Collect CyberArk Privileged Threat Analytics logs

Parser Version: 18.0

Supported in:

Google SecOps SIEM

This document explains how to ingest CyberArk Privileged Threat Analytics logs to Google Security Operations using Bindplane. CyberArk Privileged Threat Analytics (PTA) is a security solution that detects and responds to malicious activities involving privileged accounts. It uses advanced analytics and machine learning to monitor, analyze, and flag abnormal behaviors that may indicate potential insider threats or compromised credentials.

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following prerequisites:

• A Google SecOps instance.
• A Windows 2016 or later or Linux host with systemd.
• If running behind a proxy, ensure firewall ports are open per the Bindplane agent requirements.
• Privileged access to the CyberArk Privileged Threat Analytics server.

Get Google SecOps credentials for the Bindplane agent

To authenticate the Bindplane agent to Google SecOps, choose one of the following methods:

• New deployments: Use the Chronicle API (Option 1).
• Legacy deployments: Continue using the ingestion authentication file (Option 2) until the Ingestion API is discontinued on July 20, 2027.

Option 1: Create a service account for the Chronicle API (recommended)

1. Sign in to the Google Cloud console and select the Google Cloud project that is linked to your Google SecOps instance.
2. Go to IAM & Admin > Service Accounts.
3. Click Create service account.
4. Provide the following configuration details:
   • Service account name: Enter a name for the account (for example, bindplane-ingest).
   • Service account description: Enter a description (for example, Bindplane agent log ingestion).
5. Click Create and continue.
6. In the Grant this service account access to project section, click Select a role and select Chronicle Editor.
7. Click Continue, and then click Done.
8. Click the service account you created, and then go to the Keys tab.
9. Click Add key > Create new key.
10. Select JSON and click Create. The key file is downloaded to your computer.
11. Save the key file as ingestion-auth.json in the Bindplane collector directory (/opt/observiq-otel-collector/ingestion-auth.json on Linux or C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\ingestion-auth.json on Windows), or update creds_file_path in config.yaml to match the path where you save it.
12. Go to IAM & Admin > Settings and copy the Project number. You'll need it for the exporter configuration.

Note: The JSON key is a credential. Restrict access to the file on the Bindplane host and rotate the key according to your organization's policy.

Option 2: Download the ingestion authentication file (legacy)

1. Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
2. Go to SIEM Settings > Collection Agents.
3. Download the ingestion authentication file.
4. Save the file securely on the system where the Bindplane agent will be installed.

Note: This file authenticates the agent to the legacy Ingestion API (malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com), which Google has scheduled for end of life on July 20, 2027. Plan to move to Option 1 before that date.

Get Google SecOps customer ID

1. Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
2. Go to SIEM Settings > Profile.
3. Copy and save the Customer ID from the Organization Details section.

Install the Bindplane agent

Install the Bindplane agent on your Windows or Linux operating system according to the following instructions.

Windows installation

1. Open the Command Prompt or PowerShell as an administrator.

2. Run the following command:

   msiexec /i "https://github.com/observIQ/bindplane-agent/releases/latest/download/observiq-otel-collector.msi" /quiet
   

Linux installation

1. Open a terminal with root or sudo privileges.

2. Run the following command:

   sudo sh -c "$(curl -fsSlL https://github.com/observiq/bindplane-agent/releases/latest/download/install_unix.sh)" install_unix.sh
   

Additional installation resources

For additional installation options, consult this installation guide.

Note: The Chronicle API exporter configuration requires Bindplane collector v1.106.0 or later. The previous commands install the latest release. If you're updating an existing installation, upgrade the collector before changing the configuration.

Configure the Bindplane agent to ingest syslog and send to Google SecOps

1. Access the configuration file:

   • Locate the config.yaml file. Typically, it's in the /opt/observiq-otel-collector/ directory on Linux or in the installation directory on Windows.
   • Open the file using a text editor (for example, nano, vi, or Notepad).

