What’s new in Microsoft Sentinel: RSAC 2026
Security is entering a new era, one defined by explosive data growth, increasingly sophisticated threats, and the rise of AI-enabled operations. To keep pace, security teams need an AI-powered approach to collect, reason over, and act on security data at scale. At RSA Conference 2026 (RSAC), we’re unveiling the next wave of Sentinel innovations designed to help organizations move faster, see deeper, and defend smarter with AI-ready tools. These updates include AI-driven playbooks that accelerate SOC automation, Granular Delegated Admin Privileges (GDAP) and granular role-based access controls (RBAC) that let you scale your SOC, accelerated data onboarding through new connectors, and data federation that enables analysis in place without duplication. Together, they give teams greater clarity, control, and speed. Come see us at RSAC to view these innovations in action. Hear from Sentinel leaders during our exclusive Microsoft Pre-Day, then visit Microsoft booth #5744 for demos, theater sessions, and conversations with Sentinel experts. Read on to explore what’s new. See you at RSAC! Sentinel feature innovations: Sentinel SIEM Sentinel data lake Sentinel graph Sentinel MCP Threat Intelligence Microsoft Security Store Sentinel promotions Sentinel SIEM Playbook generator [Now in public preview] The Sentinel playbook generator delivers a new era of automation capabilities. You can vibe code complex automations, integrate with different tools to ensure timely and compliant workflows throughout your SOC and feel confident in the results with built in testing and documentation. Customers and partners are already seeing benefit from this innovation. “The playbook generator gives security engineers the flexibility and speed of AI-assisted coding while delivering the deterministic outcomes that enterprise security operations require. It's the best of both worlds, and it lives natively in Defender where the engineers already work.” – Jaime Guimera Coll | Security and AI Architect | BlueVoyant Learn more about playbook generator. SIEM migration experience [General availability now] The Sentinel SIEM migration experience helps you plan and execute SIEM migrations through a guided, in-product workflow. You can upload Splunk or QRadar exports to generate recommendations for best‑fit Sentinel analytics rules and required data connectors, then assess migration scope, validate detection coverage, and migrate from Splunk or QRadar to Sentinel in phases while tracking progress. “The tool helps turn a Splunk to Sentinel migration into a practical decision process. It gives clear visibility into which detections are relevant, how they align to real security use cases, and where it makes sense to enable or prioritize coverage—especially with cost and data sources in mind.” – Deniz Mutlu | Director | Swiss Post Cybersecurity Ltd Learn more about SIEM migration experience. GDAP, unified RBAC, and row-level RBAC for Sentinel [Public preview, April 1] As Sentinel environments grow for enterprises, MSSPs, hyperscalers, and partners operating across shared or multiple environments, the challenge becomes managing access control efficiently and consistently at scale. Sentinel’s expanded permissions and access capabilities are designed to meet these needs. Granular Delegated Admin Privileges (GDAP) lets you streamline management across multiple governed tenants using your primary account, based on existing GDAP relationships. Unified RBAC allows you to opt in to managing permissions for Sentinel workspaces through a single pane of glass, configuring and enforcing access across Sentinel experiences in the analytics tier and data lake in the Defender portal. This simplifies administration and improves operational efficiency by reducing the number of permission models you need to manage. Row-level RBAC scoping within tables enables precise, scoped access to data in the Sentinel data lake. Multiple SOC teams can operate independently within a shared Sentinel environment, querying only the data they are authorized to see, without separating workspaces or introducing complex data flow changes. Consistent, reusable scope definitions ensure permissions are applied uniformly across tables and experiences, while maintaining strong security boundaries. To learn more, read our technical deep dives on RBAC and GDAP. Sentinel data lake Sentinel data federation [Public preview, April 1] Sentinel data federation lets you analyze security data in place without copying or duplicating your data. Powered by Microsoft Fabric, you can now federate data from Fabric, Azure Data Lake Storage (ADLS), and Azure Databricks into Sentinel data lake. Federated data appears alongside native Sentinel data, so you can use familiar tools like KQL hunting, notebooks, and custom graphs to correlate signals and investigate across your entire digital estate, all while preserving governance and compliance. You can start analyzing data in place and progressively ingest data into Sentinel for deeper security insights, advanced automation, and AI-powered defense at scale. You are billed only when you run analytics on federated data using existing Sentinel data lake query and advanced insights meters. les for unified investigation and hunting Sentinel cost estimation tool [Public Preview, April 9] The new Sentinel cost estimation tool offers all Microsoft customers and partners a guided, meter-level cost estimation experience that makes pricing transparent and predictable. A built-in three-year cost projection lets you model data growth and ramp-up over time, anticipate spend, and avoid surprises. Get transparent estimates into spend as you scale your security operations. All other customers can continue to use the Azure calculator for Sentinel pricing estimates. See the Sentinel pricing page for more information. Sentinel data connectors A365 connector [Public preview, May 5] Bring AI agent telemetry into the Sentinel data lake to investigate agent behavior, tool usage, prompts, reasoning and execution using hunting, graph, and MCP workflows. GitHub audit log connector using API polling [General availability, March 6] Ingest GitHub enterprise audit logs into Sentinel to monitor user and administrator activity, detect risky changes, and investigate security events across your development environment. Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) connector [General availability, March 6] Collect Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) audit and workload logs in Sentinel to monitor cluster activity, analyze workload behavior, and detect security threats across Kubernetes environments. Microsoft Entra and Azure Resource Graph (ARG) connector enhancements [Public preview, April 15] Enable new Entra assets (EntraDevices, EntraOrgContacts) and ARG assets (ARGRoleDefinitions) in existing asset connectors, expanding inventory coverage and powering richer, built‑in graph experiences for greater visibility. With over 350 Sentinel data connectors, customers achieve broad visibility into complex digital environments and can expand their security operations effectively. “Microsoft Sentinel data lake forms the core of our agentic SOC. By unifying large volumes of Microsoft and third-party data, enabling graph-based analysis, and supporting MCP-driven workflows, it allows us to investigate faster, at lower cost, and with greater confidence.” – Øyvind Bergerud | Head of Security Operations | Storebrand Learn more about Sentinel data connectors. Sentinel connector builder agent using Sentinel Visual Studio Code extension [Public preview, March 31] Build Sentinel data connectors in minutes instead of weeks using the AI‑assisted Connector Builder agent in Visual Studio Code. This low‑code experience guides developers and ISVs end-to-end, automatically generating schemas, deployment assets, connector UI, secure secret handling, and polling logic. Built‑in validation surfaces issues early, so you can validate event logs before deployment and ingestion. Example prompt in GitHub Copilot Chat: @sentinel-connector-builder Create a new connector for OpenAI audit logs using https://api.openai.com/v1/organization/audit_logs Get started with custom connectors and learn more in our blog. Data filtering and splitting [Public preview, March 30] As security teams ingest more data, the challenge shifts from scale to relevance. With filtering and splitting now built into the Defender portal, teams can shape data before it lands in Sentinel, without switching tools or managing custom JSON files. Define simple KQL‑based transformations directly in the UI to filter low‑value events and intelligently route data, making ingestion optimization faster, more intuitive, and easier to manage at scale. Filtering at ingest time allows you to remove low-value or benign events to reduce noise, cut unnecessary processing, and ensure that high-signal data drives detections and investigations. Splitting enables intelligent routing of data between the analytics tier and the data lake tier based on relevance and usage. Together, these two capabilities help you balance cost and performance while scaling data ingestion sustainably as your digital estate grows. Create workbook reports directly from the data lake [Public preview, April 1] Sentinel workbooks can now directly run on the data lake using KQL, enabling you to visualize and monitor security data straight from the data lake. By selecting the data lake as the workbook data source, you can now create trend analysis and executive reporting. Sentinel graph Custom graphs [Public preview, April 1] Custom graphs let you build tailored security graphs tuned to your unique security scenarios using data from Sentinel data lake as well as non-Microsoft sources. With custom graph, powered by Fabric, you can build, query, and visualize connected data, uncover hidden patterns and attack paths, and help surface risks that are hard to detect when data is analyzed in isolation. These graphs provide the knowledge context that enables AI-powered agent experiences to work more effectively, speeding investigations, revealing blast radius, and helping you move from noisy, disconnected alerts to confident decisions at scale. In the words of our preview customers: “We ingested our Databricks management-plane telemetry into the Sentinel data lake and built a custom security graph. Without writing a single detection rule, the graph surfaced unusual patterns of activity and overprivileged access that we escalated for investigation. We didn't know what we were looking for, the graph surfaced the risk for us by revealing anomalous activity patterns and unusual access combinations driven by relationships, not alerts.” – SVP, Security Solutions | Financial Services organization Custom graph API usage for creating graph and querying graph will be billed starting April 1, 2026, according to the Sentinel graph meter. Creating custom graph Using the Sentinel VS Code extension, you can generate graphs to validate hunting hypotheses, such as understanding attack paths and blast radius of a phishing campaign, reconstructing multi‑step attack chains, and identifying structurally unusual or high‑risk behavior, making it accessible to your team and AI agents. Once persisted via a schedule job, you can access these custom graphs from the ready-to-use section in the graph experience in the Defender portal. Graphs experience in the Microsoft Defender portal After creating your custom graphs, you can access them in the graphs section of the Defender portal under Sentinel. From there, you’ll be able to perform interactive graph-based investigations, such as using a graph built for phishing analysis to help you quickly evaluate the impact of a recent incident, profile the attacker, and trace its paths across Microsoft telemetry and third-party data. The new graph experience lets you run Graph Query Language (GQL) queries, view the graph schema, visualize the graph, view graph results in tabular format, and interactively travers the graph to the next hop with a simple click. Sentinel MCP Sentinel MCP entity analyzer [General availability, April 1] Entity analyzer provides reasoned, out-of-the-box risk assessments that help you quickly understand whether a URL or user identity represents potential malicious activity. The capability analyzes data across modalities including threat intelligence, prevalence, and organizational context to generate clear, explainable verdicts you can trust. Entity analyzer integrates easily with your agents through Sentinel MCP server connections to first-party and third-party