Splunk® Enterprise Security

Administer Splunk Enterprise Security

The documentation for Splunk Enterprise Security versions 8.0 and higher have been rearchitected from previous versions, causing some links to have redirect errors. For documentation on version 8.0, see Splunk Enterprise Security documentation homepage.
This documentation does not apply to the most recent version of Splunk® Enterprise Security. For documentation on the most recent version, go to the latest release.

Manage assets and identities to enrich notables in Splunk Enterprise Security

When asset and identity correlation is enabled, Splunk Enterprise Security compares indexed events with asset and identity data in the asset and identity lists to provide notable enrichment and context. The comparison process uses automatic lookups in the props.conf file. You can find information about automatic lookups in the Splunk platform documentation:

Asset and identity correlation enriches notable events with asset and identity data at search time in the following ways:

  • Asset correlation compares events that contain data in any of the src, dest, or dvc fields against the merged asset lists for matching IP address, MAC address, DNS name, or Windows NT host names. Asset correlation no longer occurs automatically against the host or orig_host fields.
  • Identity correlation compares events that contain data in any of the user or src_user fields against the merged identity lists for a matching identity.
  • Enterprise Security adds the matching output fields to the event. For example, correlation on the asset src field results in additional fields such as src_is_expected and src_should_timesync.

You can also format asset and identity data to identify unique assets and identities and enrich notable events. For more information on formatting an asset and identity list as a lookup, see Format an asset or identity as a lookup in Splunk Enterprise Security.

Asset and identity correlation lets you determine whether multiple events can relate to the same asset or identity. You can also perform actions on the identity and asset fields added to events to open additional searches or dashboards scoped to the specific asset or identity. For example, you can open the Asset Investigator dashboard on a src field.

You can choose from the following options:

  • Disable for all sourcetypes
  • Enable selectively by sourcetype
  • Enable for all sourcetypes

Prerequisites

Perform the following prerequisite tasks before starting on these settings:

  1. Collect and extract asset and identity data in Splunk Enterprise Security.
  2. Format the asset or identity list as a lookup in Splunk Enterprise Security.
  3. Configure a new asset or identity list in Splunk Enterprise Security.

Disable asset and identity enrichment for all sourcetypes

Disabling asset and identity correlation completely prevents notable events from being enriched with asset and identity data from the asset and identity lookups. This might prevent correlation searches, dashboards, and other functionality from working as expected. Consult with Splunk Professional Services or Splunk Support before disabling asset and identity correlation. If in doubt, keep asset and identity correlation enabled.

To disable correlation for all sourcetypes, complete the following steps:

  1. From the Splunk Enterprise Security menu bar, select Configure > Data Enrichment > Asset and Identity Management.
  2. Click the Correlation Setup tab.
  3. Click the Disable for all sourcetypes radio button.
  4. Click Save.

Enable asset and identity enrichment selectively by sourcetype

Enable correlation selectively by sourcetype if you know the specific sourcetypes and corresponding lookups that you need for populating your correlation searches, dashboards, and other functionality. To enable correlation selectively by sourcetype, complete the following steps:

  1. From the Splunk Enterprise Security menu bar, select Configure > Data Enrichment > Asset and Identity Management.
  2. Click the Correlation Setup tab.
  3. Click the Enable selectively by sourcetype radio button.
  4. Click + Add a new sourcetype.
  5. Enter the name of the sourcetype.
  6. Toggle Enable asset correlation or Enable identity correlation.
  7. Click Done.
  8. Click Save.

Enable asset and identity enrichment for all sourcetypes

Enable correlation for all sourcetypes for ease of management if you don't have performance concerns and if you don't know specifically which sourcetypes you need for populating your correlation searches, dashboards, and other functionality. To enable correlation for all sourcetypes, complete the following steps:

  1. From the Splunk Enterprise Security menu bar, select Configure > Data Enrichment > Asset and Identity Management.
  2. Click the Correlation Setup tab.
  3. Click the Enable for all sourcetypes radio button.
  4. Click Save.

Enable correlation and entity zones

When correlation and entity zones are both enabled, the cim_entity_zone field is used to find the correct asset in the correct zone. Identifying the correct asset in the correct zone enables you to more accurately enrich your search results and notable events fields. For details about entity zones, see Enable entity zones for Assets or Identities.

Using assets as an example, consider the following source file with the same ip, mac, and nt_host in different zones: ip,mac,nt_host,dns,owner,priority,lat,long,city,country,bunit,category,pci_domain,is_expected,should_timesync,should_update,requires_av,cim_entity_zone
192.0.2.94,00:00:5e:16:a7:7a,host,splunk.com,owner1,priority1,,,city1,country1,bunit1,,,,,,,zone1
192.0.2.94,00:00:5e:16:a7:7a,host,splunk.com,owner2,priority2,,,city2,country2,bunit2,,,,,,,zone2

With entity zones enabled, the behavior is not to merge key fields such as ip, mac, and nt_host that are in different zones.

