Microsoft Introduces Linkable Identifiers In Entra ID Logs For Enhanced Threat Hunting

Microsoft has introduced linkable identifiers in Microsoft Entra ID logs, a significant advancement for threat hunters and security professionals. This feature enables better tracking of malicious activities across sessions, making it harder for attackers to evade detection.

🔗 Reference: Microsoft Entra ID Log Updates

You Should Know: Key Commands and Techniques for Threat Hunting with Entra ID Logs

Querying Entra ID Logs Using KQL (Kusto Query Language)
Threat hunters can use KQL to analyze logs and detect anomalies. Example queries:

[kql]
SigninLogs
| where ResultType == “50057” // User account is disabled
| project TimeGenerated, UserPrincipalName, IPAddress, AppDisplayName
[/kql]

[kql]
AuditLogs
| where OperationName == “Add member to role”
| extend TargetRole = tostring(TargetResources[0].displayName)
| project TimeGenerated, Actor, TargetRole
[/kql]

2. PowerShell for Extracting Entra ID Logs

Use Microsoft Graph PowerShell to fetch logs:

Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "AuditLog.Read.All", "Directory.Read.All" 
Get-MgAuditLogDirectoryAudit -Top 100 -Filter "ActivityDateTime gt 2024-01-01"

3. Linux Command-Line Log Analysis

Security teams can export logs and analyze them using grep, awk, and jq:

cat entra_logs.json | jq '. | select(.operationName == "User logged in")'

grep "failed login" auth.log | awk '{print $1, $2, $3, $9}'

4. Windows Event Log Analysis

Check Windows Security Events related to Entra ID:

Get-WinEvent -LogName "Security" -FilterXPath "[System[EventID=4624]]"

5. Automating Threat Detection with Azure Sentinel

Set up Azure Sentinel alerts for suspicious Entra ID activities:

[kql]
SecurityAlert
| where ProviderName == “Azure Active Directory Identity Protection”
| summarize count() by AlertName
[/kql]

What Undercode Say

Microsoft’s of linkable identifiers in Entra ID logs is a game-changer for threat hunting, enabling deeper correlation of attack patterns. Security teams should leverage KQL, PowerShell, and Linux log analysis to maximize this feature.