Monitoring Microsoft Entra Identity Security with Maester and Sentinel

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Organizations leveraging Microsoft Entra (formerly Azure AD) for identity management can enhance their security posture by integrating Maester with Microsoft Sentinel to detect critical configuration changes. This setup helps identify policy modifications that weaken security, such as disabling risk-based password resets for high-risk users.

You Should Know:

1. Setting Up Maester for Entra Security Checks

Maester is a PowerShell module that evaluates Microsoft Entra configurations against security best practices. Install it via:

Install-Module -Name Maester -Force
Import-Module Maester

Run a basic security assessment:

Invoke-Maester -CheckAll

2. Ingesting Maester Results into Microsoft Sentinel

To forward Maester findings to Sentinel for alerting:

  1. Enable the Azure Monitor Agent (AMA) on your Sentinel workspace:
    Connect-AzAccount
Set-AzContext -SubscriptionId "your-subscription-id"
New-AzMonitorLogAnalyticsSolution -ResourceGroupName "your-rg" -Location "your-region" -Type "SecurityInsights"

  2. Create a custom table in Sentinel for Maester logs:

    .create table MaesterResults (CheckName:string, Status:string, PreviousValue:dynamic, NewValue:dynamic, Timestamp:datetime)

  3. Automate log ingestion using a Logic App or Azure Function:

    Sample Azure Function to parse and send logs
$body = @{
CheckName = "ConditionalAccess_RiskBasedPolicy"
Status = "Failed"
PreviousValue = @{RequirePasswordChange = $true}
NewValue = @{RequirePasswordChange = $false}
} | ConvertTo-Json</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://your-sentinel-workspace-ingest-url" -Method Post -Body $body -Headers @{"Content-Type"="application/json"}

    3. Detecting Policy Changes in Sentinel

    Create a detection rule in KQL:

    MaesterResults
| where Status == "Failed" and CheckName == "ConditionalAccess_RiskBasedPolicy"
| project Timestamp, CheckName, PreviousValue, NewValue, User=dynamic_to_json(CurrentContext.user)

    4. Alerting on High-Risk Modifications

    Configure Sentinel to trigger an incident when:

    • A critical policy (e.g., MFA, risk-based access) is disabled.
    • Changes occur outside business hours.
    • A compromised account makes modifications.
    SecurityEvent
| where EventID == 4738 // Policy change event
| join MaesterResults on $left.Description == $right.CheckName

    What Undercode Say:

    Continuous monitoring of Microsoft Entra configurations via Maester + Sentinel ensures real-time detection of security degradations. Key takeaways:
    – Automate security checks to reduce human error.
    – Track policy changes with full audit trails.
    – Enforce least privilege to prevent unauthorized modifications.

    Expected Output:

    • Sentinel alerts on disabled risk-based policies.
    • Forensic logs showing before/after policy states.
    • Automated remediation workflows via Azure Automation.

    Prediction:

    As identity attacks rise, Security-as-Code (SaC) will become standard, with tools like Maester evolving into CI/CD pipelines for identity governance.

    (Relevant URL: Maester GitHub)

    IT/Security Reporter URL:

    Reported By: Activity 7334103795775258625 – Hackers Feeds
    Extra Hub: Undercode MoN
    Basic Verification: Pass ✅

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