C1000-162 IBM Security QRadar SIEM V7.5 Analysis Questions and Answers

To identify events that were missed by the Custom Rule Engine (CRE) in IBM Security QRadar SIEM, an analyst would primarily look for "Log Only Events sent to a Data Store" and "High Level Category Unknown Events." Log Only Events are those that are stored directly without being processed by the CRE, indicating they might have been overlooked or not matched by any existing rules. High Level Category Unknown Events are those that do not fit into any of the predefined categories in QRadar, suggesting that the CRE might not have rules to handle or categorize these events properly. These types of events are crucial for analysts to review to ensure that no significant incidents are missed and to refine the rule set for better detection in the future.

The Ariel Query Language (AQL) is the internal structured language used in QRadar for interacting with the Ariel database, which stores event and flow data. AQL allows users to perform complex queries to extract, filter, and analyze this data, enabling detailed investigations and insights into security incidents and network activity. By using AQL, analysts can tailor their queries to meet specific informational needs, making it a powerful tool for data extraction and manipulation within the QRadar environment​​.

Pulse Dashboards and JSON: The QRadar Pulse app uses JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) to represent dashboard configurations. Here's why:

Structured Data: JSON is ideal for representing hierarchical data like the layout, widgets, and queries contained within a Pulse dashboard.

Import/Export Mechanism: QRadar Pulse supports importing and exporting dashboards in JSON format to enable sharing.

QRadar supports generating reports in various file formats, including PDF, HTML, XML, and XLS. These formats provide flexibility in how reports are viewed and shared, catering to different needs and preferences for report presentation and analysis​​.

In the Reports tab of QRadar, the message "Queued (position in the queue)" indicates that the report is queued for generation. The message provides the position of the report within the generation queue, which helps users understand the report's status and expected generation time​

The IBM QRadar Use Case Manager application assists in tuning QRadar to ensure it is optimally configured for accurate threat detection throughout the attack chain. This application provides guided tips to help administrators adjust configurations, making QRadar more effective in identifying and mitigating security threats. The QRadar Use Case Manager plays a significant role in maintaining the effectiveness of the QRadar deployment​​.

Event Details Page Overview: The Event Details page in QRadar provides in-depth information about each event that is logged. This includes various parameters that help in the analysis and investigation of security incidents.

Configured Parameters:

Event Processor UUID: Unique identifier for the event processor, generally used for internal tracking.

High Level Category: Represents the general category of the event, useful for quick identification and filtering.

Log Source Time: The timestamp indicating when the log was generated by the source.

Log Source Group: A grouping of log sources for organizational purposes.

Relevance of High Level Category: The High Level Category is a crucial parameter found in the Event Details page, as it provides a broad classification of the event type, aiding in quick understanding and categorization of events.

Reference Confirmation: According to IBM QRadar documentation, the High Level Category is prominently featured on the Event Details page, making it the correct answer.

References:

IBM QRadar documentation on event analysis and Event Details page layout.

Offense Summary Window: Provides a centralized view of offense details.

Event/Flow Count Column: This column displays the number of events (and potentially flows) that contributed to the offense.

Accessing Events: Clicking on the number in this column typically opens a list or detailed view of the associated events.

When investigating an offense in QRadar, finding the number of flows or events associated with it can be achieved through the "List Events/Flows" option. This functionality allows analysts to view a detailed list of all the individual events and flows that are related to a specific offense, offering insights into the nature and scope of the activities involved. By examining this list, analysts can better understand the context of the offense, including the types of network traffic and system actions that triggered the security alerts, facilitating a more informed investigation process.

A Quick filter search in IBM Security QRadar SIEM operates on raw event or flow data. This type of search allows users to rapidly filter through large volumes of data to find specific events or flows of interest without the need for complex query syntax. Quick filter searches are particularly useful for conducting initial analyses or when looking for specific indicators within the raw data streams. The ability to search directly on raw event or flow data enables analysts to work with the most granular level of information available, facilitating detailed investigations and the identification of subtle patterns or anomalies that might indicate security issues .

A YARA rule is used for malware identification and classification, based on textual or binary patterns. The example provided suggests a rule that flags occurrences of a specific string (str1) at a precise location within a file. The "offset" keyword in YARA rules specifies the exact byte position where the pattern (in this case, 'str1') should appear. Thus, the correct interpretation of the YARA rule example is that it flags instances where 'str1' appears 25 bytes into the file, indicating a very specific pattern match used for identifying potentially malicious files or activities that conform to this pattern.

Events can be exported from the QRadar Log Activity tab in XML (Extensible Markup Language) or CSV (Comma-Separated Values) formats, providing flexibility in how data is extracted and used for further analysis outside of QRadar​​.

Offense Summary Window: The Offense Summary window provides detailed information about a specific offense.

Display Menu: Within this window, the "Display" menu offers options to customize what information is shown.

Rules Option: Selecting "Display > Rules" will reveal a list of rules that contributed to the chained offense sequence.

References

IBM QRadar Documentation - Offense Summary: [invalid URL removed]

IBM QRadar Documentation: Offense Chaining https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/qsip/7.4?topic=management-offense-chaining

To check the offenses triggered and mapped to the MITRE ATT&CK framework using the Use Case Manager app, an analyst can navigate through the Offenses tab, click on All Offenses, and then utilize the All Offenses Summary toolbar to display rules contributing to an offense. This process allows for an investigation into how offenses correlate with the MITRE ATT&CK framework. However, the exact option "Detected in timeframe" is not explicitly mentioned in the provided documentation, and the described procedure offers a broader approach to reviewing offenses and their associated rules within the MITRE ATT&CK context​​.

