Microsoft Sysmon through NXLog

When you configure your Microsoft System Monitor (Sysmon) to send log data to USM Appliance, you can use the Microsoft Sysmon plugin to translate raw log data into normalized events for analysis. The table below provides some basic information for the plugin.

Plugin Information
Device Details
Vendor Microsoft
Device Type Infrastructure Monitoring
Connection Type Syslog
Data Source Name sysmon-nxlog
Data Source ID 1904

Integrating Microsoft Sysmon and NXLog

You must have installed and configured Sysmon on the Windows systems. Use a configuration file to filter events you want to capture. Check the Microsoft website for downloads and instructions.

Before you configure Sysmon to send logs to USM Appliance through NXLog, you must have the IP Address of the USM Appliance Sensor.

Configure NXLog on Windows

To send log data through NXLog to USM Appliance

  1. If not done already, download nxlog.conf, and then place it in the conf directory of your NXLog installation. Depending on which version you use, the directory can be C:\Program Files (x86)\nxlog\conf\ for the 32-bit version or C:\Program Files\nxlog\conf\ for the 64-bit version.

    Note: This step overwrites the default nxlog.conf file. You may want to back up the original copy before placing the one provided by AT&T Cybersecurity.

  2. Open the nxlog.conf file in a text editor.

  3. Update the root path of your NXLog installation.

    1. Locate the following lines:

      #define ROOT C:\Program Files\nxlog

      #define ROOT C:\Program Files (x86)\nxlog

    2. Uncomment the path that matches the NXLog installation on your Windows machine.

  4. Enter the USM Appliance Sensor IP address.

    1. Locate the following line:

      define OUTPUT_DESTINATION_ADDRESS <USM-Appliance-Sensor-IP>

    2. Replace <USM-Appliance-Sensor-IP> with the IP address of the USM Appliance All-in-One or USM Appliance Sensor that will receive the Windows events.

  5. Uncomment the section between SYSMON-NXLOG and /SYSMON-NXLOG.

    Important: Only remove the first # symbol in each line when uncommenting the sections. The remaining # symbol indicates that the line is either a comment or optional.

  6. In addition, uncomment the following lines in the NXLOG section:

    #<Extension transform_alienvault_csv>
    #    Module          xm_csv
    #    Fields          $EventTime, $EventType, $Severity, $Channel, $Hostname, $EventID, 
                         $SourceName, $AccountName, $AccountType, $Domain, $Message
    #    FieldTypes      string, string, string, string, string, string, string, string, string, 
                         string, string
    #    Delimiter       ;
    #</Extension>
  7. Save the file.
  8. Start or restart the NXLog service.

Plugin Enablement

For plugin enablement information, see Enable Plugins.

If enabling the plugin on assets, you will find it listed as Microsoft : Sysmon : -.

Enabling the sysmon-nxlog plugin from asset

Additional Resources and Troubleshooting

For troubleshooting, refer to the vendor documentation:

NXLog User Guide