Audit Configuration

You can easily change the default settings for the following audit reports:

• Windows Defender

• Windows Firewall

• Object Access

• File Change Tracking

• Best Practice Analyzer

• User Authentication

In this section, we will discuss the configuration for these audit reports.

Windows Defender

In order to enable Windows Defender reports, make sure that Collector ID: 137 is enabled.

Windows Defender Collector (ID: 137)

If the Windows Defender collector is enabled, VirtualMetric also tracks Windows Event Logs for Windows Defender activities. VirtualMetric collects the following events:

Windows Defender: Scan (ID: 82)

Group	Event ID	Message
Windows Defender: Scan	1000	An antimalware scan started.
Windows Defender: Scan	1001	An antimalware scan finished.
Windows Defender: Scan	1002	An antimalware scan was stopped before it finished.
Windows Defender: Scan	1003	An antimalware scan was paused.
Windows Defender: Scan	1004	An antimalware scan was resumed.
Windows Defender: Scan	1005	An antimalware scan started.

Windows Defender: Action (ID: 83)

Group	Event ID	Message
Windows Defender: Action	1007	The antimalware platform performed an action to protect your system from malware or other potentially unwanted software.
Windows Defender: Action	1008	The antimalware platform attempted to perform an action to protect your system from malware or other potentially unwanted software, but the action failed.
Windows Defender: Action	1117	The antimalware platform performed an action to protect your system from malware or other potentially unwanted software.
Windows Defender: Action	1118	The antimalware platform attempted to perform an action to protect your system from malware or other potentially unwanted software, but the action failed.
Windows Defender: Action	1119	The antimalware platform encountered a critical error when trying to take action on malware or other potentially unwanted software. There are more details in the event message.

Windows Defender: Detection (ID: 84)

Group	Event ID	Message
Windows Defender: Detection	1006	The antimalware engine found malware or other potentially unwanted software.
Windows Defender: Detection	1015	The antimalware platform detected suspicious behavior.
Windows Defender: Detection	1116	The antimalware platform detected malware or other potentially unwanted software.

Windows Defender: Quarantine (ID: 86)

Group	Event ID	Message
Windows Defender: Quarantine	1009	The antimalware platform restored an item from quarantine.
Windows Defender: Quarantine	1010	The antimalware platform could not restore an item from quarantine.
Windows Defender: Quarantine	1011	The antimalware platform deleted an item from quarantine.
Windows Defender: Quarantine	1012	The antimalware platform could not delete an item from quarantine.

Make sure that these Event Log definitions are also enabled. You can always customize these settings to filter Windows Defender events.

Windows Firewall

In order to enable Windows Firewall reports, make sure that Collector ID: 54 is enabled.

Windows Firewall Log Collector (ID: 54)

If the Windows Firewall Log collector is enabled, VirtualMetric uses the Windows Firewall Log file or Security Audit events to collect Windows Firewall activities. VirtualMetric collects the following events:

Windows Firewall Settings

With the default settings, VirtualMetric collects firewall logs via the Windows Firewall log file.

mode=file

If you want to enable file logging on Windows Firewall, go to Windows Firewall, right click on Windows Firewall, and click Properties.

Click Customize for the logging properties.

Choose Yes for logging dropped packets. You can also enable logging of successful connections if they are needed.

After making these changes, VirtualMetric will start reading the Windows Firewall log file via the Inventory Collector. You can also switch the collector mode to Event for real time collection. Go to the collector definition settings and change the mode to Event:

mode=event

To activate event logging for Windows Firewall, you must make some changes on the Local Group Policy settings. Open Local Group Policy and go to Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies -> Audit Policy.

Make sure that bot Success and Failure events are selected.

VirtualMetric collects the following events of Windows Firewall:

Filtering Platform Connection - Permitted (ID: 88)

Group	Event ID	Message
Filtering Platform Connection: Permitted	5154	The Windows Filtering Platform has permitted an application or service to listen on a port for incoming connections.
Filtering Platform Connection: Permitted	5156	The Windows Filtering Platform has permitted a connection.
Filtering Platform Connection: Permitted	5158	The Windows Filtering Platform has permitted a bind to a local port.

Filtering Platform Packet Drop (ID: 92)

Group	Event ID	Message
Filtering Platform Packet Drop	5152	The Windows Filtering Platform blocked a packet.
Filtering Platform Packet Drop	5153	A more restrictive Windows Filtering Platform filter has blocked a packet.