AI runtime platforms, or with your SOAR workflows through Logic Apps. The entity analyzer is also a trusted foundation for the Defender Triage Agent and delivers more accurate alert classifications and deeper investigative reasoning. This removes the need to manually engineer evaluation logic and creates trust for analysts and AI agents to act with higher accuracy and confidence. Learn more about entity analyzer and in our blog here. Entity analyzer will be billed starting April 1, 2026, based on Security Compute Units (SCU) consumption. Learn more about MCP billing. Sentinel MCP graph tool collection [Public preview, May 20] Graph tool collection helps you visualize and explore relationships between identities and device assets, threats and activities signals ingested by data connectors and alerted by analytic rules. The tool provides a clear graph view that highlights dependencies and configuration gaps, which makes it easier to understand how content interacts across your environment. This helps security teams assess coverage, optimize content deployment, and identify areas that may need tuning or additional data sources, all from a single, interactive workspace. Executing graph queries via the MCP tools will trigger the graph meter. Claude MCP connector [Public preview, April 1] Anthropic Claude can connect to Sentinel through a custom MCP connector, giving you AI-assisted analysis across your Sentinel environment. Microsoft provides step-by-step guidance for configuring a custom connector in Claude that securely connects to a Sentinel MCP server. With this connection you can summarize incidents, investigate alerts, and reason over security signals while keeping data inside Microsoft's security boundary. Access to large language models (LLMs) is managed through Microsoft authentication and role-based controls, supporting faster triage and investigation workflows while maintaining compliance and visibility. Threat Intelligence CVEs of interest in the Threat Intelligence Briefing Agent [Public preview in April] The Threat Intelligence Briefing Agent delivers curated intelligence based on your organization’s configuration, preferences, and unique industry and geographic needs. CVEs of interest which highlights vulnerabilities actively discussed across the security landscape and assesses their potential impact on your environment, delivering more timely threat intelligence insights. The agent automatically incorporates internet exposure data powered by the Sentinel platform to surface threats targeting technologies exposed in your organization. Together, these enhancements help you focus faster on the threats that matter most, without manual investigation. Microsoft Security Store Security Store embedded in Entra [General availability, March 23] As identity environments grow more complex, teams need to move faster and extend Entra with trusted third‑party capabilities that address operational, compliance, and risk challenges. The Security Store embedded directly into Entra lets you discover and adopt Entra‑ready agents and solutions in your workflow. You can extend Entra with identity‑focused agents that surface privileged access risk, identity posture gaps, network access insights, and overall identity health, turning identity data into clear recommendations and reports teams can use immediately. You can also enhance Entra with Verified ID and External ID integrations that strengthen identity verification, streamline account recovery, and reduce fraud across workforce, consumer, and external identities. Security Store embedded in Microsoft Purview [General availability, March 31] Extending data security across the digital estate requires visibility and enforcement into new data sources and risk surfaces, often requiring a partnered approach. The Security Store embedded directly into Purview lets you discover and evaluate integrated solutions inside your data security workflows. Relevant partner capabilities surface alongside context, making it easier to strengthen data protection, address regulatory requirements, and respond to risk without disrupting existing processes. You can quickly assess which solutions align to data security scenarios, especially with respect to securing AI use, and how they can leverage established classifiers, policies, and investigation workflows in Purview. Keeping integration discovery in‑flow and purchases centralized through the Security Store means you move faster from evaluation to deployment, reducing friction and maintaining a secure, consistent transaction experience. Security Store Advisor [General availability, March 23] Security teams today face growing complexity and choice. Teams often know the security outcome they need, whether that's strengthening identity protection, improving ransomware resilience, or reducing insider risk, but lack a clear, efficient way to determine which solutions will help them get there. Security Store Advisor provides a guided, natural-language discovery experience that shifts security evaluation from product‑centric browsing to outcome‑driven decision‑making. You can describe your goal in plain language, and the Advisor surfaces the most relevant Microsoft and partner agents, solutions, and services available in the Security Store, without requiring deep product knowledge. This approach simplifies discovery, reduces time spent navigating catalogs and documentation, and helps you understand how individual capabilities fit together to deliver meaningful security outcomes. Sentinel promotions Extending signups for promotional 50 GB commitment tier [Through June 2026] The Sentinel promotional 50 GB commitment tier offers small and mid-sized organizations a cost-effective entry point into Sentinel. Sign up for the 50 GB commitment tier until June 30, 2026, and maintain the promotional rate until March 31, 2027. This promotion is available globally with regional variations in pricing and accessible through EA, CSP, and Direct channels. Visit the Sentinel pricing page for details and to get started. Sentinel RSAC 2026 sessions All week – Sentinel product demos, Microsoft Booth #5744 Mon Mar 23, 3:55 PM – RSAC 2026 main stage Keynote with CVP Vasu Jakkal [KEY-M10W] Ambient and autonomous security: Building trust in the agentic AI era Tue Mar 24, 10:30 AM – Live Q&A session, Microsoft booth #5744 and online Ask me anything with Microsoft Security SMEs and real practitioners Tue Mar 24, 11 AM – Sentinel data lake theater session, Microsoft booth #5744 From signals to insights: How Microsoft Sentinel data lake powers modern security operations Tue Mar 24, 2 PM – Sentinel SIEM theater session, Microsoft booth #5744 Vibe-coding SecOps automations with the Sentinel playbook generator Wed Mar 25, 12 PM – Executive event at Palace Hotel with Threat Protection GM Scott Woodgate The AI risk equation: Visibility, control, and threat acceleration Wed Mar 25, 1:30 PM – Sentinel graph theater session, Microsoft booth #5744 Bringing knowledge-driven context to security with Microsoft Sentinel graph Wed Mar 25, 5 PM – MISA theater session, Microsoft booth #5744 Cut SIEM costs without reducing protection: A Sentinel data lake case study Thu Mar 26, 1 PM – Security Store theater session, Microsoft booth #5744 What's next for Security Store: Expanding in portal and smarter discovery All week – 1:1 meetings with Microsoft security experts Meet with Microsoft Defender and Sentinel SIEM and Defender Security Operations Additional resources Sentinel data lake video playlist Explore the full capabilities of Sentinel data lake as a unified, AI-ready security platform that is deeply integrated into the Defender portal Sentinel data lake FAQ blog Get answers to many of the questions we’ve heard from our customers and partners on Sentinel data lake and billing AI‑powered SIEM migration experience ninja training Walk through the SIEM migration experience, see how it maps detections, surfaces connector requirements, and supports phased migration decisions SIEM migration experience documentation Learn how the SIEM migration experience analyzes your exports, maps detections and connectors, and recommends prioritized coverage Accenture collaborates with Microsoft to bring agentic security and business resilience to the front lines of cyber defense Stay connected Check back each month for the latest innovations, updates, and events to ensure you’re getting the most out of Sentinel. We’ll see you in the next edition!Level Up Your Security Skills with the New Microsoft Sentinel Ninja Training!
If you’ve explored our Microsoft Sentinel Ninja Training in the past, it’s time to revisit! Our training program has undergone some exciting changes to keep you ahead of the curve in the ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape. Microsoft Sentinel is a cutting-edge, cloud-native SIEM and SOAR solution designed to help security professionals protect their organizations from today’s complex threats. Our Ninja Training program is here to guide you through every aspect of this powerful tool. So, what’s new? In addition to the structured security roles format, the Ninja Training now offers a more interactive experience with updated modules, hands-on labs, and real-world scenarios. Whether you're focusing on threat detection, incident response, or automation, the training ensures you gain the practical skills needed to optimize your security operations. One of the biggest updates is the integration of Sentinel into the Defender XDR portal, creating a unified security platform. This merger simplifies workflows, speeds up incident response, and minimizes tool-switching, allowing for seamless operations. Other highlights include: Step-by-step guidance through the official Microsoft Sentinel documentation. Exclusive webinars and up-to-date blog posts from Microsoft experts. If you're ready to take your Sentinel skills to the next level or want to revisit the program’s new features, head over to the blog now and dive into the refreshed Microsoft Sentinel Ninja Training! Don’t miss out—your next cybersecurity breakthrough is just a click away!Introducing Threat Intelligence Ingestion Rules
Microsoft Sentinel just rolled out a powerful new public preview feature: Ingestion Rules. This feature lets you fine-tune your threat intelligence (TI) feeds before they are ingested to Microsoft Sentinel. You can now set custom conditions and actions on Indicators of Compromise (IoCs), Threat Actors, Attack Patterns, Identities, and their Relationships. Use cases include: Filter Out False Positives: Suppress IoCs from feeds known to generate frequent false positives, ensuring only relevant intel reaches your analysts. Extending IoC validity periods for feeds that need longer lifespans. Tagging TI objects to match your organization's terminology and workflows Get Started Today with Ingestion Rules To create new “Ingestion rule”, navigate to “Intel Management” and Click on “Ingestion rules” With the new Ingestion rules feature, you have the power to modify or remove indicators even before they are integrated into Sentinel. These rules allow you to act on indicators currently in the ingestion pipeline. > Click on “Ingestion rules” Note: It can take up to 15 minutes for the rule to take effect Use Case #1: Delete IOC’s with less confidence score while ingesting When ingesting IOC's from TAXII/Upload API/File Upload, indicators are imported continuously. With pre-ingestion rules, you can filter out indicators that do not meet a certain confidence threshold. Specifically, you can set a rule to drop all indicators in the pipeline with a confidence score of 0, ensuring that only reliable data makes it through. Use Case #2: Extending IOC’s The following rule can be created to automatically extend the expiration date for all indicators in the pipeline where the confidence score is greater than 75. This ensures that these high-value indicators remain active and usable for a longer duration, enhancing the overall effectiveness of threat detection and response. Use Case #3: Bulk Tagging Bulk tagging is an efficient way to manage and categorize large volumes of indicators based on their confidence scores. With pre-ingestion rules, you can set up a rule to tag all indicators in the pipeline where the confidence score is greater than 75. This automated tagging process helps in organizing indicators, making it easier to search, filter, and analyze them based on their tags. It streamlines the workflow and improves the overall management of indicators within Sentinel. Managing Ingestion rules In addition to the specific use cases mentioned, managing ingestion rules gives you control over the entire ingestion process. 