Versioning in the detection library is crucial for maintaining traceability and tracking changes to individual detections and content packs. It enables us to pinpoint the exact state of specific detections at a given point in time, provides a clear history of updates, and facilitates troubleshooting and debugging by identifying which version introduced particular changes.
Sufficiently documenting our detections is essential in detection engineering as it provides context around the the purpose, detection logic, and expected behaviour of each detection rule. Just as important as documenting individual detections is tracking how the overall detection library evolves. In this part we are looking into how we can tackle both of those issues.
In this part, we focus on implementing validation checks to improve consistency and ensure a minimum level of quality within the detection repository. Setting up validation pipelines is a key step, as it helps enforce the defined standards, reduce errors, and ensure that detections are reliable and consistent.
This is the second part of the Practicing Detection-as-Code series, where we will cover some basic elements of designing a repository to develop, store, and deploy detections from. We'll go through several different aspects of the setup like the Git platform, branch strategy, repository structure, detections structure, taxonomies, and content packs.
In this first part we are going through the basic terminology and concepts of a Detection-as-Code approach in Detection Engineering. Throughout this series, we’ll dive deep into a wide range of concepts, strategies, and practical blueprints that you can adapt to fit your own workflows. From building a detection engineering repository to validating detections, automating documentation, and delivering them at scale to numerous managed environments. We’ll also explore how to effectively test and monitor your detections to ensure they stay reliable.
A new incident comes in. The CEO’s laptop shows possible Cobalt Strike activity. Your host investigation shows that the attacker likely gained privileged access to her host and the initial activity is from two days ago. You contain the host in your EDR agent. But now you must determine if the attacker moved laterally inside … Continue reading Tracking historical IP assignments with Defender for Endpoint logs
