Analyzing Windows Event Logs in Splunk

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• SOC analysts investigate alerts related to Windows authentication, process execution, or AD changes
• Detection engineers build SPL queries for Windows-based threat detection
• Incident responders need forensic timelines of Windows endpoint or domain controller activity
• Periodic threat hunting targets Windows-specific ATT&CK techniques

Do not use for Linux/macOS endpoint analysis or network-only investigations.

Prerequisites

• Splunk with Windows Event Log data ingested (sourcetype WinEventLog:Security, WinEventLog:System, XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational)
• Sysmon deployed on endpoints with SwiftOnSecurity or Olaf Hartong configuration
• CIM data model acceleration for Endpoint and Authentication data models
• Knowledge of Windows Security Event IDs and Sysmon event types

Workflow

Step 1: Authentication Attack Detection

Brute Force Detection (EventCode 4625 — Failed Logon):

index=wineventlog sourcetype="WinEventLog:Security" EventCode=4625
| stats count, dc(TargetUserName) AS unique_users, values(TargetUserName) AS targeted_users
  by src_ip, L…