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    Collect Cofense logs

    Supported in:

    This document explains how to ingest Cofense logs into Google Security Operations using the Bindplane agent.

    Cofense Triage is a phishing incident response platform that automates the detection, analysis, and response to phishing emails reported by employees. It clusters similar threats, assigns risk scores, extracts indicators of compromise (IOCs), and integrates with security orchestration tools to accelerate phishing incident resolution.

    Before you begin

    Make sure you have the following prerequisites:

    • A Google SecOps instance
    • Windows Server 2016 or later, or Linux host with systemd
    • Network connectivity between the Bindplane agent and the Cofense Triage server
    • If running behind a proxy, ensure that firewall ports are open according to the Bindplane agent requirements
    • Privileged access to the Cofense Triage administration console
    • Cofense Triage version 1.20 or later

    Get the Google SecOps ingestion authentication file

    1. Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
    2. Go to SIEM Settings > Collection Agents.

    3. Download the Ingestion Authentication File. Save the file securely on the system where Bindplane will be installed.

    Get the Google SecOps customer ID

    1. Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
    2. Go to SIEM Settings > Profile.

    3. Copy and save the Customer IDfrom the Organization Detailssection.

    Install the Bindplane agent

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

    Windows installation

    1. Open Command Promptor PowerShellas an administrator.

    2. Run the following command:

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

    3. Wait for the installation to complete.

    4. Verify the installation by running:

       sc query observiq-otel-collector

      The service status should be RUNNING.

    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

    3. Wait for the installation to complete.

    4. Verify the installation by running:

       sudo  
systemctl  
status  
observiq-otel-collector

      The service status should be active (running).

    Additional installation resources

    For additional installation options and troubleshooting, see Bindplane agent installation guide .

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

    Locate the configuration file

    • Linux:

       sudo  
nano  
/etc/bindplane-agent/config.yaml

    • Windows:

       notepad "C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\config.yaml"

    Edit the configuration file

    1. Replace the entire contents of config.yaml with the following configuration:

        receivers 
 : 
  
 tcplog 
 : 
  
 listen_address 
 : 
  
 "0.0.0.0:514" 
 exporters 
 : 
  
 chronicle/cofense 
 : 
  
 compression 
 : 
  
 gzip 
  
 creds_file_path 
 : 
  
 '/etc/bindplane-agent/ingestion-auth.json' 
  
 customer_id 
 : 
  
 'your-customer-id' 
  
 endpoint 
 : 
  
 malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com 
  
 log_type 
 : 
  
 COFENSE_TRIAGE 
  
 raw_log_field 
 : 
  
 body 
 service 
 : 
  
 pipelines 
 : 
  
 logs/cofense_to_chronicle 
 : 
  
 receivers 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 tcplog 
  
 exporters 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 chronicle/cofense

    2. Replace the following placeholders:

      • Receiver configuration:

        • listen_address : IP address and port to listen on:

          • 0.0.0.0:514 to listen on all interfaces on port 514 (requires root on Linux)
          • 0.0.0.0:1514 to listen on an unprivileged port (recommended for Linux non-root)

        • Receiver type options:

          • tcplog for TCP syslog (recommended for Cofense Triage)
          • udplog for UDP syslog

      • Exporter configuration:

        • creds_file_path : Full path to the Google SecOps ingestion authentication file:

          • Linux: /etc/bindplane-agent/ingestion-auth.json
          • Windows: C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\ingestion-auth.json

        • customer_id : Google SecOps customer ID

        • endpoint : Regional endpoint URL:

          • US: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
          • Europe: europe-malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
          • Asia: asia-southeast1-malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
          • See Regional Endpoints for the complete list

    Save the configuration file

    After editing, save the file:

    • Linux: Press Ctrl+O , then Enter , then Ctrl+X
    • Windows: Click File > Save

    Restart the Bindplane agent to apply the changes

    • To restart the Bindplane agent in Linux:

      1. Run the following command:

         sudo  
systemctl  
restart  
observiq-otel-collector

      2. Verify the service is running:

         sudo  
systemctl  
status  
observiq-otel-collector

      3. Check the logs for errors:

         sudo  
journalctl  
-u  
observiq-otel-collector  
-f

    • To restart the Bindplane agent in Windows:

      1. Choose one of the following options:

        • Command Prompt or PowerShell as administrator:

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

        • Services console:

          1. Press Win+R , type services.msc , and press Enter.
          2. Locate observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector.
          3. Right-click and select Restart.

      2. Verify the service is running:

         sc query observiq-otel-collector

      3. Check the logs for errors:

          type 
  
 "C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\log\collector.log"

    Configure Cofense Triage syslog forwarding

    Cofense Triage can forward phishing report events and alerts in CEF (Common Event Format) via syslog to external SIEM collectors.