The Application Overview dashboard in QRadar includes various default items1. Two of these items are Top Applications (Total Bytes) and Outbound Traffic by Country (Total Bytes)1.

Default dashboards - IBM Documentation

According to the IBM Security QRadar SIEM V7.5 documentation, the Application Overview dashboard by default includes items such as "Inbound Traffic by Country (Total Bytes)," "Outbound Traffic by Country (Total Bytes)," and "Top Applications (Total Bytes)" among others. This confirms that options C and D are displayed by default on the Application Overview dashboard​​.

In configuring the frequency of report execution in the QRadar Report wizard, users have several scheduling options to automate or manually initiate report generation. Among the options provided, "Monthly" (C) and "Manually" (E) are valid choices within the QRadar environment. The "Monthly" option allows users to schedule reports to run at specific intervals each month, providing regular insights into the security posture and events within the monitored environment. The "Manually" option gives users the flexibility to generate reports on an ad-hoc basis, depending on specific needs or investigative activities, without adhering to a predetermined schedule .

The magnitude rating of an offense in IBM Security QRadar SIEM V7.5 is calculated based on three key parameters: severity, relevance, and credibility. Severity indicates the level of threat, relevance determines the offense's impact on the network, and credibility reflects the integrity of the offense as determined by the credibility rating configured in the log source. This combination of factors helps prioritize offenses and guide analysts on which ones to investigate first​​.

Here's why an AQL statement will default to running for 5 minutes:

Timeout Protection: QRadar implements timeouts to prevent queries from running indefinitely and potentially overloading the system.

Default Timeout: If no explicit time criteria is specified, the standard timeout in QRadar is 5 minutes.exclamation

Modifying Timeouts: Advanced users can change this default, but it requires modification of QRadar configuration settings.

Quick Filter Behavior: The Quick Filter heavily restricts search results to items matching the keywords you've entered. If your valid AQL doesn't match the Quick Filter, you won't get results.

Disabling to Verify: The easiest way to confirm this is to temporarily disable the Quick Filter and rerun your AQL search.

Use Case Manager: This app is specifically designed for investigation and analysis of offenses within QRadar. It offers more focused tools for this task than general Reports.

Active Rules: This view within the Use Case Manager provides insights into rules that directly triggered offenses. This is essential for filtering down to our target rules.

Filtering:

Start Date: Allows you to limit the analysis timeframe to the "previous week" as specified in the question.

Closure Reason: Crucially, this lets you isolate offenses marked as "False Positive" or "Tuned" – the core of the question.

In IBM Security QRadar SIEM V7.5, to search for all events containing a specific keyword such as "access", an analyst should navigate to the "Log Activity" tab. This section of the QRadar interface is dedicated to viewing and analyzing log data collected from various sources. By running a quick search with the "access" keyword in the Log Activity tab, the analyst can filter out events that contain this term in any part of the log data. This functionality is crucial for identifying specific activities or incidents within the vast amounts of log data QRadar processes, allowing analysts to quickly hone in on relevant information for further investigation or action.

Understanding Offense Parameters in QRadar: In IBM QRadar, offenses are evaluated and prioritized based on several parameters that determine the significance and potential impact of the security incident.

Key Parameters:

Relevance: Indicates how relevant the event is to the organization's environment.

Severity: Represents the potential damage or impact the event could have on the system.

Credibility: Reflects the likelihood that the event represents a true security incident.

Magnitude Rating Calculation: The magnitude rating is a composite score that is calculated using the relevance, severity, and credibility of an offense. This rating helps security analysts prioritize incidents based on their potential threat level.

Reference Confirmation: According to IBM QRadar documentation, the magnitude rating is the parameter that is derived from the relevance, severity, and credibility of an offense.

References:

IBM QRadar documentation on offense management and parameters confirms the calculation of the magnitude rating based on relevance, severity, and credibility .

AQL Focus: AQL is QRadar's search language primarily used for analyzing:

Log Activity: The core area to search events received from various log sources.

Offenses: Offenses are generated based on rule triggering, and you can search them to investigate patterns.

App Communication: QRadar apps often communicate with the core QRadar system using APIs or other internal communication channels.

Authorization: Authorized service tokens provide a secure mechanism for apps to authenticate these actions, ensuring proper access and data flow.

Identify a value from the event payload that will be used as the basis for this threat detection. You must first determine the specific piece of information within the log payload that signals the malware outbreak activity you want to detect.

Create a custom property to extract the value from the logs. QRadar needs a custom property to isolate this specific value from the raw log data in a structured way.

Ensure the custom property is optimized and enabled. Optimize the custom property's extraction method for accuracy and efficiency. Ensure it's enabled, so QRadar actively parses this data element.

Create and Configure a rule to create an offense that uses the custom property as the offense index field. Now that the custom property is ready, create a rule that references this property. Designate the custom property as the rule's offense index field to ensure offenses are correctly grouped based on the extracted malware indicator.

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Before configuring the QRadar Use Case Manager app, it is essential to ensure that the app has the necessary permissions to function correctly. This typically involves creating an authorized service token which provides the app with the permissions to access and manage the QRadar environment​​.

Threshold rules in QRadar are designed to test events or flows for activities that are greater than or less than a specified range. These rules are particularly useful for detecting significant changes such as bandwidth usage variations, failed services, changes in the number of connected users, and large outbound data transfers. By setting acceptable limits within threshold rules, administrators can effectively monitor for and respond to abnormal activities within the network​​.

In QRadar, when you save search criteria, especially on the Offenses tab, the configured search criteria are retained for future use and do not expire. This permanence ensures that users can quickly access and reuse their preferred search configurations, thereby streamlining the process of monitoring and investigating offenses over time​​.