Activate Windows Event Collector - Administrator Guide - Cortex XDR - Cortex - Security Operations

Select Settings → Configurations → Data Broker → Broker VMs.

Do one of the following:

In the Activate Windows Event Collector window, define the Collected Events to configure the events collected by the applet. This lists event sources from which you want to collect events.

Click Activate. After a successful activation, the APPS field displays WEC with a green dot indicating a successful connection.

In the APPS column, left-click the WEC connection to display the Windows Event Collector settings, and select Configure.

In the Windows Event Forwarder Configuration window, perform the following tasks:

1. In the Subscription Manager URL field, click (copy) . This will be used when you configure the subscription manager in the GPO (Global Policy Object) on your domain controller.

2. Enter a password in the Define Client Certificate Export Password field to be used to secure the downloaded WEF certificate that establishes the connection between your DC/WEF and the WEC. You will need this password when the certificate is imported to the events forwarder.

3. Download the WEF certificate in a PFX format to your local machine.

   To view your Windows Event Forwarding configuration details at any time, select your Broker VM, right-click and navigate to Windows Event Collector → Configure.

Cortex XDR monitors the certificate and triggers a Certificate Expiration notification 30 days prior to the expiration date. The notification is sent daily specifying the number of days left on the certificate, or if the certificate has already expired.

Locate the PFX file you downloaded from the Cortex XDR console and double-click to open the Certificate Import Wizard.

In the Certificate Import Wizard:

1. Select Local Machine, and then click Next.

2. Verify the File name field displays the PFX certificate file you downloaded and click Next.

3. In the Passwords field, specify the Client Certificate Export Password you defined in the Cortex XDR console followed by Next.

4. Select Automatically select the certificate store based on the type of certificate, and then click Next and Finish.

From a command prompt, run certlm.msc.

In the file explorer, navigate to Certificates and verify the following for each of the folders:

Navigate to Certificates Personal Certificates.

Right-click the certificate and navigate to All tasks → Manage Private Keys.

In the Permissions window, select Add and in the Enter the object name section, enter NETWORK SERVICE, and then click Check Names to verify the object name. The object name is displayed with an underline when valid. and then click OK.

Click OK, verify the Group or user names that are displayed, and then click Apply Permissions for private keys.

To enable events forwarders to forward events, the Network Service account must be a member of the Active Directory Event Log Readers group. In PowerShell, execute the following command on the domain controller that is acting as the event forwarder:

PS C:\> net localgroup "Event Log Readers" "NT Authority\Network Service" /add

Make sure you see The command completed successfully message.

Grant access to view the security event logs.

1. Run wevtutil gl security and take note of your channelAccess value.

   Example 30. 

   `PS C:\Users\Administrator> wevtutil gl security
   name: security
   enabled: true
   type: Admin
   owningPublisher:
   isolation: Custom
   channelAccess: O:BAG:SYD:(A;;0xf0005;;;SY)(A;;0x5;;;BA)(A;;0x1;;;S-1-5-32-573)
   logging:
     logFileName: %SystemRoot%\System32\Winevt\Logs\security.evtx
     retention: false
     autoBackup: false
     maxSize: 134217728
   publishing:
     fileMax: 1
   

   Take note of value: channelAccess: O:BAG:SYD:(A;;0xf0005;;;SY)(A;;0x5;;;BA)(A;;0x1;;;S-1-5-32-573)

   
   

2. Run wevtutil sl security "/ca:<channelAccess value>(A;;0x1;;;S-1-5-20)"

   Example 31. 

   PS C:\Users\Administrator> wevtutil sl security "/ca:O:BAG:SYD:(A;;0xf0005;;;SY)(A;;0x5;;;BA)(A;;0x1;;;S-1-5-32-573)(A;;0x1;;;S-1-5-20)"

   
   

Make sure you grant access on each of your domain controller hosts.

In a command prompt, open gpmc.msc.

In the Group Policy Management window, navigate to Domains → your domain name → Group Policy Object, right-click and select New.

In the New GPO window, enter your group policy Name: as Windows Event Forwarding, and click OK.

Navigate to Domains → your domain name → Group Policy Objects → Windows Event Forwarding, right-click and select Edit.