotional rate until March 31, 2027. Available globally with regional variations in regional pricing it is accessible through EA, CSP, and Direct channels. For more information see Microsoft Sentinel pricing page. Partner Integrations: Strengthening TI collaboration and workflow automation Microsoft Sentinel continues to expand its ecosystem with powerful partner integrations that enhance security operations. With Cyware, customers can now share threat intelligence bi-directionally across trusted destinations, ISACs, and multi-tenant environments—enabling real-time intelligence exchange that strengthens defenses and accelerates coordinated response. Learn more about the Cyware integration. Learn more about the Cyware integration here. Meanwhile, BlinkOps integration combined with Sentinel’s SOAR capabilities empowers SOC teams to automate repetitive tasks, orchestrate complex playbooks, and streamline workflows end-to-end. This automation reduces operational overhead, cuts Mean Time to Respond (MTTR) and frees analysts for strategic threat hunting. Learn more about the BlinkOps integration. Learn more about the BlinkOps integration. Harnessing Microsoft Sentinel Innovations Security is being reengineered for the AI era, moving beyond static, rule-based controls and reactive post-breach response toward platform-led, machine-speed defense. To overcome fragmented tools, sprawling signals, and legacy architectures that cannot keep pace with modern attacks, Microsoft Sentinel has evolved into both a SIEM and a unified security platform for agentic defense. These updates introduce architectural enhancements and advanced capabilities that enable AI-driven security operations at scale, helping organizations detect, investigate, and respond with unprecedented speed and precision. Microsoft Sentinel graph – Public Preview Unified graph analytics for deeper context and threat reasoning. Microsoft Sentinel graph delivers an interactive, visual map of entity relationships, helping analysts uncover hidden attack paths, lateral movement, and root causes for pre- and post-breach investigations. Read tech community blog for more details. Microsoft Sentinel Model Context Protocol (MCP) server – Public Preview Context is key to effective security automation. Microsoft Sentinel MCP server introduces a standardized protocol for building context-aware solutions, enabling developers to create smarter integrations and workflows within Sentinel. This opens the door to richer automation scenarios and more adaptive security operations. Read tech community blog for more details. Enhanced UEBA with New Data Sources – Public Preview We are excited to announce support for six new sources in our user entity and behavior analytics algorithm, including AWS, GCP, Okta, and Azure. Now, customers can gain deeper, cross-platform visibility into anomalous behavior for earlier and more confident detection. Read our blog and check out our Ninja Training to learn more. Developer Solutions for Microsoft Sentinel platform – Public Preview Expanded APIs, solution templates, and integration capabilities empower developers to build and distribute custom workflows and apps via Microsoft Security Store. This unlocks faster innovation, streamlined operations, and new revenue opportunities, extending Sentinel beyond out-of-the-box functionality for greater agility and resilience. Read tech community blog for more details. Growing ecosystem of Microsoft Sentinel data connectors We are excited to announce the general availability of four new data connectors: AWS Server Access Logs, Google Kubernetes Engine, Palo Alto CSPM, and Palo Alto Cortex Xpanse. Visit find your Microsoft Sentinel data connector page for the list of data connectors currently supported. We are also inviting Private Previews for four additional connectors: AWS EKS, Qualys VM KB, Alibaba Cloud Network, and Holm Security towards our commitment to expand the breadth and depth to support new data sources. Our customer support team can help you sign up for previews. New agentless data connector for Microsoft Sentinel Solution for SAP applications We’re excited to announce the general availability of a new agentless connector for Microsoft Sentinel solution for SAP applications, designed to simplify integration and enhance security visibility. This connector enables seamless ingestion of SAP logs and telemetry directly into Microsoft Sentinel, helping SOC teams monitor critical business processes, detect anomalies, and respond to threats faster—all while reducing operational overhead. Events, Webinars and Training Stay connected with the latest security innovation and best practices. From global conferences to expert-led sessions, these events offer opportunities to learn, network, and explore how Microsoft is shaping AI-driven, end-to-end security for the modern enterprise. Microsoft Ignite 2025 Security takes center stage at Microsoft Ignite, with dedicated sessions and hands-on experiences for security professionals and leaders. Join us in San Francisco, November 17–21, 2025, or online, to explore our AI-first, end-to-end security platform designed to protect identities, devices, data, applications, clouds, infrastructure—and critically—AI systems and agents. Register today! Microsoft Security Webinars Stay ahead of emerging threats and best practices with expert-led webinars from the Microsoft Security Community. Discover upcoming sessions on Microsoft Sentinel SIEM & platform, Defender, Intune, and more. Sign up today and be part of the conversation that shapes security for everyone. Learn more about upcoming webinars. Onboard Microsoft Sentinel in Defender – Video Series Microsoft leads the industry in both SIEM and XDR, delivering a unified experience that