Collect Forcepoint Email Security logs

Parser Version: 2.0

Supported in:

Google SecOps SIEM

This document explains how to ingest Forcepoint Email Security logs to Google Security Operations using BindPlane. The parser first extracts fields from the JSON-formatted logs and initializes some UDM fields with empty values. Then, it maps the extracted fields to their corresponding fields within the Chronicle UDM structure based on specific conditions and data manipulations, ultimately creating a unified representation of the email security event.

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 Forcepoint Email Security appliance or management console

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 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.
• Alternative: You can also use the BindPlane OP managed installation workflow for centralized agent management.

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 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:
     udplog:
       # Replace the port and IP address as required
       listen_address: "0.0.0.0:514"
   
   exporters:
     chronicle/chronicle_w_labels:
       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
       # Adjust the path to the credentials file you downloaded in Step 1
       creds_file_path: '/path/to/ingestion-authentication-file.json'
       # Replace with your actual customer ID from Step 2
       customer_id: <CUSTOMER_ID>
       endpoint: chronicle.googleapis.com
       # Add optional ingestion labels for better organization
       log_type: 'FORCEPOINT_EMAILSECURITY'
       raw_log_field: body
       ingestion_labels:
   
   service:
     pipelines:
       logs/source0__chronicle_w_labels-0:
         receivers:
           - udplog
         exporters:
           - chronicle/chronicle_w_labels
   

3. Replace the port and IP address as required in your infrastructure.

4. 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.

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

6. Replace <CUSTOMER_ID> with the actual Customer ID.

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

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/chronicle_w_labels:
      compression: gzip
      # Adjust the path to the credentials file you downloaded in Step 1
      creds_file_path: '/path/to/ingestion-authentication-file.json'
      # Replace with your actual customer ID from Step 2
      customer_id: <CUSTOMER_ID>
      endpoint: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
      # Add optional ingestion labels for better organization
      log_type: 'FORCEPOINT_EMAILSECURITY'
      raw_log_field: body
      ingestion_labels:
  

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

Restart 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 Syslog forwarding on Forcepoint Email Security

1. Sign in to the Forcepoint Email Security Management Console.
2. Go to Settings > Integrations > SIEM Integration.
3. Click Enable SIEM Integration.

4. Provide the following configuration details:

   • Format: Select LEEF (Log Event Extended Format).
   • Syslog Server: Enter the BindPlane Agent IP address.
   • Syslog Port: Enter the BindPlane Agent port number (for example, 514).
   • Protocol: Select UDP or TCP, depending on your actual BindPlane Agent configuration.
   • Facility: Select the syslog facility code (for example, Local0).
   • Severity: Select the severity level for log events.

5. Click Save.

UDM Mapping Table

Log Field	UDM Mapping	Logic
Action	security_result.action_details	Directly mapped from the "Action" field in the raw log.
AttachmentFilename	additional.fields.value.list_value.values.string_value (key: Attachments_FileNames)	The "AttachmentFilename" field is split by comma and then each value is added as a string_value to the "additional.fields" array with the key "Attachments_FileNames".
AttachmentFileType	additional.fields.value.list_value.values.string_value (key: AttachmentsFileType)	The "AttachmentFileType" field is split by comma and then each value is added as a string_value to the "additional.fields" array with the key "AttachmentsFileType".
AttachmentSize	additional.fields.value.list_value.values.string_value (key: AttachmentsSize)	The "AttachmentSize" field is split by comma and then each value is added as a string_value to the "additional.fields" array with the key "AttachmentsSize".
DateTime		Not mapped in the provided UDM.
EnvelopeSender	network.email.from	Directly mapped from the "EnvelopeSender" field in the raw log.
EventReceivedTime	metadata.event_timestamp	Parsed to a timestamp format and mapped to "metadata.event_timestamp".
FilteringReason	security_result.category_details	Directly mapped from the "FilteringReason" field in the raw log.
MessageSandboxing	security_result.detection_fields.value (key: MessageSandboxing)	Directly mapped from the "MessageSandboxing" field in the raw log and added as a key-value pair to the "security_result.detection_fields" array.
MessageSize	security_result.detection_fields.value (key: MessageSize)	Directly mapped from the "MessageSize" field in the raw log and added as a key-value pair to the "security_result.detection_fields" array.
nxlog_filename	additional.fields.value.string_value (key: nxlog_filename)	Directly mapped from the "nxlog_filename" field in the raw log and added as a key-value pair to the "additional.fields" array.
RecipientAddress	network.email.to	Directly mapped from the "RecipientAddress" field in the raw log.
SenderIP	principal.asset.ip, principal.ip	Directly mapped from the "SenderIP" field in the raw log.
SenderIPCountry	principal.location.country_or_region	Directly mapped from the "SenderIPCountry" field in the raw log.
SourceModuleName	principal.resource.attribute.labels.value (key: SourceModuleName)	Directly mapped from the "SourceModuleName" field in the raw log and added as a key-value pair to the "principal.resource.attribute.labels" array.
SourceModuleType	principal.resource.attribute.labels.value (key: SourceModuleType)	Directly mapped from the "SourceModuleType" field in the raw log and added as a key-value pair to the "principal.resource.attribute.labels" array.
SpamScore	security_result.detection_fields.value (key: SpamScore)	Directly mapped from the "SpamScore" field in the raw log and added as a key-value pair to the "security_result.detection_fields" array.
Subject	network.email.subject	Directly mapped from the "Subject" field in the raw log.
VirusName	security_result.detection_fields.value (key: VirusName)	Directly mapped from the "VirusName" field in the raw log and added as a key-value pair to the "security_result.detection_fields" array.
	metadata.event_type	The value is determined based on the presence of other fields. If "has_network_email_data" is true, the value is set to "EMAIL_TRANSACTION". If "has_principal" is true, the value is set to "STATUS_UPDATE". Otherwise, it defaults to "GENERIC_EVENT".
	metadata.product_name	The value is set to "FORCEPOINT EMAILSECURITY".
	metadata.vendor_name	The value is set to "FORCEPOINT EMAILSECURITY".

Change Log

View the Change Log for this parser

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