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Monitor Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) security architectures with Microsoft Sentinel

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Zero Trust is a security strategy for designing and implementing the following sets of security principles:

Verify explicitly Use least privilege access Assume breach
Always authenticate and authorize based on all available data points. Limit user access with Just-In-Time and Just-Enough-Access (JIT/JEA), risk-based adaptive policies, and data protection. Minimize blast radius and segment access. Verify end-to-end encryption and use analytics to get visibility, drive threat detection, and improve defenses.

This article describes how to use the Microsoft Sentinel Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) solution, which helps governance and compliance teams monitor and respond to Zero Trust requirements according to the TRUSTED INTERNET CONNECTIONS (TIC) 3.0 initiative.

Microsoft Sentinel solutions are sets of bundled content, pre-configured for a specific set of data. The Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) solution includes a workbook, analytics rules, and a playbook, which provide an automated visualization of Zero Trust principles, cross-walked to the Trust Internet Connections framework, helping organizations to monitor configurations over time.

The Zero Trust solution and the TIC 3.0 framework

Zero Trust and TIC 3.0 aren't the same, but they share many common themes and together provide a common story. The Microsoft Sentinel solution for Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) offers detailed crosswalks between Microsoft Sentinel and the Zero Trust model with the TIC 3.0 framework. These crosswalks help users to better understand the overlaps between the two.

While the Microsoft Sentinel solution for Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) provides best practice guidance, Microsoft doesn't guarantee nor imply compliance. All Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) requirements, validations, and controls are governed by the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency.

The Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) solution provides visibility and situational awareness for control requirements delivered with Microsoft technologies in predominantly cloud-based environments. Customer experience will vary by user, and some panes may require additional configurations and query modification for operation.

Recommendations don't imply coverage of respective controls, as they're often one of several courses of action for approaching requirements, which is unique to each customer. Recommendations should be considered a starting point for planning full or partial coverage of respective control requirements.

The Microsoft Sentinel solution for Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) is useful for any of the following users and use cases:

  • Security governance, risk, and compliance professionals, for compliance posture assessment and reporting
  • Engineers and architects, who need to design Zero Trust and TIC 3.0-aligned workloads
  • Security analysts, for alert and automation building
  • Managed security service providers (MSSPs) for consulting services
  • Security managers, who need to review requirements, analyze reporting, evaluating capabilities

Prerequisites

Before installing the Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) solution, make sure you have the following prerequisites:

  • Onboard Microsoft services: Make sure that you have both Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Defender for Cloud enabled in your Azure subscription.

  • Microsoft Defender for Cloud requirements: In Microsoft Defender for Cloud:

  • Required user permissions. To install the Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) solution, you must have access to your Microsoft Sentinel workspace with Security Reader permissions.

The Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) solution is also enhanced by integrations with other Microsoft Services, such as:

Install the Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) solution

To deploy the Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) solution from the Azure portal:

  1. In Microsoft Sentinel, select Content hub and locate the Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) solution.

  2. At the bottom-right, select View details, and then Create. Select the subscription, resource group, and workspace where you want to install the solution, and then review the related security content that will be deployed.

    When you're done, select Review + Create to install the solution.

For more information, see Deploy out-of-the-box content and solutions.

Sample usage scenario

The following sections show how a security operations analyst could use the resources deployed with the Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) solution to review requirements, explore queries, configure alerts, and implement automation.

After installing the Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) solution, use the workbook, analytics rules, and playbook deployed to your Microsoft Sentinel workspace to manage Zero Trust in your network.

Visualize Zero Trust data

  1. Navigate to the Microsoft Sentinel Workbooks > Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) workbook, and select View saved workbook.

    In the Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) workbook page, select the TIC 3.0 capabilities you want to view. For this procedure, select Intrusion Detection.

    Tip

    Use the Guide toggle at the top of the page to display or hide recommendations and guide panes. Make sure that the correct details are selected in the Subscription, Workspace, and TimeRange options so that you can view the specific data you want to find.

  2. Review the control cards displayed. For example, scroll down to view the Adaptive Access Control card:

    Screenshot of the Adaptive Access Control card.

    Tip

    Use the Guides toggle at the top left to view or hide recommendations and guide panes. For example, these may be helpful when you first access the workbook, but unnecessary once you've understood the relevant concepts.

  3. Explore queries. For example, at the top right of the Adaptive Access Control card, select the : More button, and then select the Open the last run query in the Logs view. option.

    The query is opened in the Microsoft Sentinel Logs page:

    Screenshot of the selected query in the Microsoft Sentinel Logs page.

In Microsoft Sentinel, navigate to the Analytics area. View out-of-the-box analytics rules deployed with the Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) solution by searching for TIC3.0.

By default, the Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) solution installs a set of analytics rules that are configured to monitor Zero Trust (TIC3.0) posture by control family, and you can customize thresholds for alerting compliance teams to changes in posture.

For example, if your workload's resiliency posture falls below a specified percentage in a week, Microsoft Sentinel will generate an alert to detail the respective policy status (pass/fail), the assets identified, the last assessment time, and provide deep links to Microsoft Defender for Cloud for remediation actions.

Update the rules as needed or configure a new one:

Screenshot of the Analytics rule wizard.

For more information, see Create custom analytics rules to detect threats.

Respond with SOAR

In Microsoft Sentinel, navigate to the Automation > Active playbooks tab, and locate the Notify-GovernanceComplianceTeam playbook.

Use this playbook to automatically monitor CMMC alerts, and notify the governance compliance team with relevant details via both email and Microsoft Teams messages. Modify the playbook as needed:

Screenshot of the Logic app designer showing a sample playbook.

For more information, see Use triggers and actions in Microsoft Sentinel playbooks.

Frequently asked questions

Are custom views and reports supported?

Yes. You can customize your Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) workbook to view data by subscription, workspace, time, control family, or maturity level parameters, and you can export and print your workbook.

For more information, see Use Azure Monitor workbooks to visualize and monitor your data.

Are additional products required?

Both Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Defender for Cloud are required.

Aside from these services, each control card is based on data from multiple services, depending on the types of data and visualizations being shown in the card. Over 25 Microsoft services provide enrichment for the Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) solution.

What should I do with panels with no data?

Panels with no data provide a starting point for addressing Zero Trust and TIC 3.0 control requirements, including recommendations for addressing respective controls.

Are multiple subscriptions, clouds, and tenants supported?

Yes. You can use workbook parameters, Azure Lighthouse, and Azure Arc to leverage the Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) solution across all of your subscriptions, clouds, and tenants.

For more information, see Use Azure Monitor workbooks to visualize and monitor your data and Manage multiple tenants in Microsoft Sentinel as an MSSP.

Is partner integration supported?

Yes. Both workbooks and analytics rules are customizable for integrations with partner services.

For more information, see Use Azure Monitor workbooks to visualize and monitor your data and Surface custom event details in alerts.

Is this available in government regions?

Yes. The Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) solution is in Public Preview and deployable to Commercial/Government regions. For more information, see Cloud feature availability for commercial and US Government customers.

Which permissions are required to use this content?

For more information, see Permissions in Microsoft Sentinel.

Next steps

For more information, see:

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