1. Reorder Rules You can reorder rules to prioritize certain actions over others, ensuring that the most critical rules are applied first. This flexibility allows for a tailored approach to data ingestion, optimizing the system's performance and accuracy. 2. Create From Creating new ingestion rules from existing ones can save you a significant amount of time and offer the flexibility to incorporate additional logic or remove unnecessary elements. Effectively duplicating these rules ensures you can quickly adapt to new requirements, streamline operations, and maintain a high level of efficiency in managing your data ingestion process. 3. Delete Ingestion Rules Over time, certain rules may become obsolete or redundant as your organizational needs and security strategies evolve. It's important to note that each workspace is limited to a maximum of 25 ingestion rules. Having a clean and relevant set of rules ensures that your data ingestion process remains streamlined and efficient, minimizing unnecessary processing and potential conflicts. Deleting outdated or unnecessary rules allows for a more focused approach to threat detection and response. It reduces clutter, which can significantly enhance the performance. By regularly reviewing and purging obsolete rules, you maintain a high level of operational efficiency and ensure that only the most critical and up-to-date rules are in place. Conclusion By leveraging these pre-ingestion rules effectively, you can enhance the quality and reliability of the IOC’s ingested into Sentinel, leading to more accurate threat detection and an improved security posture for your organization.Announcing Public Preview: New STIX Objects in Microsoft Sentinel
Security teams often struggle to understand the full context of an attack. In many cases, they rely solely on Indicators of Compromise (IoCs) without the broader insights provided by threat intelligence developed on Threat Actors, Attack Patterns, Identities - and the Relationships between each. This lack of context available to enrich their workflows limits their ability to connect the dots, prioritize threats effectively, and respond comprehensively to evolving attacks. To help customers build out a thorough, real-time understanding of threats, we are excited to announce the public preview of new Threat Intelligence (TI) object support in Microsoft Sentinel and in the Unified SOC Platform. In addition to Indicators of Compromise (IoCs), Microsoft Sentinel now supports Threat Actors, Attack Patterns, Identities, and Relationships. This enhancement empowers organizations to take their threat intelligence management to the next level. In this blog, we’ll highlight key scenarios for which your team would use STIX objects, as well as demos showing how to create objects and new relationships and how to use them to hunt threats across your organization Key Scenarios STIX objects are a critical tool for incident responders attempting to understand an attack and threat intelligence analysts seeking more information on critical threats. It is designed to improve interoperability and sharing of threat intelligence across different systems and organizations. Below, we’ve highlighted four ways Unified SOC Platform customers can begin using STIX objects to protect their organization. Ingesting Objects: You can now ingest these objects from various commercial feeds through several methods including STIX TAXII servers, API, files, or manual input. Curating Threat Intelligence: Curate and manage any of the supported Threat Intelligence objects. Creating Relationships: Establish connections between objects to enhance threat detection and response. For example: Connecting Threat Actor to Attack Pattern: The threat actor "APT29" uses the attack pattern "Phishing via Email" to gain initial access. Linking Indicator to Threat Actor: An indicator (malicious domain) is attributed to the threat actor "APT29". Associating Identity (Victim) with Attack Pattern: The organization "Example Corp" is targeted by the attack pattern "Phishing via Email". Hunt and Investigate Threats More Effectively: Match curated TI data against your logs in the unified SOC platform powered by Microsoft Sentinel. Use these insights to detect, investigate, and hunt threats more efficiently, keeping your organization secure. Get Started Today with the new Hunting Model The ability to ingest and manage these new Threat Intelligence objects is now available in public preview. To enable this data in your workspaces for hunting and detection, submit your request here and we will provide further details. Demo and screen shots Demo 1: Hunt and detect threats using STIX objects Scenario: Linking an IOC to a Threat Actor: An indicator (malicious domain) is attributed to the threat actor " Sangria tempest " via the new TI relationship builder. Please note that the Sangria tempest actor object and the IOC are already present in this demo. These objects can be added automatically or created manually. To create new relationship, sign into your Sentinel instance and go to Add new à TI relationship. In the New TI relationship builder, you can select existing TI objects and define how it's related to one or more other TI objects. After defining a TI object’s relationship, click on “Common” to provide metadata for this relationship, such as Description, Tags, and Confidence score: p time, source, and description. Another type of meta data a customer can add to a relationship is the Traffic Light Protocol (TLP). The TLP is a set of designations used to ensure that sensitive information is shared with the appropriate audience. It uses four colors to indicate different levels of sensitivity and the corresponding sharing permissions: TLP:RED: Information is highly sensitive and should not be shared outside of the specific group or meeting where it was originally disclosed. TLP:AMBER: Information can be shared with members of the organization, but not publicly. It is intended to be used within the organization to protect sensitive information. TLP:GREEN: Information can be shared with peers and partner organizations within the community, but not publicly. It is intended for a wider audience within the community. TLP:WHITE: Information can be