Microsoft Sentinel’s AI-driven UEBA ushers in the next era of behavioral analytics
Co-author - Ashwin Patil Security teams today face an overwhelming challenge: every data point is now a potential security signal and SOCs are drowning in complex logs, trying to find the needle in the haystack. Microsoft Sentinel User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) brings the power of AI to automatically surface anomalous behaviors, helping analysts cut through the noise, save time, and focus on what truly matters. Microsoft Sentinel UEBA has already helped SOCs uncover insider threats, detect compromised accounts, and reveal subtle attack signals that traditional rule-based methods often miss. These capabilities were previously powered by a core set of high-value data sources - such as sign-in activity, audit logs, and identity signals - that consistently delivered rich context and accurate detections. Today, we’re excited to announce a major expansion: Sentinel UEBA now supports six new data sources including Microsoft first- and third-party platforms like Azure, AWS, GCP, and Okta, bringing deeper visibility, broader context, and more powerful anomaly detection tailored to your environment. This isn’t just about ingesting more logs. It’s about transforming how SOCs understand behavior, detect threats, and prioritize response. With this evolution, analysts gain a unified, cross-platform view of user and entity behavior, enabling them to correlate signals, uncover hidden risks, and act faster with greater confidence. Newly supported data sources are built for real-world security use cases: Authentication activities MDE DeviceLogonEvents – Ideal for spotting lateral movement and unusual access. AADManagedIdentitySignInLogs – Critical for spotting stealthy abuse of non - human identities. AADServicePrincipalSignInLogs - Identifying anomalies in service principal usage such as token theft or over - privileged automation. Cloud platforms & identity management AWS CloudTrail Login Events - Surfaces risky AWS account activity based on AWS CloudTrail ConsoleLogin events and logon related attributes. GCP Audit Logs - Failed IAM Access, Captures denied access attempts indicating reconnaissance, brute force, or privilege misuse in GCP. Okta MFA & Auth Security Change Events – Flags MFA challenges, resets, and policy modifications that may reveal MFA fatigue, session hijacking, or policy tampering. Currently supports the Okta_CL table (unified Okta connector support coming soon). These sources feed directly into UEBA’s entity profiles and baselines - enriching users, devices, and service identities with behavioral context and anomalies that would otherwise be fragmented across platforms. This will complement our existing supported log sources - monitoring Entra ID sign-in logs, Azure Activity logs and Windows Security Events. Due to the unified schema available across data sources, UEBA enables feature-rich investigation and the capability to correlate across data sources, cross platform identities or devices insights, anomalies, and more. AI-powered UEBA that understands your environment Microsoft Sentinel UEBA goes beyond simple log collection - it continuously learns from your environment. By applying AI models trained on your organization’s behavioral data, UEBA builds dynamic baselines and peer groups, enabling it to spot truly anomalous activity. UBEA builds baselines from 10 days (for uncommon activities) to 6 months, both for the user and their dynamically calculated peers. Then, insights are surfaced on the activities and logs - such as an uncommon activity or first-time activity - not only for the user but among peers. Those insights are used by an advanced AI model to identify high confidence anomalies. So, if a user signs in for the first time from an uncommon location, a common pattern in the environment due to reliance on global vendors, for example, then this will not be identified as an anomaly, keeping the noise down. However, in a tightly controlled environment, this same behavior can be an indication of an attack and will surface in the Anomalies table. Including those signals in custom detections can help affect the severity of an alert. So, while logic is maintained, the SOC is focused on the right priorities. How to use UEBA for maximum impact Security teams can leverage UEBA in several key ways. All the examples below leverage UEBA’s dynamic behavioral baselines looking back up to 6 months. Teams can also leverage the hunting queries from the "UEBA essentials" solution in Microsoft Sentinel's Content Hub. Behavior Analytics: Detect unusual logon times, MFA fatigue, or service principal misuse across hybrid environments. Get visibility into geo-location of events and Threat Intelligence insights. Here’s an example of how you can easily discover Accounts authenticating without MFA and from uncommonly connected countries using UEBA behaviorAnalytics table: BehaviorAnalytics | where TimeGenerated > ago(7d) | where EventSource == "AwsConsoleSignIn" | where ActionType == "ConsoleLogin" and ActivityType == "signin.amazonaws.com" | where ActivityInsights.IsMfaUsed == "No" | where ActivityInsights.CountryUncommonlyConnectedFromInTenant == True | evaluate bag_unpack(UsersInsights, "AWS_") | where InvestigationPriority > 0 // Filter noise - uncomment if you want to see low fidelity noise | project TimeGenerated, _WorkspaceId, ActionType, ActivityType, InvestigationPriority, SourceIPAddress, SourceIPLocation, AWS_UserIdentityType, AWS_UserIdentityAccountId, AWS_UserIdentityArn Anomaly detection Identify lateral movement, dormant account