Last Updated on September 24, 2024 by Michael Morten Sonne

Intoduction

Microsoft Sentinel, a security information and event management (SIEM) solution you can add on top of Log Analytics , continually evolves to meet the needs of security professionals. A significant enhancement to this platform is the new feature allowing users to import and export automation rules between environments.

This capability is not only a boon for collaboration, but also streamlines the development and deployment of security automation to a new level as you not need to crete then by hand 🤪

What is a Automation rule

Automation rules in Microsoft Sentinel are predefined actions triggered automatically based on specific conditions. These rules help automate the handling of security incidents, alerts, and other events, reducing the need for manual intervention and enabling faster response times. By leveraging Automation rules, organizations can streamline their security operations, ensuring consistent and repeatable processes 👌

Key features of Automation rules

• Conditional Logic: Automation Rules can be configured to trigger actions based on specific criteria, such as the severity of an alert, the type of threat detected, or other custom conditions.
• Wide range of actions: These rules can perform various actions, including creating incidents, running playbooks, sending notifications and enriching data.
• Customization: Users can tailor Automation rules to meet their specific needs, allowing for flexible and dynamic response strategies.
• Integration: Automation rules seamlessly integrate with other Microsoft Sentinel features and external systems, enhancing the overall security ecosystem.

How Automation rules work

• Detection: An alert or event is detected by Microsoft Sentinel, which is then evaluated against the defined Automation rules.
• Evaluation: The rule evaluates the alert based on its conditions. If the conditions are met, the rule is triggered.
• Action: The specified actions are executed automatically. This could involve running a playbook, creating an incident, sending a notification, or performing other predefined tasks.
• Response: The automated response helps mitigate the threat or provides additional context for further investigation.

Why use Automation rules in Microsoft Sentinel?

• Efficiency: Automation rules reduce the need for manual intervention, allowing security teams to focus on more complex tasks and investigations.
• Consistency: Automated responses ensure that incidents are handled consistently and according to predefined policies, reducing the risk of human error.
• Speed: By automating repetitive tasks, organizations can respond to threats faster, minimizing potential damage and downtime.
• Scalability: Automation rules enable security operations to scale effectively, handling a larger volume of alerts without increasing the workload on security teams.

Creating and managing Automation rules

• Configuration: To create an Automation Rule, navigate to the Microsoft Sentinel portal, go to Configuration, and select Automation. Here, you can define new rules or modify existing ones.
• Testing: Before deploying Automation Rules in a production environment, test them in a controlled environment to ensure they work as expected.
• Monitoring: Continuously monitor the performance and effectiveness of your Automation Rules, making adjustments as needed to improve efficiency and response times.

Automation rules in Microsoft Sentinel are a powerful tool for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of security operations. By automating repetitive tasks and ensuring consistent, rapid responses to threats, these rules help organizations maintain a strong security posture in an ever-evolving threat landscape. Implementing and managing Automation rules can significantly improve the overall performance of your security operations center (SOC), allowing your team to focus on strategic initiatives and complex threat investigations.

Create your automation rule

The following instructions are applicable to creating automation rules for various use cases.

If you aim to reduce noisy incidents, consider handling false positives.

If you want to create an automation rule to apply to a specific analytics rule, see Set automated responses and create the rule.

Create your automation rule

• For Microsoft Sentinel in the Azure portal, you have to select the way here: Configuration > Automation page.

• For Microsoft Sentinel in the Defender portal, select Microsoft Sentinel > Configuration > Automation.

• From the Automation page in the Microsoft Sentinel menu, select Create from the top menu and choose Automation rule.
• The Create new automation rule panel opens. In the Automation rule name field, enter a name for your rule.
• The Create new automation rule panel opens. In the Automation rule name field, enter a name for your rule.
• Then follow the wizard to create the Automation rule.

What is the new import and export feature

The new import and export feature in Microsoft Sentinel and the unified Security Operations Center (SOC) platform enables customers to transfer automation rules between different environments or tenants effortlessly.

Manage your Microsoft Sentinel automation rules as code by exporting them to Azure Resource Manager (ARM) template files and importing from these files. The exported JSON file is saved to your browser’s downloads and can be renamed, moved, and used like any other file. It’s workspace-independent, allowing import to other workspaces or tenants, and can be version-controlled, updated, and deployed in a CI/CD framework.

This functionality is particularly useful for those managing multiple Sentinel environments, such as separate test and production tenants – many should use this approach to NOT mess stuff up in production! 😎😉

One of the primary use cases for this feature is the seamless transition of automation rules from a test environment to a production environment. Here’s a typical workflow:

• Development and testing: Create and refine an automation rule in your test tenant.
• Export: Once the rule is tested and verified, export it using the dedicated export button.
• Import: Import the JSON file into your production tenant to deploy the rule in a live environment.

This process ensures that only thoroughly vetted rules make it to the production environment, reducing the risk of errors and enhancing overall security posture.

Why you should use this feature

• Enhanced collaboration: Teams can share automation rules more easily, promoting collaborative development and consistency across different environments.
• Streamlined Deployment: Quickly move tested rules from development to production, saving time and reducing the complexity of manual rule creation.
• Reduced risk: By testing rules in a controlled environment before deploying them in production, you minimize the risk of introducing errors or untested changes.
• Efficiency: Automating the rule import/export process reduces the need for repetitive manual configuration, allowing security professionals to focus on more strategic tasks.

Prerequisites

Before leveraging this feature, ensure the following prerequisites are met:

• Environmental requirements: Microsoft Sentinel must be enabled in at least one workspace.
• Roles and permissions: The user must have the Microsoft Sentinel Responder role.
• Clouds: This feature is available in commercial clouds but not in nation/sovereign clouds (e.g., US Gov, China Gov) (for now)

Testing the new feature

To test the export feature to copy the rules to another tenant follow the steps here:

Export rule

Select an automation rule and click the export button.

• Microsoft Sentinel in the Defender portal, then select Microsoft Sentinel > Configuration > Automation and the tab Automation rules.
• On the list here of Automation rules, mark the rules you will export and then click on the Export button you see here:

• The rule(s) will now be downloaded in .json format.

The downloaded .json file have this type of infomation/content in it:

Import rule

To import a rule, follow these steps:

• Microsoft Sentinel in the Defender portal, then select Microsoft Sentinel > Configuration > Automation and the tab Automation rules.

• Select the Import option.

• In the Open windows in your browser, choose the .json file that was created during the export process and open the file.

• Verify the rule settings after import to ensure they align with your security requirements.

By following these steps, you can seamlessly integrate tested automation rules into your production environment, ensuring consistency and efficiency in your security operations.

Conclusion

The ability to import and export automation rules in Microsoft Sentinel significantly enhances the platform’s flexibility and efficiency. By facilitating easier rule management across different environments, this feature empowers security teams to collaborate more effectively, deploy changes more rapidly, and maintain a robust security posture with less effort. Embrace this new capability to streamline your security operations and ensure that your automation rules are always tested and ready for production deployment.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog. Kindly share it with others if you find it helpful for them! 😉🔐👍

Stay tuned for the new post about something cool! 🥳

References

Create and use Microsoft Sentinel automation rules to manage response | Microsoft Learn

Automate threat response in Microsoft Sentinel with automation rules | Microsoft Learn

Add advanced conditions to Microsoft Sentinel automation rules | Microsoft Learn