You may use the search preview for asset_lookup_by_str that returns results as shown in the following table:

asset cim_entity_zone ip mac nt_host dns owner priority city country bunit
00:00:5e:16:a7:7a
host		 zone1 192.0.2.94 00:00:5e:16:a7:7a host splunk.com owner1 priority1 city1 country1 bunit1
00:00:5e:16:a7:7a
host		 zone2 192.0.2.94 00:00:5e:16:a7:7a host splunk.com owner2 priority2 city2 country2 bunit2

For more information on how to use the search preview to test the merge of assets and identities, see Use the search preview to test the merge of asset and identity data in Splunk Enterprise Security.

With correlation and entity zones both enabled, search results are displayed with the events enriched by the cim_entity_zone field.

The following search:

index="main" sourcetype="sourcetype_you_enabled_for_correlation"

displays the following search results:

i Time Event
> 6/9/2020
6:06:05.000 PM		 example event dvc="192.0.2.94" cim_entity_zone="zone1"

host="host" dvc_asset="host | 00:00:5e:16:a7:7a" dvc_ip="192.0.2.94" dvc_asset_id="123456789" dvc_owner="owner1" dvc_priority="priority1" dvc_country="country1" dvc_city="city1" dvc_bunit="bunit1" asset_tag="bunit1" source="example_source" sourcetype="sourcetype_you_enabled_for_correlation"

> 6/9/2020
7:06:07.000 PM		 example event dvc="192.0.2.94" cim_entity_zone="zone2"

host="host" dvc_asset="host | 00:00:5e:16:a7:7a" dvc_ip="192.0.2.94" dvc_asset_id="123456789" dvc_owner="owner2" dvc_priority="priority2" dvc_country="country2" dvc_city="city2" dvc_bunit="bunit2" asset_tag="bunit2" source="example_source" sourcetype="sourcetype_you_enabled_for_correlation"

The results display two devices of 192.0.2.94 in two different cim_entity_zone zones with events that occurred an hour apart. The cim_entity_zone field is used to find the correct asset in the correct zone.

Disable entity zones

When entity zones are disabled, With entity zones disabled, the default behavior is to merge by the key fields, such as ip, mac, and nt_host.

You may use the search preview for asset_lookup_by_str that returns results as shown in the following table:

asset ip mac nt_host dns owner priority city country bunit asset_tag
00:00:5e:16:a7:7a
host		 192.0.2.94 00:00:5e:16:a7:7a host splunk.com owner1
owner2		 priority2 city1
city2		 zone1_country
zone2_country		 bunit1
bunit2		 bunit1
bunit2

For more information on how to use the search preview to test the merge of assets and identities, see Use the search preview to test the merge of asset and identity data in Splunk Enterprise Security.

With correlation and entity zones both disabled, the merged search results are displayed with the events that are not enriched by the cim_entity_zone field.

The following search:

index="main" sourcetype="sourcetype_you_enabled_for_correlation"

displays the following search results: The results display the same device 192.0.2.94 enriched with the same multivalue fields in events that occurred an hour apart. The cim_entity_zone field is in the raw event (if defined). However, with entity zones disabled, it is not used in correlation searches, saved searches, or dashboards.

i Time Event
> 6/9/2020
6:06:05.000 PM		 example event dvc="192.0.2.94" cim_entity_zone="zone1"

host="host" dvc_asset="host | 00:00:5e:16:a7:7a" dvc_ip="192.0.2.94" dvc_asset_id="123456789" dvc_owner="owner1 | owner2" dvc_priority="priority2" dvc_country="country1 | country2" dvc_city="city1 | city2" dvc_bunit="bunit1 | bunit2" asset_tag="bunit1 | bunit2" source="example_source" sourcetype="sourcetype_you_enabled_for_correlation"

> 6/9/2020
7:06:07.000 PM		 example event dvc="192.0.2.94" cim_entity_zone="zone2"

host="host" dvc_asset="host | 00:00:5e:16:a7:7a" dvc_ip="192.0.2.94" dvc_asset_id="123456789" dvc_owner="owner1 | owner2" dvc_priority="priority2" dvc_country="country1 | country2" dvc_city="city1 | city2" dvc_bunit="bunit1 | bunit2" asset_tag="bunit1 | bunit2" source="example_source" sourcetype="sourcetype_you_enabled_for_correlation"

Last modified on 22 November, 2021
Manage identity field settings in Splunk Enterprise Security   Use the search preview to test the merge of asset and identity data in Splunk Enterprise Security

This documentation applies to the following versions of Splunk® Enterprise Security: 6.4.0, 6.4.1, 6.5.0 Cloud only, 6.5.1 Cloud only, 6.6.0, 6.6.2

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