reactivation, or brute-force attempts, even when they span cloud platforms. Below are examples of how to discover UEBA Anomalous AwsCloudTrail anomalies via various UEBA activity insights or device insights attributes: Anomalies | where AnomalyTemplateName in ( "UEBA Anomalous Logon in AwsCloudTrail", // AWS ClousTrail anomalies "UEBA Anomalous MFA Failures in Okta_CL", "UEBA Anomalous Activity in Okta_CL", // Okta Anomalies "UEBA Anomalous Activity in GCP Audit Logs", // GCP Failed IAM access anomalies "UEBA Anomalous Authentication" // For Authentication related anomalies ) | project TimeGenerated, _WorkspaceId, AnomalyTemplateName, AnomalyScore, Description, AnomalyDetails, ActivityInsights, DeviceInsights, UserInsights, Tactics, Techniques Alert optimization Use UEBA signals to dynamically adjust alert severity in custom detections—turning noisy alerts into high-fidelity detections. The example below shows all the users with anomalous sign in patterns based on UEBA. Joining the results with any of the AWS alerts with same AWS identity will increase fidelity. BehaviorAnalytics | where TimeGenerated > ago(7d) | where EventSource == "AwsConsoleSignIn" | where ActionType == "ConsoleLogin" and ActivityType == "signin.amazonaws.com" | where ActivityInsights.FirstTimeConnectionViaISPInTenant == True or ActivityInsights.FirstTimeUserConnectedFromCountry == True | evaluate bag_unpack(UsersInsights, "AWS_") | where InvestigationPriority > 0 // Filter noise - uncomment if you want to see low fidelity noise | project TimeGenerated, _WorkspaceId, ActionType, ActivityType, InvestigationPriority, SourceIPAddress, SourceIPLocation, AWS_UserIdentityType, AWS_UserIdentityAccountId, AWS_UserIdentityArn, ActivityInsights | evaluate bag_unpack(ActivityInsights) Another example shows anomalous key vault access from service principal with uncommon source country location. Joining this activity with other alerts from the same service principle increases fidelity of the alerts. You can also join the anomaly UEBA Anomalous Authentication with other alerts from the same identity to bring the full power of UEBA into your detections. BehaviorAnalytics | where TimeGenerated > ago(1d) | where EventSource == "Authentication" and SourceSystem == "AAD" | evaluate bag_unpack(ActivityInsights) | where LogonMethod == "Service Principal" and Resource == "Azure Key Vault" | where ActionUncommonlyPerformedByUser == "True" and CountryUncommonlyConnectedFromByUser == "True" | where InvestigationPriority > 0 Final thoughts This release marks a new chapter for Sentinel UEBA—bringing together AI, behavioral analytics, and cross-cloud and identity management visibility to help defenders stay ahead of threats. If you haven’t explored UEBA yet, now’s the time. Enable it in your workspace settings and don’t forget to enable anomalies as well (in Anomalies settings). And if you’re already using it, these new sources will help you unlock even more value. Stay tuned for our upcoming Ninja show and webinar (register at aka.ms/secwebinars), where we’ll dive deeper into use cases. Until then, explore the new sources, use the UEBA workbook, update your watchlists, and let UEBA do the heavy lifting. UEBA onboarding and setting documentation Identify threats using UEBA UEBA enrichments and insights reference UEBA anomalies reference
Behavior Analytics, investigation Priority
Hello, Regarding the field investigation Priority in the Behavior Analytics table, what would be the value that Microsoft considers to be high/critical to look into the user's account? By analyzing the logs i would say, 7 or higher, if someone could tell me, and thank you in advance.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!
UEBA not recommended in Lighthouse?
My new org is considering whether to enable UEBA. We have a multi-tenant Lighthouse-enabled environment. Previous Engineers discussed UEBA with Microsoft, and Microsoft indicated that UEBA would be inaccurate in a Lighthouse environment. Unfortunately I haven't been able to gather any additional details or explanations, and otherwise haven't found this topic documented by Microsoft. Can anyone confirm if UEBA is recommended and compatible with Lighthouse? Thanks!!!
Entities missing in Incidents
Hello, Entities are not showing on any of the incidents in Sentinel. Although, I have mapped the entities correctly for each alert. I have the same alerts and entities mapping on other tenant and it shows entities there. What could be the issue? Update: I raised the support ticket to microsoft. Issue has been resolved by Microsoft. It was a misconfiguration from the backend.
I don't understand the ability to connect Ueba to multiple data sources.
Hello, I have connected UEBA in my environment, but I don't understand what it offers to connect the log sources of Audit Logs, Azure Activity, Security Events and Login Logs. According to UEBA, it collects alert information from other connectors such as Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, bookmarks or activities to generate these user behaviour profiles, so I don't understand why connect the aforementioned data sources? That added value where can you see it? Regards.Unleash the full potential of User and Entity Behavior Analytics with our updated workbook
We have updated the User and Entity Behavior Analytics workbook to include more. Now, you can prioritize incidents based on anomalies affecting the entities that are involved in the alerts. You will also gain visibility into anomalies affecting different types of entities, like accounts, IPs and hosts.FinOps 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
