Overview

Objectives

• Stand up a SIEM backbone and onboard high value log sources

• Normalize fields for cross-source correlation

• Build starter dashboards and alerting for common threats

• Document the implementation for ongoing operations

Prerequisites

• Familiarity with logging and event correlation

• Access to hosts, network devices, and security tools for log forwarding

• ELK Stack components installed and reachable

Implementation

1. Core services

• Installed and validated Elasticsearch with appropriate heap and storage.

• Deployed Logstash for ingestion and transformation.

• Launched Kibana for visualization and alert configuration.

2. Data onboarding

• System logs: Linux auth and syslog, Windows Security events export.

• Application logs: web server access and error logs.

• Network and security: firewall, router, IDS.

• Normalized timestamps, hostnames, and user fields for correlation.

3. Use cases and dashboards

• Auth monitoring: failed vs successful logins by host and source Internet Protocol.

• Network monitoring: outbound bytes by destination and port with anomaly views.

• IDS monitoring: top signatures and trends.

4. Alerts and response

• Repeated login failure alert within a short window.

• Unusual traffic volume alert to non-approved destinations.

• Playbook notes for triage steps and data to collect on each alert.

5. Governance and hygiene

• Role based access in Kibana, index lifecycle management, backup plan.

• Versioned content for parsers, dashboards, and alerts.

6. Documentation

• Implementation report with architecture, data sources, field mappings, and alert logic.

• Screenshots of dashboards and example alert payloads.

Outcomes

• Unified view across systems and tools

• Faster detection to response loop with clear runbooks

• Foundation for future correlation and enrichment

Skills demonstrated

• SIEM deployment and data modeling

• Detection engineering and dashboard design

• Operations hygiene and access control