    Enable syslog output in Cofense Triage

    1. Sign in to the Cofense Triageweb interface with administrator credentials.
    2. Go to Administration > System > Syslog.
    3. Enable the Syslogtoggle.
    4. Configure the following syslog parameters:
      • Syslog Server: Enter the IP address or hostname of the Bindplane agent host (for example, 192.168.1.100 ).
      • Port: Enter the port matching the Bindplane agent listen_address (for example, 514 ).
      • Protocol: Select TCP(recommended) or UDPto match the Bindplane agent receiver type.
      • Format: Select CEF(Common Event Format).
    5. Click Save.

    Configure syslog alerts

    1. In the Cofense Triage web interface, go to Administration > System > Syslog Alerts.
    2. Select the event types to forward:
      • Phishing reports: Forwarded when new phishing reports are received and processed
      • Cluster events: Forwarded when reports are clustered
      • Threat indicator events: Forwarded when IOCs are extracted from reports
      • Health alerts: Forwarded for system health and performance events

    3. Click Save.

    Verify syslog forwarding

    1. After saving the syslog configuration, trigger a test event in Cofense Triage (for example, process a phishing report).
    2. Check the Bindplane agent logs for incoming syslog messages:
      • Linux: sudo journalctl -u observiq-otel-collector -f
      • Windows: type "C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\log\collector.log"

    3. Verify that CEF-formatted messages appear in the logs, for example:

       CEF:0|Cofense|Triage|1.0|100|Phishing Report Processed|5|suser=reporter@company.com duser=attacker@malicious.com cs4=Urgent: Account Verification cat=Processed:Threats

    UDM mapping table

    Log Field UDM Mapping Logic
    msg, rule_id, start, rt
    		 additional.fields Merged with labels for msg if not empty, rule_id if not empty, start if not empty, rt if not empty
    event_data, descrip
    		 metadata.description Value from event_data if not empty, else descrip
    deviceCustomDate1, log_datetime
    		 metadata.event_timestamp Parsed from deviceCustomDate1 if not empty, else log_datetime using format MMM d yyyy HH:mm:ss or MMM d HH:mm:ss
    suser, duser, has_principal
    		 metadata.event_type Set to EMAIL_TRANSACTION if suser and duser match email pattern, else GENERIC_EVENT, then STATUS_UPDATE if has_principal true and was GENERIC_EVENT
    cs3
    		 metadata.product_log_id Extracted from cs3 using grok pattern /%{INT:productlogid}
    		metadata.product_name Set to "Triage"
    cs3
    		 metadata.url_back_to_product Value copied directly
    		metadata.vendor_name Set to "Cofense"
    suser
    		 network.email.from Value copied directly
    cs4
    		 network.email.subject Value copied directly
    duser
    		 network.email.to Value copied directly
    host
    		 principal.asset.hostname Value copied directly
    ipaddress
    		 principal.asset.ip Value copied directly
    host
    		 principal.hostname Value copied directly
    ipaddress
    		 principal.ip Value copied directly
    processID
    		 principal.process.pid Value copied directly
    descrip
    		 principal.user.userid Extracted from descrip using grok pattern User: (%{WORD:user_id})
    cat, cs2
    		 security_result.action Set to ALLOW if cat in ["health","Processed:Marketing","Processed:Non-Malicious"], BLOCK if cat == "Processed:Spam" or "Processed:Threats" or cs2 in ["PM_Intel_CoronaVirus_Keywords","PM_Intel_CredPhish_106159","VU_Potential_Credential_Stealer"]
    severity
    		 security_result.alert_state Set to ALERTING if severity in ["8","10","11","12","13","14"], else NOT_ALERTING
    cat, cs2, severity
    		 security_result.category Set to MAIL_SPAM if cat == "Processed:Spam", MAIL_PHISHING if cs2 in ["PM_Intel_CoronaVirus_Keywords","PM_Intel_CredPhish_106159","VU_Potential_Credential_Stealer"] or severity in ["8","10","11","12","13","14"]
    cat
    		 security_result.description Value copied directly
    severity
    		 security_result.rule_id Value copied directly
    cs2
    		 security_result.rule_name Value copied directly
    cat, cs2
    		 security_result.severity Set to INFORMATIONAL if cat in ["health","Processed:Marketing","Processed:Non-Malicious"], HIGH if cat == "Processed:Spam", CRITICAL if cat == "Processed:Threats", else HIGH if cs2 in ["PM_Intel_CoronaVirus_Keywords","PM_Intel_CredPhish_106159","VU_Potential_Credential_Stealer"]

    Need more help? Get answers from Community members and Google SecOps professionals.

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