XdrLogRaider Defender XDR portal telemetry
A Microsoft Sentinel custom data connector that ingests Microsoft Defender XDR portal-only telemetry — configuration, compliance, drift, exposure, governance — that public Microsoft APIs (Graph Security, Microsoft 365 Defender, MDE) don't expose. https://github.com/akefallonitis/xdrlograider— Defender XDR portal telemetry Happy Hunting 🥳 🎉Sentinel Foundry - MCP Server (Preview) (Github Community Release)
I’ve been cooking something that a lot of people in SOC have been struggling with — especially on the engineering side of Microsoft Sentinel. Thanks to the Microsoft Security team for shaping the capabilities of Sentinel even better with Sentinel Data Lake & Modern SecOps. Today’s the day I can finally share it. Note: This is not an official Microsoft product, but it is designed to make the Sentinel Build even better (complement) with much more intelligence. 🚀 Sentinel Foundry is now in public preview with 43 tools. (Sentinel Foundry - MCP Server) It’s an MCP server built to act like the brain of a strong Sentinel engineer — helping make building, improving, and operating Sentinel far more practical, faster, and honestly more enjoyable. For a lot of teams, the challenge is not understanding what Sentinel can do. The hard part is the engineering work around it: -> Deciding what data should actually be ingested -> Building a clean, scalable Sentinel foundation -> Writing useful detections instead of noisy ones -> Balancing security value with cost -> Turning ideas into deployable engineering outputs That is exactly why I built Sentinel Foundry to help communities grow stronger. It helps with the real engineering tasks behind Sentinel — from architecture thinking to detection design, deployment planning, ingestion strategy, automation ideas, and many of the workflows outlined in the GitHub project. How does it work? Here’s one of the flagship prompts I ran with it: “Give me a complete security posture report for our workspace. Score each pillar and tell me what to prioritise.” And within seconds, it produced a structured engineering blueprint that would normally take a lot longer to pull together manually. You can see the example prompts here in what it can do: https://github.com/prabhukiranveesam/Sentinel-Foundry#what-can-it-do I want building Sentinel to feel less like repetitive engineering overhead — and more like real security engineering that is fast, creative, and enjoyable. If you work with Sentinel as a SOC L2 analyst, engineer, detection engineer, consultant, or architect, I’d genuinely love for you to try it and tell me what you think. 🔗 Public Preview: https://github.com/prabhukiranveesam/Sentinel-Foundry This is just the start of an AI era — and I’m excited to keep shaping it with more powerful features over the coming days. This is very easy to set up and will be available to all of you at no cost during this month as part of the public preview, and your feedback is extremely valuable to shape this as a powerful solution.
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.
Missing details in Azure Activity Logs – MICROSOFT.SECURITYINSIGHTS/ENTITIES/ACTION
The Azure Activity Logs are crucial for tracking access and actions within Sentinel. However, I’m encountering a significant lack of documentation and clarity regarding some specific operation types. Resources consulted: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/sentinel/audit-sentinel-data https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/securityinsights/entities?view=rest-securityinsights-2024-01-01-preview https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/securityinsights/operations/list?view=rest-securityinsights-2024-09-01&tabs=HTTP My issue: I observed unauthorized activity on our Sentinel workspace. The Azure Activity Logs clearly indicate the user involved, the resource, and the operation type: "MICROSOFT.SECURITYINSIGHTS/ENTITIES/ACTION" But that’s it. No detail about what the action was, what entity it targeted, or how it was triggered. This makes auditing extremely difficult. It's clear the person was in Sentinel and perform an activity through it, from search, KQL, logs to find an entity from a KQL query. But, that's all... Strangely, this operation is not even listed in the official Sentinel Operations documentation linked above. My question: Has anyone encountered this and found a way to interpret this operation type properly? Any insight into how to retrieve more meaningful details (action context, target entity, etc.) from these events would be greatly appreciated.