shared freely and publicly without any restrictions. Once the relationship is created, your newly created relationship can be viewed from the “Relationships” tab. Now, retrieve information about relationships and indicators associated with the threat actor 'Sangria Tempest'. For Microsoft Sentinel customers leveraging the Azure portal experience, you can access this in Log Analytics. For customers who have migrated to the unified SecOps platform in the Defender portal, you can go find this under “Advanced Hunting”. The following KQL query provides you with all TI objects related to “Sangria Tempest.” You can use this query for any threat actor name. let THREAT_ACTOR_NAME = 'Sangria Tempest'; let ThreatIntelObjectsPlus = (ThreatIntelObjects | union (ThreatIntelIndicators | extend StixType = 'indicator') | extend tlId = tostring(Data.id) | extend StixTypes = StixType | extend Pattern = case(StixType == "indicator", Data.pattern, StixType == "attack-pattern", Data.name, "Unkown") | extend feedSource = base64_decode_tostring(tostring(split(Id, '---')[0])) | summarize arg_max(TimeGenerated, *) by Id | where IsDeleted == false); let ThreatActorsWithThatName = (ThreatIntelObjects | where StixType == 'threat-actor' | where Data.name == THREAT_ACTOR_NAME | extend tlId = tostring(Data.id) | extend ActorName = tostring(Data.name) | summarize arg_max(TimeGenerated, *) by Id | where IsDeleted == false); let AllRelationships = (ThreatIntelObjects | where StixType == 'relationship' | extend tlSourceRef = tostring(Data.source_ref) | extend tlTargetRef = tostring(Data.target_ref) | extend tlId = tostring(Data.id) | summarize arg_max(TimeGenerated, *) by Id | where IsDeleted == false); let SourceRelationships = (ThreatActorsWithThatName | join AllRelationships on $left.tlId == $right.tlSourceRef | join ThreatIntelObjectsPlus on $left.tlTargetRef == $right.tlId); let TargetRelationships = (ThreatActorsWithThatName | join AllRelationships on $left.tlId == $right.tlTargetRef | join ThreatIntelObjectsPlus on $left.tlSourceRef == $right.tlId); SourceRelationships | union TargetRelationships | project ActorName, StixTypes, ObservableValue, Pattern, Tags, feedSource You now have all the information your organization has available about Sangria Tempest, correlated to maximize your understanding of the threat actor and its associations to threat infrastructure and activity. Demo 2: Curate and attribute objects We have created new UX to streamline TI object creation, which includes the capability to attribute to other objects, so while you are creating a new IoC, you can also attribute that indicator to a Threat Actor, all from one place. To create a new TI object and attribute it to one or multiple threat actors, follow the steps below: Go to Add new a TI Object. In the Context menu, select any object type. Enter all the required information in the fields on the right-hand side for your selected indicator type. While creating a new TI object, you can do TI object curation. This includes defining the relationship. You can also quickly duplicate TI objects, making it easier for those who create multiple TI objects daily. Please note that we also introduced an “Add and duplicate” button to allow customers to create multiple TI objects with the same metadata to streamline a manual bulk process. Demo 3: New supported IoC types The attack pattern builder now supports the creation of four new indicator types. These enable customers to build more specific attack patterns that boost understanding of and organizational knowledge around threats. These new indicators include: X509 certificate X509 certificates are used to authenticate the identity of devices and servers, ensuring secure communication over the internet. They are crucial in preventing man-in-the-middle attacks and verifying the legitimacy of websites and services. For instance, if a certificate is suddenly replaced or a new, unknown certificate appears, it could indicate a compromised server or a malicious actor attempting to intercept communications. JA3 JA3 fingerprints are unique identifiers generated from the TLS/SSL handshake process. They help in identifying specific applications and tools used in network traffic, making it easier to detect malicious activities For example, if a network traffic analysis reveals a JA3 fingerprint matching that of the Cobalt Strike tool, it could indicate an ongoing cyber attack. JA3S JA3S fingerprints extend the capabilities of JA3 by also including server-specific characteristics in the fingerprinting process. This provides a more comprehensive view of the network traffic and helps in identifying both client and server-side threats For instance, if a server starts communicating with an unknown external IP address using a specific JA3S fingerprint, it could be a sign of a compromised server or data exfiltration attempt. User agent User Agents provide information about the client software making requests to a server, such as the browser or operating system. They are useful in identifying and profiling devices and applications accessing a network For example, if a User Agent string associated with a known malicious browser extension appears in network logs, it could indicate a compromised device. Conclusion: The ability to ingest, curate, and establish relationships between various threat intelligence objects such as Threat Actors, Attack Patterns, and Identities provides a powerful framework for incident responders and threat intelligence analysts. The use of STIX objects not only improves interoperability and sharing of threat intelligence but also empowers organizations to hunt and investigate threats more efficiently. As customers adopt these new capabilities, they will find themselves better equipped to understand the full context of an attack and build robust defenses against future threats. With the public preview of Threat Intelligence (TI) object support, organizations are encouraged to explore these new tools and integrate them into their security operations, taking the first step towards a more informed and proactive approach to cybersecurity.What’s new in Microsoft Sentinel: May 2026
