Azure service

See and stop threats across your business with Microsoft Sentinel.

Microsoft Sentinel collects security signals from Microsoft 365, Azure, firewalls and more, detects attacks and automates response. We design it, tune it and monitor it.

What Microsoft Sentinel covers

Cloud SIEMSOARData connectorsAnalytics rulesThreat hunting
What it is

What is Microsoft Sentinel?

Microsoft Sentinel is a cloud native security information and event management service, with security orchestration and automated response. It brings logs and alerts from many sources into one place, looks for patterns that indicate an attack, and helps analysts investigate and respond.

It suits businesses that need centralized security monitoring across Microsoft 365, Azure, firewalls, servers and other systems, often because of insurance, regulatory or client requirements.

A SIEM is only as good as the people and rules behind it. Poorly tuned, it produces noise and big bills. Well designed, it turns scattered logs into a few meaningful incidents.

Sentinel sits on a Log Analytics workspace, where data is stored and queried using Kusto Query Language. Connectors bring in data from Microsoft services with a few clicks and from other systems through agents, syslog and APIs.

Microsoft is bringing Sentinel and Defender XDR together in a unified security portal, so incidents from endpoints, email, identity and cloud sit side by side.

Key features

What Microsoft Sentinel can do.

Data connectors

Bring in Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Defender, Azure, firewalls, servers and many third party sources.

Analytics rules

Built in and custom detections that turn raw logs into alerts and incidents.

Incident management

Group related alerts, assign, investigate and track incidents.

Threat hunting

Search your data proactively using queries and notebooks.

Automation with playbooks

Run Logic Apps workflows to enrich alerts, notify people or disable an account automatically.

User and entity behaviour analytics

Spot unusual behaviour compared with each user’s normal pattern.

Workbooks and dashboards

Visual reports for security posture and incidents.

Threat intelligence

Match your data with known malicious indicators.

How it works

How Microsoft Sentinel works.

01

Plan

Decide data sources, retention, detections and who responds.

02

Connect

Onboard connectors and confirm logs are flowing.

03

Detect

Enable and tune analytics rules to reduce noise.

04

Respond

Investigate incidents, automate routine actions and report.

Under the hood

What happens behind the scenes.

Data flows from each source into the Log Analytics workspace. Analytics rules run queries on a schedule or in near real time. When a rule matches, Sentinel creates an alert, and related alerts are grouped into an incident for an analyst.

Automation rules and playbooks respond to common cases. For example, when a user signs in from an impossible location, a playbook can require a password reset and open a ticket. Costs are driven by how much data is ingested, so choosing what to collect is a key design decision.

Business impact

How it benefits your business.

Sentinel gives the business central visibility of security events that would otherwise be scattered across tools. That shortens the time between an attack starting and someone noticing.

Automation reduces the load on small teams. Repetitive steps such as enrichment and containment can run on their own, leaving people to focus on real decisions.

For regulated or insured businesses, centralized logging and monitoring is a practical way to meet expectations for detection and evidence.

Key benefits

The benefits at a glance.

One place for security signals

Microsoft and non Microsoft sources.

Faster detection

Rules and analytics find attacks sooner.

Automated response

Playbooks handle repeatable tasks.

Cloud scale, no servers

No SIEM hardware to run.

Strong Microsoft integration

Natural fit with 365 and Azure.

Evidence for compliance

Logs and reports for audits.

Pricing: Billed mainly by the volume of data ingested and retained. Some Microsoft data sources have free or discounted ingestion. Azure prices and features change, so we confirm current pricing and design to a budget before you commit.

In practice

What this looks like day to day.

A firm sends Microsoft 365, Entra ID and firewall logs to Sentinel. An analytics rule detects a user signing in from two countries within minutes, followed by new mailbox forwarding rules. An incident is raised, a playbook disables the account and Infinity investigates within the hour.

This is an illustrative example of how the service is used, not a description of a specific client.

Avoid the common problems

Mistakes we see, and how we avoid them.

01

Ingesting everything

High volume logs drive cost without adding value. Choose sources deliberately.

02

Default rules and no tuning

Untuned rules create noise. Tune to your environment.

03

No one watching

Detection without response is just storage. Assign monitoring.

04

Retention surprises

Longer retention costs more. Match it to need.

FAQ

Questions, answered.

Something else on your mind? Call 416.235.0931 or send us a note.

What is a SIEM?

A security information and event management system collects and analyzes security logs to detect threats. Sentinel is Microsoft’s cloud based SIEM.

Do we need Sentinel if we have Defender?

Defender protects and detects within Microsoft services. Sentinel adds central collection from other sources and custom detection. Many smaller businesses start with Defender and managed detection and response.

How is Sentinel priced?

Mainly by the amount of data ingested and retained. We estimate it before you start.

Can you monitor it for us?

Yes. We can monitor Sentinel as part of our managed detection and response service.

Is Sentinel too big for a small business?

It can be. We tell you honestly whether Sentinel, Defender or a managed SOC is the right fit.

Free consultation

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