DDoS Analyzer (ID: 94)

Group	Event ID	Message
DDoS Analyzer	5148	The Windows Filtering Platform has detected a DoS attack and entered a defensive mode; packets associated with this attack will be discarded.
DDoS Analyzer	5149	The DoS attack has subsided and normal processing is being resumed.

Make sure that these Event Log definitions are also enabled. You can always customize these settings to filter Windows Firewall events.

Object Access

In order to enable Object Access Auditing reports, make sure that Collector ID: 144 is enabled.

Windows Object Access Audit Collector (ID: 144)

To activate event logging for Object Access Auditing, you must make some changes on the Local Group Policy settings. Open Local Group Policy and go to Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies -> Audit Policy.

Make sure that both Success and Failure events are selected.

For test purposes, go to Properties of the sensitive file.

Switch to the Security tab and click the Advanced button.

Switch to the Auditing tab and click the Add button.

Click on Select a principal, type Everyone, and click the OK button.

Select All for type, and switch to Advanced Mode. Select the events for logging, and click the OK button.

Click Apply and then the OK button to save the changes.

VirtualMetric collects the following events of Object Access Auditing:

Object Access Auditing (ID: 95)

Object Access Auditing (ID: 96)

Group	Event ID	Message
Object Access Auditing	4656 / 560	A handle to an object was requested.
Object Access Auditing	4658 / 562	The handle to an object was closed.
Object Access Auditing	4659 / 563	A handle to an object was requested with intent to delete.
Object Access Auditing	4660 / 564	An object was deleted.
Object Access Auditing	4661 / 565	A handle to an object was requested.
Object Access Auditing	4662 / 566	An operation was performed on an object.
Object Access Auditing	4663 / 567	An attempt was made to access an object.
Object Access Auditing	4664 / 568	An attempt was made to create a hard link.

Make sure that these Event Log definitions are also enabled. You can always customize these settings to filter Object Access events. You can log the following audit types via VirtualMetric:

Access Type	Enabled?	Description
ReadData	✓	The right to read the corresponding file data.
ListDirectory	✓	The right to list the contents of the directory.
WriteData	✓	The right to write data to the file.
AddFile	✓	The right to create a file in the directory.
AppendData	✓	The right to append data to the file.
AddSubdirectory	✓	The right to create a subdirectory.
ReadEA	✖︎	The right to read extended file attributes.
WriteEA	✖︎	The right to write extended file attributes.
Execute	✓	The right to execute the file.
Traverse	✓	The right to traverse the directory.
DeleteChild	✓	The right to delete a directory and all the files it contains, including read-only files.
ReadAttributes	✖︎	The right to read file attributes.
WriteAttributes	✖︎	The right to write file attributes.
ReadMemory	✖︎	The right to read process memory.
DELETE	✓	The right to delete the object.
READ_CONTROL	✖︎	The right to read the information in the object's security descriptor, not including the information in the system access control list (SACL).
WRITE_DAC	✓	The right to modify the discretionary access control list (DACL) in the object's security descriptor.
WRITE_OWNER	✓	The right to change the owner in the object's security descriptor.
SYNCHRONIZE	✖︎	The right to use the object for synchronization. This enables a thread to wait until the object is in the signaled state. Some object types do not support this access right.
ACCESS_SYS_SEC	✖︎	The ACCESS_SYS_SEC access right controls the ability to get or set the SACL in an object's security descriptor.

With the default settings, VirtualMetric uses the following audit types in the collector settings:

accessmode=ReadData,ListDirectory,WriteData,WRITE_DAC,WRITE_OWNER,AddFile,AppendData,AddSubdirectory,Execute,Traverse,DeleteChild,DELETE

If you want to enable other access types, you can modify the collector settings. After modifying the accessmode options, click the Submit button to apply the changes.

File Change Tracking

In order to enable Windows File Change Tracking reports, make sure that Collector ID: 139 is enabled.

Windows File Change Tracking Collector (ID: 139)

By default, VirtualMetric uses the following white list and the black list to filter file changes:

extensionWhiteList=.ps1,.vbs,.exe&extensionBlackList=.log,.evtx

If you clear these settings, VirtualMetric logs all file changes. You can use extensionBlackList to filter some file extensions like .log or .evtx etc. You can also add some file type extensions to always log via the extensionWhiteList setting. If you want to set these lists, you can modify the collector settings.

After modifying the options, click the Submit button to apply the changes.