2. Edit the config.yaml file as follows:

   receivers:
     tcplog:
       listen_address: "0.0.0.0:514"
   
   exporters:
     chronicle/cyberark_pta:
       protocol: https
       # Region of your instance, for example us, europe, asia-southeast1
       location: <LOCATION>
       # Project number of the Google Cloud project linked to the instance
       project: '<PROJECT_NUMBER>'
       compression: gzip
       creds_file_path: '/path/to/ingestion-authentication-file.json'
       customer_id: '<CUSTOMER_ID>'
       endpoint: chronicle.googleapis.com
       log_type: 'CYBERARK_PTA'
       raw_log_field: body
       ingestion_labels:
   
   service:
     pipelines:
       logs/cyberark_pta_to_chronicle:
         receivers:
           - tcplog
         exporters:
           - chronicle/cyberark_pta
   

• Replace the port and IP address as required in your infrastructure.
• Replace <CUSTOMER_ID> with the actual customer ID.
• Replace <LOCATION> with the region of your Google SecOps instance (for example, us, europe, or asia-southeast1). The exporter prefixes chronicle.googleapis.com with this value. See Regional Endpoints for the complete list.

• Replace <PROJECT_NUMBER> with the project number from IAM & Admin > Settings.

• Update /path/to/ingestion-authentication-file.json to the file path where the service account key file (Option 1) was saved.

Legacy ingestion API exporter

• If you use the ingestion authentication file from Option 2, replace the exporters block with the following. Set creds_file_path to the path to the ingestion authentication file, and if your instance is outside the US, replace malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com with your regional endpoint (for example, europe-malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com).

  exporters:
    chronicle/cyberark_pta:
      compression: gzip
      creds_file_path: '/path/to/ingestion-authentication-file.json'
      customer_id: '<CUSTOMER_ID>'
      endpoint: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
      log_type: 'CYBERARK_PTA'
      raw_log_field: body
      ingestion_labels:
  

Note: This exporter will stop working when the Ingestion API is discontinued on July 20, 2027.

Restart the Bindplane agent to apply the changes

1. To restart the Bindplane agent in Linux, run the following command:

   sudo systemctl restart observiq-otel-collector
   

2. To restart the Bindplane agent in Windows, you can either use the Services console or enter the following command:

   net stop observiq-otel-collector && net start observiq-otel-collector
   

Configure CyberArk Privileged Threat Analytics syslog forwarding

1. Sign in to the Privileged Threat Analytics server.
2. Run the DEFAULTPARM command to open the default systemparm.properties file.
3. Copy the line containing the syslog_outbound property and exit the systemparm.properties file.
4. Run the LOCALPARM command to open the local systemparm.properties file.
5. Press i on the keyboard to edit the file.
6. In the systemparm.properties file, uncomment the syslog_outbound property.

7. Paste the line that you copied and edit the parameters according to the following example:

   syslog_outbound=[{"siem": "Chronicle", "format": "CEF", "host": "BINDPLANE_IP", "port": BINDPLANE_PORT, "protocol": "TCP"}]
   

   • Replace BINDPLANE_IP with the IP address of the Bindplane agent host.
   • Replace BINDPLANE_PORT with the port number configured in the Bindplane agent (for example, 514).

8. Save the configuration file and close it.

9. Restart the Privileged Threat Analytics server to apply the changes.

For more information, see the CyberArk Privileged Threat Analytics documentation.

UDM mapping table

Log field	UDM mapping	Logic
src	principal.ip	Direct mapping from src field.
dst	target.ip	Direct mapping from dst field.
suser	principal.user.userid	Direct mapping from suser field.
duser	target.user.userid	Direct mapping from duser field.
cs1	security_result.description	Direct mapping from cs1 field (reason).
cs2	additional.fields	Direct mapping from cs2 field (station).
act	security_result.action_details	Direct mapping from act field (action taken).
cat	metadata.product_event_type	Direct mapping from cat field (event category).
severity	security_result.severity	Mapped from CEF severity value.
deviceCustomDate1	metadata.event_timestamp	Parsed from deviceCustomDate1 field.
	metadata.vendor_name	Set to CyberArk.
	metadata.product_name	Set to Privileged Threat Analytics.
	metadata.log_type	Set to CYBERARK_PTA.

Change Log

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