brings these capabilities together seamlessly in the Microsoft Defender portal. This integration empowers security teams to correlate insights, streamline workflows, and strengthen defenses across the entire threat landscape. Ready to get started? Explore our video series to learn how to onboard your Microsoft Sentinel experience and unlock the full potential of integrated security. Watch Microsoft Sentinel is now in Defender video series. MDTI Convergence into Microsoft Sentinel & Defender XDR overview Discover how Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence Premium is transforming cybersecurity by integrating into Defender XDR, Sentinel, and the Defender portal. Watch this session to learn about new features, expanded access to threat intelligence, and how these updates strengthen your security posture. Partner Sentinel Bootcamp Transform your security team from Sentinel beginners to advanced practitioners. This comprehensive 2-day bootcamp helps participants master architecture design, data ingestion strategies, multi-tenant management, and advanced analytics while learning to leverage Microsoft's AI-first security platform for real-world threat detection and response. Register here for the bootcamp. Looking to dive deeper into Microsoft Sentinel development? Check out the official https://aka.ms/AppAssure_SentinelDeveloper. It’s the central reference for developers and security teams who want to build custom integrations, automate workflows, and extend Sentinel’s capabilities. Bookmark this link as your starting point for hands-on guidance and tools. Stay Connected Check back each month for the latest innovations, updates, and events to ensure you’re getting the most out of Microsoft Sentinel. 1 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Security Information and Event Management, Andrew Davies, Eric Ahlm, Angel Berrios, Darren Livingstone, 8 October 2025
Understand New Sentinel Pricing Model with Sentinel Data Lake Tier
Introduction on Sentinel and its New Pricing Model Microsoft Sentinel is a cloud-native Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) platform that collects, analyzes, and correlates security data from across your environment to detect threats and automate response. Traditionally, Sentinel stored all ingested data in the Analytics tier (Log Analytics workspace), which is powerful but expensive for high-volume logs. To reduce cost and enable customers to retain all security data without compromise, Microsoft introduced a new dual-tier pricing model consisting of the Analytics tier and the Data Lake tier. The Analytics tier continues to support fast, real-time querying and analytics for core security scenarios, while the new Data Lake tier provides very low-cost storage for long-term retention and high-volume datasets. Customers can now choose where each data type lands—analytics for high-value detections and investigations, and data lake for large or archival types—allowing organizations to significantly lower cost while still retaining all their security data for analytics, compliance, and hunting. Please flow diagram depicts new sentinel pricing model: Now let's understand this new pricing model with below scenarios: Scenario 1A (PAY GO) Scenario 1B (Usage Commitment) Scenario 2 (Data Lake Tier Only) Scenario 1A (PAY GO) Requirement Suppose you need to ingest 10 GB of data per day, and you must retain that data for 2 years. However, you will only frequently use, query, and analyze the data for the first 6 months. Solution To optimize cost, you can ingest the data into the Analytics tier and retain it there for the first 6 months, where active querying and investigation happen. After that period, the remaining 18 months of retention can be shifted to the Data Lake tier, which provides low-cost storage for compliance and auditing needs. But you will be charged separately for data lake tier querying and analytics which depicted as Compute (D) in pricing flow diagram. Pricing Flow / Notes The first 10 GB/day ingested into the Analytics tier is free for 31 days under the Analytics logs plan. All data ingested into the Analytics tier is automatically mirrored to the Data Lake tier at no additional ingestion or retention cost. For the first 6 months, you pay only for Analytics tier ingestion and retention, excluding any free capacity. For the next 18 months, you pay only for Data Lake tier retention, which is significantly cheaper. Azure Pricing Calculator Equivalent Assuming no data is queried or analyzed during the 18-month Data Lake tier retention period: Although the Analytics tier retention is set to 6 months, the first 3 months of retention fall under the free retention limit, so retention charges apply only for the remaining 3 months of the analytics retention window. Azure pricing calculator will adjust accordingly. Scenario 1B (Usage Commitment) Now, suppose you are ingesting 100 GB per day. If you follow the same pay-as-you-go pricing model described above, your estimated cost would be approximately $15,204 per month. However, you can reduce this cost by choosing a Commitment Tier, where Analytics tier ingestion is billed at a discounted rate. Note that the discount applies only to Analytics tier ingestion—it does not apply to Analytics tier retention costs or to any Data Lake tier–related charges. Please refer to the pricing flow and the equivalent pricing calculator results shown below. Monthly cost savings: $15,204 – $11,184 = $4,020 per month Now the question is: What happens if your usage reaches 150 GB per day? Will the additional 50 GB be billed at the Pay-As-You-Go rate? No. The entire 150 GB/day will still be billed at the discounted rate associated with the 100 GB/day commitment tier bucket. Azure Pricing