Microsoft Sentinel operational guide
This article lists the operational activities that we recommend security operations (SOC) teams and security administrators plan for and run as part of their regular security activities with Microsoft Sentinel.
Daily tasks
Schedule the following activities daily.
| Task | description |
|---|---|
| Triage and investigate incidents | Review the Microsoft Sentinel Incidents page to check for new incidents generated by the currently configured analytics rules, and start investigating any new incidents. For more information, see Investigate incidents with Microsoft Sentinel. |
| Explore hunting queries and bookmarks | Explore results for all built-in queries, and update existing hunting queries and bookmarks. Manually generate new incidents or update old incidents if applicable. For more information, see: - Automatically create incidents from Microsoft security alerts - Hunt for threats with Microsoft Sentinel - Keep track of data during hunting with Microsoft Sentinel |
| Analytic rules | Review and enable new analytics rules as applicable, including both newly released or newly available rules from recently connected data connectors. |
| Data connectors | Review the status, date, and time of the last log received from each data connector to ensure that data is flowing. Check for new connectors, and review ingestion to ensure set limits aren't exceeded. For more information, see Data collection best practices and Connect data sources. |
| Azure Monitor Agent | Verify that servers and workstations are actively connected to the workspace, and troubleshoot and remediate any failed connections. For more information, see Azure Monitor Agent overview. |
| Playbook failures | Verify playbook run statuses and troubleshoot any failures. For more information, see Tutorial: Respond to threats by using playbooks with automation rules in Microsoft Sentinel. |
Weekly tasks
Schedule the following activities weekly.
| Task | description |
|---|---|
| Content review of solutions or standalone content | Get any content updates for your installed solutions or standalone content from the Content hub. Review new solutions or standalone content that might be of value for your environment, such as analytics rules, workbooks, hunting queries, or playbooks. |
| Microsoft Sentinel auditing | Review Microsoft Sentinel activity to see who updated or deleted resources, such as analytics rules, bookmarks, and so on. For more information, see Audit Microsoft Sentinel queries and activities. |
Monthly tasks
Schedule the following activities monthly.
| Task | description |
|---|---|
| Review user access | Review permissions for your users and check for inactive users. For more information, see Permissions in Microsoft Sentinel. |
| Log Analytics workspace review | Review that the Log Analytics workspace data retention policy still aligns with your organization's policy. |