Siem Setup

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description: Design SIEM architecture, correlation rules, and dashboards
---

# SIEM Setup

Design SIEM architecture, correlation rules, and dashboards for "$ARGUMENTS". Select a SIEM platform, define data sources and ingestion, create detection rules, and build operational dashboards.

## Prerequisites

Read `.metapowers/security/$ARGUMENTS/00-govern.md`. If this file does not exist, tell the user:

> Phase 0 (Govern) has not been completed for "$ARGUMENTS". Run a Govern skill first (e.g., `/security:security-policy $ARGUMENTS`), or use `--skip-checks` to bypass.

If `--skip-checks` is present in $ARGUMENTS, skip this check and log to `.metapowers/security/$ARGUMENTS/skip-log.md`.

## Process

1. **Select SIEM platform:**
   - Evaluate platforms based on requirements (Splunk, Elastic SIEM, Microsoft Sentinel, Sumo Logic, Google Chronicle, IBM QRadar)
   - Consider: log volume capacity, query performance, built-in detection rules, integration ecosystem, cost model (per-GB vs. per-user vs. capacity-based)
   - Assess cloud-native vs. on-premises vs. hybrid deployment
   - Evaluate managed SIEM services vs. self-hosted for operational overhead
   - Document selection criteria and chosen platform with justification

2. **Define data sources and ingestion:**
   - Map all data sources to be ingested (firewalls, endpoints, cloud providers, applications, identity providers, network devices)
   - Define ingestion methods per source (agent-based, syslog, API, cloud-native connectors)
   - Estimate daily log volume per source for capacity planning
   - Design data normalization and enrichment pipelines (common schema, geo-IP, threat intelligence)
   - Plan for data quality monitoring (detect ingestion gaps, parsing failures, delayed logs)

3. **Create correlation rules:**
   - **Brute force detection** — multiple failed logins from same source within time window, followed by success
   - **Lateral movement** — authentication to multiple systems from a single compromised account within short period
   - **Data exfiltration** — unusual outbound data volume, connections to file sharing services, DNS tunneling indicators
   - **Privilege escalation** — new admin role assignment, sudo/runas usage outside normal patterns, group membership changes
   - **Malware indicators** — known IOC matches (IP, domain, file hash), process execution anomalies, persistence mechanisms
   - **Policy violations** — access from blocked geolocations, use of unauthorized services, data handling violations
   - Map each rule to MITRE ATT&CK techniques for coverage analysis

4. **Build dashboards:**
   - **Security posture** — overall risk score, open alerts by severity, detection coverage, SLA compliance
   - **Active incidents** — current incident timeline, affected systems, response status, assigned responders
   - **Compliance status** — control effectiveness, audit findings, policy compliance metrics
   - **Threat trends** — attack frequency over time, top threat categories, geographic distribution
   - **Data source health** — ingestion volume by source, parsing success rate, latency metrics
   - Design dashboard hierarchy (executive summary, SOC analyst view, detailed investigation view)

5. **Define retention and storage tiers:**
   - **Hot tier** (0-30 days) — full-speed search, real-time correlation, active investigation
   - **Warm tier** (30-90 days) — reduced search speed, historical investigation, trend analysis
   - **Cold tier** (90 days - 1 year) — archived, compliance retention, restored on-demand
   - **Frozen/archive** (1-7 years) — long-term compliance, minimal access, lowest cost
   - Define automated tier transition policies
   - Plan storage cost optimization (compression, deduplication, selective retention)

6. **Integrate with incident response:**
   - Connect SIEM alerts to ticketing system (Jira, ServiceNow, PagerDuty)
   - Define automated ticket creation rules by alert severity
   - Enable SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response) playbooks for common scenarios
   - Integrate threat intelligence feeds for IOC matching and alert enrichment
   - Design investigation workflows (alert -> triage -> investigate -> contain -> remediate -> close)

7. **Write the artifact** to `.metapowers/security/$ARGUMENTS/03-detect.md` with heading:

   ## SIEM Architecture

   Include sections:
   - **Platform Selection** — chosen SIEM with evaluation criteria and justification
   - **Data Sources** — all sources with ingestion method and volume estimate
   - **Correlation Rules** — detection rules with MITRE ATT&CK mapping
   - **Dashboards** — dashboard inventory with audience and key metrics
   - **Retention Strategy** — storage tiers, retention periods, and cost optimization
   - **Incident Response Integration** — ticketing, SOAR, and threat intelligence feeds
   - **Implementation Roadmap** — phased rollout plan with milestones

## Output

The SIEM architecture written to `.metapowers/security/$ARGUMENTS/03-detect.md`. Present a summary to the user highlighting:
- Chosen SIEM platform and key decision factors
- Data sources to be ingested and estimated daily volume
- Correlation rules and MITRE ATT&CK coverage
- Dashboard hierarchy and key operational views