Welcome to the May edition of What's new in Microsoft Sentinel. This month’s updates focus on unified role-based access control (RBAC), ecosystem breadth, AI-agent security, and high-assurance identity. RBAC and row-level scoping are now generally available, giving security teams a single, granular permissions model across Sentinel and the Microsoft Defender portal and enabling multi-team SOC collaboration. The Sentinel connector catalog has passed 400 connectors, expanding coverage across Microsoft and third-party data sources and helping customers and partners onboard new data faster with the Codeless Connector Framework (CCF). The Agent 365 connector, now in public preview, brings AI agent telemetry into Sentinel data lake as first-class standardized signals so you can monitor agent behavior alongside identity, endpoint, and cloud activity. Finally, Entra Verified ID partner integrations in Microsoft Security Store are now generally available, delivering high‑assurance identity verification that makes account recovery after compromise far safer and significantly reduces the risk of re‑compromise. Read on for the full list of updates across Sentinel in May. Sentinel innovations: Sentinel SIEM Sentinel data lake Microsoft Security Store Sentinel SIEM Unified role-based access controls and row level scoping [Generally available] Sentinel now delivers general availability of two powerful access management capabilities: Unified RBAC and row-level data scoping. Together, these innovations provide a consistent, end-to-end model for controlling who can access data and what actions they can take — extending unified permissions management across the Defender portal while enabling granular, row-level visibility within a single Sentinel workspace. With Unified RBAC, organizations can simplify and centralize permissions across security workloads, reducing operational overhead, while row-level scoping enables secure collaboration across multiple teams by ensuring users only see data aligned to their role or scope. This milestone unlocks more scalable, multi-team SOC operations without the need for workspace segmentation, helping us to advance toward fully unified, granular access control across Microsoft Security. Tenant groups [Public preview] Managing security across multiple tenants just got simpler. Tenant Groups in the Microsoft Defender multi-tenant portal (MTO) give managed security service providers (MSSPs), cloud service partners (CSPs), and multi-tenant security teams a flexible way to organize tenants into logical groupings such as customer segment, geography, or operational priority, and instantly switch views with a single click. This streamlined experience reduces noise, improves investigation focus, and aligns to how teams actually work, all while respecting existing permissions and access controls. Learn more. Out-of-the-box integrations for Sentinel automation [Public preview] Out-of-the-box (OOTB) integrations for Sentinel automation brings a centralized catalog to easily discover, configure, and manage both Microsoft and third-party integrations. With simple, authentication-based setup, users can quickly add integrations and seamlessly incorporate them into playbooks. The experience places OOTB and custom integrations side by side, with enhanced with smart search, recommendations, and duplicate prevention to streamline automation workflows end to end. Learn more. UEBA enhancements [Public preview] Microsoft Sentinel UEBA continues to evolve with improvements that simplify management and expand detection coverage. A dedicated UEBA tab view in the Sentinel settings page consolidates UEBA and behaviors settings, making configuration easier to find and manage. Learn more. UEBA insights and anomalies now support the OktaV2_CL table alongside the existing Okta_CL table, extending anomalous activity and anomalous MFA failures detections to customers using the newer Okta connector format, without requiring new anomaly types. Learn more. UEBA extends GCP Audit Logs coverage with five anomaly detections for login activity, privileged actions, resource deployments, secret/KMS key access, and infrastructure usage. Learn more. Together, these updates make UEBA easier to operate while extending its visibility into identity and behavior signals from additional cloud and identity providers. Read the latest blog from the Microsoft Defender Research Team to learn more about Microsoft Sentinel UEBA and binary feature stacking, which uses clear binary signals to help establish behavioral context and inform investigation and detection decisions. Threat Intelligence – TAXII Export connector [Generally available] Sentinel supports threat intelligence export through the built-in Threat Intelligence – Trusted Automated Exchange of Intelligence Information (TAXII) Export connector, giving customers a standards-based way to share curated Structured Threat Information Expression (STIX) objects with supported TAXII 2.1 platforms. Configured from the Defender portal, the connector handles destination setup and intelligence delivery to external platforms. The capability supports cross-organization intelligence sharing for collective defense and centralized management in multi-tenant environments, with use cases across government, critical infrastructure, and large distributed organizations. Additional enhancements are planned, including more export options and expanded destination support. Learn more. Decision-stage resources for SIEM migration to Sentinel The AI-powered SIEM migration experience helps teams analyze detections, identify required data sources and connectors, and plan a phased move to Sentinel. But, customers still need help turning that analysis into a clear decision. To support that step, we’re introducing two new customer-facing resources: the Sentinel SIEM Migration Decision and Planning Guide, which explains the migration journey, outputs, and decision checkpoints before execution, and the Decision-Stage Customer FAQ, which answers common questions around disruption, cost, dual running, detection coverage, and delivery support. Together, these resources help make migration conversations more concrete and move teams more quickly from evaluation to a clearer, lower-risk next step. Learn more: Read the blog: AI-powered SIEM migration experience announcement Download the guide: Decision and planning guide Download the FAQ: Decision-stage customer FAQ Learn more: SIEM migration experience documentation