Calculator Equivalent (100 GB/ Day) Azure Pricing Calculator Equivalent (150 GB/ Day) Scenario 2 (Data Lake Tier Only) Requirement Suppose you need to store certain audit or compliance logs amounting to 10 GB per day. These logs are not used for querying, analytics, or investigations on a regular basis, but must be retained for 2 years as per your organization’s compliance or forensic policies. Solution Since these logs are not actively analyzed, you should avoid ingesting them into the Analytics tier, which is more expensive and optimized for active querying. Instead, send them directly to the Data Lake tier, where they can be retained cost-effectively for future audit, compliance, or forensic needs. Pricing Flow Because the data is ingested directly into the Data Lake tier, you pay both ingestion and retention costs there for the entire 2-year period. If, at any point in the future, you need to perform advanced analytics, querying, or search, you will incur additional compute charges, based on actual usage. Even with occasional compute charges, the cost remains significantly lower than storing the same data in the Analytics tier. Realized Savings Scenario Cost per Month Scenario 1: 10 GB/day in Analytics tier $1,520.40 Scenario 2: 10 GB/day directly into Data Lake tier $202.20 (without compute) $257.20 (with sample compute price) Savings with no compute activity: $1,520.40 – $202.20 = $1,318.20 per month Savings with some compute activity (sample value): $1,520.40 – $257.20 = $1,263.20 per month Azure calculator equivalent without compute Azure calculator equivalent with Sample Compute Conclusion The combination of the Analytics tier and the Data Lake tier in Microsoft Sentinel enables organizations to optimize cost based on how their security data is used. High-value logs that require frequent querying, real-time analytics, and investigation can be stored in the Analytics tier, which provides powerful search performance and built-in detection capabilities. At the same time, large-volume or infrequently accessed logs—such as audit, compliance, or long-term retention data—can be directed to the Data Lake tier, which offers dramatically lower storage and ingestion costs. Because all Analytics tier data is automatically mirrored to the Data Lake tier at no extra cost, customers can use the Analytics tier only for the period they actively query data, and rely on the Data Lake tier for the remaining retention. This tiered model allows different scenarios—active investigation, archival storage, compliance retention, or large-scale telemetry ingestion—to be handled at the most cost-effective layer, ultimately delivering substantial savings without sacrificing visibility, retention, or future analytical capabilities.
Sentinel Data Connector: Google Workspace (G Suite) (using Azure Functions)
I'm encountering a problem when attempting to run the GWorkspace_Report workbook in Azure Sentinel. The query is throwing this error related to the union operator: 'union' operator: Failed to resolve table expression named 'GWorkspace_ReportsAPI_gcp_CL' I've double-checked, and the GoogleWorkspaceReports connector is installed and updated to version 3.0.2. Has anyone seen this or know what might be causing the table GWorkspace_ReportsAPI_gcp_CL to be unresolved? Thanks!
Device Tables are not ingesting tables for an orgs workspace
Device Tables are not ingesting tables for an orgs workspace. I can confirm that all devices are enrolled and onboarded to MDE (Microsoft defender for endpoint) I had placed an EICAR file on one of the machine which bought an alert through to sentinel,however this did not invoke any of the device related tables . Workspace i am targeting Workspace from another org with tables enabled and ingesting data Microsoft Defender XDR connector shows as connected however the tables do not seem to be ingesting data; I run the following; DeviceEvents | where TimeGenerated > ago(15m) | top 20 by TimeGenerated DeviceProcessEvents | where TimeGenerated > ago(15m) | top 20 by TimeGenerated I receive no results; No results found from the specified time range Try selecting another time range Please assist As I cannot think where this is failingIssue while deploying Sentienl Rules
I know that when deleting a Sentinel rule, you need to wait a specific amount of time before it can be redeployed. However, in this tenant, we've been waiting for almost a month and are still getting the same deployment error ('was recently deleted. You need to allow some time before re-using the same ID. Please try again later. Click here for details'). I still want to use the same ID ect. Does anyone have any idea or similar issue why it's still not possible after waiting for about a month?Single Rule for No logs receiving (Global + Per-device Thresholds)
Hi everyone, I currently maintain one Analytics rule per table to detect when logs stop coming in. Some tables receive data from multiple sources, each with a different expected interval (for example, some sources send every 10 minutes, others every 30 minutes). In other SIEM platforms there’s usually: A global threshold (e.g., 60 minutes) for all sources. Optional per-device/per-table thresholds that override the global value. Is there a recommended way to implement one global rule that uses a default threshold but allows per-source overrides when a particular device or log table has a different expected frequency? Also, if there are other approaches you use to manage “logs not received” detection, I’d love to hear your suggestions as well. This is a sample of my current rule let threshold = 1h; AzureActivity | summarize LastHeartBeat = max(TimeGenerated) | where LastHeartBeat < ago(threshold)
How to exclude IPs & accounts from Analytic Rule, with Watchlist?