Sentinel Data Connector for Azure Virtual Desktop
Hello, I have a customer planning to deploy Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD). They are currently using Microsoft Sentinel for their SecOps. However, there is no AVD Data Connector available. The customer is not interested in building a custom data connector. Does anyone know if there are plans to add a data connector for AVD in the near future? Thanks.Daily "Network Port Sweep detected on port x" but no Source IP
For a couple of months we have been getting "Network Port Sweep was detection by multiple IPs" with ports 135 and 445 mostly. The KQL attached lists a load of Destination IPs but no Source IP (see example below) All these are inside our network, and so not coming from outside the network where the firewall would block such scans. We suspect it is one of our network tools such as Solarwinds but without the Source IP it is difficult to prove anything. // The query_now parameter represents the time (in UTC) at which the scheduled analytics rule ran to produce this alert. set query_now = datetime(2024-06-24T03:01:10.2587643Z); let lookback = 1h; let threshold = 20; _Im_NetworkSession(starttime=ago(lookback), endtime=now()) | where NetworkDirection == "Inbound" | summarize make_set(DstIpAddr, 100) by DstPortNumber | where array_length(set_DstIpAddr) > threshold Tried to modify the query, this is the KQL I have tried. set query_now = datetime(2024-01-26T07:47:48.3756000Z); let lookback = 1h; let threshold = 20; _Im_NetworkSession(starttime=ago(lookback), endtime=now()) | where NetworkDirection == "Inbound" | summarize make_set(DstIpAddr, 100), make_set(SrcIpAddr, 100) by DstPortNumber | where array_length(set_DstIpAddr) > threshold Anyone got any suggestions on how we can track down what is causing this alert in Sentinel?I am learning to build Logic Apps working with Sentinel inc
Hello I am learning to build Logic Apps. The tasks will mainly involve querying Log Analytics and writing comments in incidents. How can I do this securely? I understand that I need to add the Sentinel Contributor role for the Logic App, but what next? If I need the Logic App to be able to query, do I need to give it additional access, such as Log Analytics Contributor or Reader? When I want to create a connection, I have three options: OAuth - I see that I log in with my account, and then the Logic App has access to what I have access to. Is this secure? Service Principal - I need to register an application and create a secret for it, then grant this application access to Sentinel. Can I use a single Service Principal for all Logic Apps? I understand that secrets need to be rotated – does this affect my Logic Apps? Will I need to update something to ensure everything works properly? Managed Identity - This only works within the specific Logic App? This seems like the best solution, but I managed to add a new Managed Identity to query Log Analytics, and in the next step, I wanted it to add tasks to an incident in Sentinel, and unfortunately, it didn't work. (However, I changed the last step and added it via OAuth, and it worked, allowing the Logic App to add tasks to the incident in Sentinel.) this is one of example i am working on. https://github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel/blob/master/Playbooks/Get-SOCTasks/readme.md adding role assignment I would be great if you can share your experiences! thank youFinOps In Microsoft Sentinel
Microsoft Sentinel's security analytics and operations data is stored in an Azure Monitor Log Analytics workspace. Billing is based on the volume of data analyzed in Microsoft Sentinel and stored in the Log Analytics workspace. The cost of both is combined in a simplified pricing tier. Microsoft 365 data sources are always free to ingest for all Microsoft Sentinel users: Billable data sources: Although alerts are free, the raw logs for Microsoft Endpoint Defender, Defender for Cloud Apps, Microsoft Entra ID sign in and audit logs, and Azure Information Protection (AIP) data types are paid: Microsoft Sentinel data retention is free for the first 90 days. Enable Microsoft Sentinel on an Azure Monitor Log Analytics workspace and the first 10 GB/day is free for 31 days. The cost for both Log Analytics data ingestion and Microsoft Sentinel analysis charges up to the 10 GB/day limit are waived during the 31-day trial period. This free trial is subject to a 20 workspace limit per Azure tenant • By default, all tables in your workspace inherit the workspace's interactive retention setting and have no archive. • You can modify the retention and archive settings of individual tables Azure Monitor Logs retains data in two states: - Interactive retention: Lets you retain Analytics logs for interactive queries of up to 2 years. - Archive: Lets you keep older, less used data in your workspace at a reduced cost. • You can access data in the archived state by using search jobs, restore and keep data in archived state for up to 12 years • Its very important for cost management in MS Sentinel when you define short data retention period, but firstly go in Log Analytics WS | Workbooks | Workspace Usage in order to see tables size Use this workbook to analyze the the sizes of the different tables in your workspace: Where can save your money? Ingestion • Carefully plan what data is sent into your Microsoft sentinel workspace • Utilize filtering mechanisms to reduce ingestions to what the SOC needs • Set daily cap (good for PoC scenarios but not recommend for production) Retention • Send data to other storage platforms that have cheaper storage costs (Azure blob storage, Azure data explorer) Compute • Shutdown Azure machine learning compute during off hours, consider using reserved instances