Azure Audit Log Detection

Learn how to detect audit logs in Azure environments. Follow step-by-step guidance for SOC 2 compliance.

unauthorized access

SOC 2

azure

Why It Matters

The core goal is to identify and monitor all audit log activities across your Azure environment, so you can detect unauthorized access patterns, privilege escalations, and suspicious activities before they result in security incidents. Comprehensive audit log detection in Azure is essential for organizations subject to SOC 2 requirements, as it provides the audit trail needed to demonstrate proper access controls and monitoring capabilities.

Primary Risk: Unauthorized access and privilege escalation

Relevant Regulation: SOC 2 Security Trust Service Criteria

A thorough audit log detection strategy delivers real-time visibility into user activities, laying the foundation for automated threat detection and ongoing compliance monitoring.

Prerequisites

Permissions & Roles

  • Security Administrator or Global Administrator
  • Log Analytics Contributor role
  • Microsoft Sentinel Contributor access

External Tools

  • Azure CLI or PowerShell
  • Cyera DSPM account
  • API credentials

Prior Setup

  • Log Analytics workspace configured
  • Azure Activity Log enabled
  • Diagnostic settings configured
  • Network security groups configured

Introducing Cyera

Cyera is a modern Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) platform that discovers, classifies, and continuously monitors your sensitive data across cloud services. By leveraging AI-powered anomaly detection and behavioral analysis, Cyera automatically identifies suspicious patterns in Azure audit logs, correlating access events with data sensitivity to detect potential insider threats and unauthorized data access in real time.

Step-by-Step Guide

1
Configure Azure Activity Log collection

Enable comprehensive logging across all Azure services by configuring diagnostic settings to stream Activity Logs, Resource Logs, and Azure AD Audit Logs to your Log Analytics workspace.

az monitor diagnostic-settings create --resource-id /subscriptions/{subscription-id} --workspace {workspace-id} --logs '[{"category": "Administrative", "enabled": true}]'

2
Enable Cyera audit log monitoring

In the Cyera portal, navigate to Integrations → Cloud Security → Add Azure. Provide your tenant ID and configure the connector to ingest audit logs from Log Analytics workspace, enabling AI-powered detection of anomalous access patterns.

3
Set up automated detection rules

Configure custom KQL queries in Azure Sentinel or Cyera to detect suspicious activities such as privilege escalations, unusual login patterns, and bulk data access. Set up real-time alerts for high-risk events.

4
Validate detection coverage and tune alerts

Review the initial detection results, analyze false positive rates, and fine-tune detection thresholds. Establish baseline behavior patterns and configure automated response playbooks for common threat scenarios.

Architecture & Workflow

Azure Activity Log

Source of subscription-level audit events

Log Analytics Workspace

Centralized log collection and storage

Cyera AI Engine

Applies behavioral analysis and anomaly detection

SIEM Integration

Real-time alerting and incident response

Data Flow Summary

Collect Audit Logs → Stream to Analytics → AI Analysis → Alert & Response

Best Practices & Tips

Log Retention & Storage

  • Configure appropriate retention periods for compliance
  • Use hot, warm, and cold storage tiers efficiently
  • Implement log archiving for long-term storage

Detection Rule Optimization

  • Establish behavioral baselines for users
  • Use time-window analysis for anomaly detection
  • Correlate events across multiple log sources

Common Pitfalls

  • Overlooking guest user activities
  • Insufficient log retention for investigations
  • Ignoring service principal audit events

References & Further Reading

Next Steps

🔧 Fix: Remediate suspicious audit log findings 🛡️ Prevent: Implement audit log protection policies