We are trying to filter out some false positives from a Analytic rule called "Service accounts performing RemotePS". Using automation rules still gives a lot of false mail notifications we don't want so we would like to try using a watchlist with the serviceaccounts and IP combination we want to exclude. Anyone knows where and what syntax we would need to exlude the items on the specific Watchlist? Query: let InteractiveTypes = pack_array( // Declare Interactive logon type names 'Interactive', 'CachedInteractive', 'Unlock', 'RemoteInteractive', 'CachedRemoteInteractive', 'CachedUnlock' ); let WhitelistedCmdlets = pack_array( // List of whitelisted commands that don't provide a lot of value 'prompt', 'Out-Default', 'out-lineoutput', 'format-default', 'Set-StrictMode', 'TabExpansion2' ); let WhitelistedAccounts = pack_array('FakeWhitelistedAccount'); // List of accounts that are known to perform this activity in the environment and can be ignored DeviceLogonEvents // Get all logon events... | where AccountName !in~ (WhitelistedAccounts) // ...where it is not a whitelisted account... | where ActionType == "LogonSuccess" // ...and the logon was successful... | where AccountName !contains "$" // ...and not a machine logon. | where AccountName !has "winrm va_" // WinRM will have pseudo account names that match this if there is an explicit permission for an admin to run the cmdlet, so assume it is good. | extend IsInteractive=(LogonType in (InteractiveTypes)) // Determine if the logon is interactive (True=1,False=0)... | summarize HasInteractiveLogon=max(IsInteractive) // ...then bucket and get the maximum interactive value (0 or 1)... by AccountName // ... by the AccountNames | where HasInteractiveLogon == 0 // ...and filter out all accounts that had an interactive logon. // At this point, we have a list of accounts that we believe to be service accounts // Now we need to find RemotePS sessions that were spawned by those accounts // Note that we look at all powershell cmdlets executed to form a 29-day baseline to evaluate the data on today | join kind=rightsemi ( // Start by dropping the account name and only tracking the... DeviceEvents // ... | where ActionType == 'PowerShellCommand' // ...PowerShell commands seen... | where InitiatingProcessFileName =~ 'wsmprovhost.exe' // ...whose parent was wsmprovhost.exe (RemotePS Server)... | extend AccountName = InitiatingProcessAccountName // ...and add an AccountName field so the join is easier ) on AccountName // At this point, we have all of the commands that were ran by service accounts | extend Command = tostring(extractjson('$.Command', tostring(AdditionalFields))) // Extract the actual PowerShell command that was executed | where Command !in (WhitelistedCmdlets) // Remove any values that match the whitelisted cmdlets | summarize (Timestamp, ReportId)=arg_max(TimeGenerated, ReportId), // Then group all of the cmdlets and calculate the min/max times of execution... make_set(Command, 100000), count(), min(TimeGenerated) by // ...as well as creating a list of cmdlets ran and the count.. AccountName, AccountDomain, DeviceName, DeviceId // ...and have the commonality be the account, DeviceName and DeviceId // At this point, we have machine-account pairs along with the list of commands run as well as the first/last time the commands were ran | order by AccountName asc // Order the final list by AccountName just to make it easier to go through | extend HostName = iff(DeviceName has '.', substring(DeviceName, 0, indexof(DeviceName, '.')), DeviceName) | extend DnsDomain = iff(DeviceName has '.', substring(DeviceName, indexof(DeviceName, '.') + 1), "")Sentinel Datalake - How to query outside of defender portal?
I've been doing some testing on Sentinel Datalake but I'm running into a major gap. How do we query the datalake outside Jupyter notebooks or the defender portal? Currently, this is done by connecting to the log analytics workspace. But I don't see any way to query the datalake from another system.