pricing • Set quotas on your subscription and workspaces • Use low-priority virtual machine (VM) Bandwidth • Sending data across Azure regions might incur into additional costs Ingestion planning • Analyze your data sources and decides what data is needed by your SOC for detection, investigations, hunting and enrichment. Take use-driven approach • Plan your workspace design • Existing workspaces might be ingesting data not needed by the SOC • Consider using separate workspace for Microsoft Sentinel • When possible enable Defender for Servers on the same workspace where you enable Microsoft Sentinel, you get 500 MB of free data ingestion per day • If you configure your Log Analytics agent to send data to two or more different Log Analytics workspaces (multi-homing), you'll get 500-MB free data ingestion for each workspace. Retention • Microsoft Sentinel retention is charged ($0.1/GB/month) and can become a big portion of the Microsoft Sentinel cost • 1.2 TB/day ingestion with 1-year retention (East US list prices) Ingestion: ~ $89К/month Retention: ~ $33К/month • If you require more than 90 days retention, determine if you need it for the whole workspace or just some tables • Consider using other storage platform for long storage retention (Azure blob storage, Azure data explorer) Long term retention options: • Azure blob storage • Cheaper than Microsoft sentinel retention • Difficult for query • Ideal for audit/compliance purposes Azure Data explorer Stores security logs in Azure Data Explorer on a long-term basis. Minimizes costs and provides easy access when you need to query the data and stores most of the data in the cold cache, minimizing the computing cost. Log Analytics doesn't currently support exporting custom log tables. In this scenario, you can use Azure Logic Apps to export data from Log Analytics workspaces. Because Azure Data Explorer provides long-term storage, you can reduce your Sentinel retention costs with this approach and ideal for forensic investigation and hunting on older data Can achieve up to 75% saving on retention costs Instead of using Azure Data Explorer for long-term storage of security logs, you can use Storage. This approach simplifies the architecture and can help control the cost. A disadvantage is the need to rehydrate the logs for security audits and interactive investigative queries. With Azure Data Explorer, you can move data from the cold partition to the hot partition by changing a policy. This functionality speeds up data exploration. Bandwidth Sending telemetry from one Azure region to another can incur in bandwidth costs this only affect Azure VMs that send telemetry across Azure regions data sources based on diagnostics settings are not affected not a big cost component compared to ingestion or retention Example: 1000 VMs, where each generates 1GB/day, sending data from US to EU: 1000 VMs * 1GB/day *30 days/month*$0.05/GB =$1.500/month Ingestion Cost Alert Playbook Managing cost for cloud services is an essential part of ensuring that you get maximum value for your investment in solutions running on this computing platform. Azure Sentinel is no different. To help you exercise greater control over your budget for Azure Sentinel this playbook will send you an alert should you exceed a budget that you define for your Azure Sentinel Workspace within a given time-frame With the ingestion cost alert playbook, you can set up an alert based on the budget defined in your Microsoft Sentinel workspace within a given timeframe. Ingestion Anomaly Alert Playbook This playbook sends you an alert should there be an ingestion spike into your workspace. The playbook uses the series_decompose_anomalies KQL function to determine anomalous ingestion The Workspace Usage Report workbook The Workspace Usage Report workbook provides your workspace's data consumption, cost, and usage statistics. The workbook gives the workspace's data ingestion status and amount of free and billable data. You can use the workbook logic to monitor data ingestion and costs, and to build custom views and rule-based alerts. This workbook also provides granular ingestion details. The workbook breaks down the data in your workspace by data table, and provides volumes per table and entry to help you better understand your ingestion patterns. Azure pricing model – based on volume of data ingested User Entity Behavior Analytics Approximately 10% of the cost of logs selected for UEBA Reduce To change your pricing tier commitment, select one of the other tiers on the pricing page, and then select Apply. You must have Contributor or Owner role in Microsoft Sentinel to change the pricing tier costs for Microsoft Sentinel Useful links: Tools that are related to FinOps on Azure Sentinel (Azure Pricing Calculator, Azure Cost Management, Azure Advisor, TCO Calculator, Azure Hybrid Benefit Savings Calculator) https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/fasttrack-for-azure/the-azure-finops-guide/ba-p/3704132 Manage and monitoring Costs for Microsoft Sentinel https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/sentinel/billing-monitor-costs Reduce costs for Microsoft Sentinel https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/sentinel/billing-reduce-costs Ingestion Cost Spike Detection Playbook https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-sentinel-blog/ingestion-cost-spike-detection-playbook/ba-p/2591301 Ingestion Cost Alert Playbook https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-sentinel-blog/ingestion-cost-alert-playbook/ba-p/2006003 Introducing Microsoft Sentinel Optimization Workbook https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-sentinel-blog/introducing-microsoft-sentinel-optimization-workbook/ba-p/3901489
