Categorizing Alerts
Question
You are using the Microsoft 365 Defender portal to conduct an investigation into a multi-stage incident related to a suspected malicious document.
After reviewing all the details, you have determined that the alert tied to this potentially malicious document is also related to another incident in your environment.
However, the alert is not currently listed as a part of that second incident.
Your investigation into the alert is ongoing, as is your investigation into the two related incidents.
You need to appropriately categorize the alert and ensure that it is associated with the second incident.
What two actions should you take in the Manage alert pane to fulfill this part of the investigation? Each correct answer presents a part of the solution.
Choose the correct answers.
Answers
Explanations
Click on the arrows to vote for the correct answer
A. B. C. D. E.Correct Answers: A & E
The correct action to classify the alert would be to set the status to In progress.
While the alert may seem to be legitimate as it is linked to another incident, until a final determination is reached, you should set the status to In progress to ensure that others know it is being worked on.
Once a determination is reached, you can then change it to Resolved and select the appropriate classification (True alert or False alert)
The correct action to correlate the alert to the other incident would be to select the Link alert to another incident option.
While ideally the alert would automatically be included in both incidents that is not always the case.
If you notice an alert that is not linked to an incident that it is clearly connected to, using the Link alert to another incident option ensures they are tied together.
You should not set the classification to True alert.
While a point can be made that it seems this malicious file involved in multiple incidents is likely to be a True alert, you are not yet able to make that determination.
It also is not time to classify it as a false alert.
The best practice while continuing an investigation would be not to change the classification at all, which means leaving it as the default Not set classification.
You should not enter the Incident ID of the related incident in the Comment section.
While this might be helpful from an administrative perspective, it creates no link to the other incident.
You should not set the status to New.
This is the default status of any alert.
The question specifically seeks to ensure your peers know the alert is being investigated, so setting (or leaving) the status as New would make it impossible to differentiate from other uninvestigated alerts.
All of the actions mentioned in the options can be found in the Manage alert pane, which can be reached via the Alerts tab in the Incidents section of the Microsoft 365 Defender portal.
This is an excellent central location from which you can manage incidents, and the components that make them up, including alerts.
References:
In order to appropriately categorize the alert and ensure that it is associated with the second incident in the Microsoft 365 Defender portal, you should take the following two actions in the Manage alert pane:
Set the classification of the alert to True alert: In the Manage alert pane, you can change the classification of the alert to "True alert". This classification indicates that the alert has been confirmed as a legitimate security issue and requires further investigation. This will ensure that the alert is properly categorized as a security issue and not dismissed as a false positive.
Link the alert to another incident: In the Manage alert pane, you can link the alert to the incident it is related to by selecting the "Link alert to another incident" option. This will allow you to associate the alert with the second incident, even if it is not currently listed as part of that incident. You should then enter the Incident ID of the related incident in the Comment section to further clarify the relationship between the alert and the incident.
Once these two actions have been taken, the alert will be properly categorized as a security issue and associated with the correct incident. This will ensure that the incident can be properly investigated and resolved in a timely manner. It is also important to set the status of the alert to "In progress" to indicate that the investigation is ongoing.