Register for live AMA (Jun 23 at 9am PT): Live Microsoft Tech Community AMA on SIEM migration Sentinel data lake 400+ Sentinel data connectors The Sentinel connector catalog now includes 400+ connectors, providing broad, ready-to-deploy coverage across Microsoft and third-party data sources. Customers can flexibly ingest security data into Microsoft Sentinel analytics tier or the data lake tier. The Codeless Connector Framework (CCF) and VS code-based connector builder agent enables partners and customers to onboard new data sources faster and scale the catalog. Discover connectors in the Sentinel Content hub within the Defender portal or build custom connectors when needed. Learn more. Agent 365 connector [Public preview] Agent 365 connector streams AI agent telemetry from Agent 365 into Sentinel data lake, giving SOC teams visibility into agent behavior alongside identity, endpoint, and cloud signals. With the Agent 365 connector in place, Sentinel data lake becomes the system of record for agent security, turning activity such as data exposure or access drift into first-class security signals that analysts can correlate, hunt across, and investigate. Telemetry is normalized and to mapped to standard Advanced Security Information Model (ASIM) schemas, ready for analytics and detections, and end-to-end investigations can run through KQL, graph, and MCP-powered workflows. Install the connector with a single click from Sentinel Content Hub in the Defender portal. Learn more. CCF support for Azure Blob Storage [Public preview] Sentinel Codeless Connector Framework (CCF) supports Azure Blob Storage as a data source, providing an ingestion pattern designed for high-volume security data. Partners and customers can build CCF connectors that read from Blob Storage through a durable architecture that buffers spikes, handles backpressure, and reduces data loss risk during outages or throttling, making ingestion more reliable for variable or distributed pipelines. The pattern broadens compatibility with partners already streaming logs to Azure as part of their audit data delivery, with Cloudflare and Netskope as early adopters. App Assure further provides engineering-backed support for designing, validating, and remediating the Azure Blob Storage CCF connector integration. Learn more. Data filtering and splitting [Generally available] At RSAC, we announced built‑in filtering and splitting capabilities in Microsoft Sentinel, which is now generally available. As security teams ingest more data, it is important to optimize security data pipeline by controlling what data is ingested and in which tier. With filtering and splitting natively integrated into the Defender portal, security teams can shape data before it reaches Sentinel, without switching tools or managing custom JSON files. Using simple KQL‑based transformations directly in the UI, you can filter low‑value events and intelligently route data, making ingestion optimization faster, more intuitive, and easier to manage at scale. Filtering at ingest time allows you to remove low‑value or benign events to reduce noise, lower unnecessary processing, and ensure high‑signal data drives detections and investigations. Splitting enables intelligent routing of data between the analytics tier and the data lake tier based on relevance and usage. Together, these capabilities help you balance cost and performance while scaling data ingestion sustainably as your digital estate grows. Learn more. Transition your Sentinel connectors to the Codeless Connector Framework (CCF) [Action required] Azure has announced that the legacy Azure Data Collection API will be deprecated on September 14, 2026. Sentinel recommends customers review existing connectors and upgrade to the latest Codeless Connector Framework (CCF) versions to ensure continued access to the newest Sentinel capabilities. CCF delivers a fully managed SaaS experience with built-in health monitoring, centralized credential management, and improved performance. This enables partners and customers to onboard new data sources faster and at scale. Microsoft Security Store Entra Verified ID partner integrations via Security Store [Generally available] Security Store helps organizations secure one of the most critical steps in incident response: safe account recovery after compromise. Once a SOC team detects and contains a potential account takeover (ATO), restoring access requires high confidence that the user is legitimate. Through partner integrations with IDEMIA, AU10TIX, CLEAR, 1Kosmos, and WhoAmI, customers can extend Entra Verified ID with high-assurance identity verification (such as document and biometric checks) to validate users during recovery, onboarding, or helpdesk workflows. This helps replace weaker fallback methods that attackers often exploit, enabling SOC and IT teams to safely restore access while reducing risk of re-compromise. Learn more. Purview Data Security Triage Agent in Defender [Public preview] Security Store powers how customers discover and activate data security agents across Defender and Microsoft Purview, starting with the Data Security Triage Agent. This capability delivers AI-generated summaries and prioritization of Data Loss Prevention (DLP) alerts directly into Defender XDR, helping security teams reduce noise and focus on the incidents that matter most. By unifying discovery and activation through Security Store, customers can deploy data security agents in fewer steps and enable more integrated workflows across threat and data protection surfaces. Learn more. Additional resources Blogs and documentation: From idea to production: Building Security Store Advisor with an agentic SDLC Upcoming webinars: June 4: End-to-End Security in the Age of Agentic AI June 10: Deploy, optimize, and implement threat protection with Sentinel June 10: Security Foundations for AI Adoption June 24: Modern Security Made Simple: Stay Ahead of Threats with Sentinel Upcoming events: June 2–3: Microsoft Build, San Francisco (and free online) CEO Satya Nadella Day 1 keynote 90+ sessions, Microsoft Security experts onsite Register: build.microsoft.com Stay connected Check back each month for the latest innovations, updates, and events to ensure you’re getting the most out of Microsoft Sentinel. We’ll see you in the next edition!
