Topic – Real-time Threat Detection, Investigation, and Response in the Banking Sector
"Integrating, correlating, and automating the response to security incidents in a bank while complying with regulations such as PCI DSS and ISO 27001."
A bank with a national presence and over 2 million customers faces an increase in sophisticated fraud attempts and cyberattacks. The cybersecurity team relies on multiple isolated tools to monitor transactions, infrastructure, and access, leading to slow response times and difficulty in correlating incidents.
Management requires compliance with regulations like PCI DSS and ISO 27001, in addition to strengthening the security posture with comprehensive visibility and rapid action against threats.
In a quarterly security review, it is detected that a phishing attack successfully compromised the credentials of a remote teller. The event was identified by the email system but was not correlated with suspicious access to the internal network, allowing the attacker to perform lateral movements.
The time between initial detection and response was 8 hours, which resulted in losses and triggered a report to regulatory authorities.
Isolated monitoring tools without event correlation.
Difficulty complying with regulatory reporting deadlines.
Manual and slow response to critical incidents.
Absence of automation in threat containment.
The bank adopts Azure Sentinel as its cloud-based SIEM (Security Information and Event Management), integrated with its core systems and financial applications:
| Functionality | How it is Implemented with Azure Sentinel |
| Data Source Integration | Connectors for Microsoft 365, Azure AD, firewalls, core banking systems, and third-party solutions. |
| Advanced Analytics | KQL (Kusto Query Language) rules to correlate login events, transfers, and permission changes. |
| AI-Powered Threat Detection | Integrated Machine Learning models to identify anomalous patterns in transactions and access. |
| Response Automation (SOAR) | Playbooks in Logic Apps to automatically block accounts, isolate devices, or notify security. |
| Compliance Dashboards | Dashboards for PCI DSS and ISO 27001 audits with metrics and evidence ready for inspections |
Benefits by Licensing Type.
| License | Specific Benefits for Banks |
| Azure Sentinel Pay-as-you-go | Cost flexibility based on the volume of data ingested, ideal for pilots or smaller banks. |
| Azure Sentinel with Data Commitment | Volume discounts for banks with high log ingestion and continuous analysis. |
| Integration with Microsoft 365 E5 Security | Extended Detection and Response (XDR) with Defender for Office 365 and Defender for Endpoint. |
Reduction of response time from 8 hours to less than 15 minutes.
More agile compliance with audits thanks to automated reports.
Decrease in false positives with intelligent event correlation.
Automatic containment capability for critical threats, reducing operational and financial impact.
Integrate all critical data sources from the start to maximize visibility.
Define automated playbooks for recurring incidents.
Train the SOC team on the use of KQL and advanced analytics.
Review and update detection rules as threats evolve.