We've reorganized our navigation structure to align directly with your operational workflows. See the Google SecOps release notes for more information.

Collect Active Countermeasures AC-Hunter logs

Parser Version:3.0

Supported in:

Google secops SIEM

This document explains how to ingest Active Countermeasures AC-Hunter logs to Google Security Operations using Bindplane.

AC-Hunter is a network threat detection platform by Active Countermeasures that performs automated threat hunting by analyzing network traffic to identify compromised systems communicating with command and control servers. AC-Hunter runs in Docker containers on a Linux server and can forward threat alerts via the syslog protocol to a SIEM or centralized logging server.

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following prerequisites:

A Google SecOps instance.
Windows Server 2016 or later, or a Linux host with systemd .
If running behind a proxy, ensure firewall ports are open per the Bindplane agent requirements.
Privileged access (SSH with sudo) to the Active Countermeasures AC-Hunter server to edit the configuration file.
AC-Hunter version 5.3.0 or later (earlier versions contain a bug that blocks sending syslog messages).
Network path from the AC-Hunter server to the Bindplane agent host on your chosen syslog port (UDP or TCP).
IP forwarding enabled on the AC-Hunter host to allow Docker containers to send syslog to external servers.

Get Google SecOps ingestion authentication file

Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
Go to SIEM Settings > Collection Agents.
Download the Ingestion Authentication File. Save the file securely on the system where Bindplane will be installed.

Get Google SecOps customer ID

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

Open Command Promptor PowerShellas an administrator.

Run the following command:

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

Linux installation

Open a terminal with root or sudo privileges.

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, see Bindplane agent installation guide .

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

Locate the configuration file

Linux:

   
sudo  
systemctl  
status  
observiq-otel-collector

Windows:

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

Edit the configuration file

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

  receivers 
 : 
  
 udplog 
 : 
  
 listen_address 
 : 
  
 "0.0.0.0:514" 
 exporters 
 : 
  
 chronicle/ac_hunter 
 : 
  
 compression 
 : 
  
 gzip 
  
 creds_file_path 
 : 
  
 '/etc/bindplane-agent/ingestion-auth.json' 
  
 customer_id 
 : 
  
 '<CUSTOMER_ID>' 
  
 endpoint 
 : 
  
 malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com 
  
 log_type 
 : 
  
 AI_HUNTER 
  
 raw_log_field 
 : 
  
 body 
 service 
 : 
  
 pipelines 
 : 
  
 logs/ac_hunter_to_chronicle 
 : 
  
 receivers 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 udplog 
  
 exporters 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 chronicle/ac_hunter

Configuration parameters

Replace the following placeholders:

Receiver configuration:
- udplog : Use udplog for UDP syslog or tcplog for TCP syslog. Match the protocol configured in AC-Hunter.
- 0.0.0.0:514 : IP address and port to listen on. Use 0.0.0.0 to listen on all interfaces.
Exporter configuration:
- <CUSTOMER_ID> : Google SecOps Customer ID copied in the previous step.
- /etc/bindplane-agent/ingestion-auth.json : Full path to the ingestion authentication file.
  - Linux: /etc/bindplane-agent/ingestion-auth.json
  - Windows: C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\ingestion-auth.json
- 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 a complete list.

Restart the Bindplane agent to apply the changes

To restart the Bindplane agent in Linux:

Run the following command:

 sudo  
systemctl  
restart  
observiq-otel-collector

Verify the service is running:

 sudo  
systemctl  
status  
observiq-otel-collector

Check logs for errors:

 sudo  
journalctl  
-u  
observiq-otel-collector  
-f

To restart the Bindplane agent in Windows:

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.
Verify the service is running:
```
 sc query observiq-otel-collector 
```

Check logs for errors:

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

Configure syslog forwarding on Active Countermeasures AC-Hunter

Back up the existing configuration file:

 sudo  
cp  
/etc/AI-Hunter/config.yaml  
/etc/AI-Hunter/config.yaml.backup

Open the configuration file in a text editor:

 sudo  
nano  
/etc/AI-Hunter/config.yaml

Locate the Alert:section and the nested Syslog:section. Provide the following configuration details:
```
  Alert 
 : 
  
 Syslog 
 : 
  
 Threshold 
 : 
  
 20 
  
 Protocol 
 : 
  
 "udp" 
  
 Address 
 : 
  
 "BINDPLANE_IP:514" 
  
 Tag 
 : 
  
 " 
  
 AC-Hunter 
  
 " 
 
```
- Threshold: Enter the minimum threat score to trigger alerts (for example, 20 ). Systems with scores at or above this value generate syslog alerts.
- Protocol: Select "udp" or "tcp" to match the Bindplane agent receiver configuration. Use "" (empty string) to write to the host /dev/log for rsyslog forwarding.
- Address: Enter the Bindplane agent IP address and port (for example, "10.1.2.3:514" ).
- Tag: Enter an optional tag for log identification (for example, " AC-Hunter " ). Include a trailing space before the closing quote so the tag does not run into the message text.
Note: Indentation is critical in this YAML file. Singly indented lines use 4 spaces, doubly indented lines use 8 spaces. Do not use tabs. Validate the file at yamllint.com before saving.
Save the configuration file and exit the editor.
Restart AC-Hunter to apply the changes:
```
 hunt  
up  
-d  
--force-recreate 
```
Wait until approximately 20 minutes past the next hour. AC-Hunter imports new hourly logs from sensors and sends syslog alerts for systems that exceed the configured threshold during this import cycle.
Verify that syslog messages are arriving at the Bindplane agent host by checking the local syslog log file:
```
 sudo  
tail  
-f  
/var/log/syslog 
```
Note: AC-Hunter syslog messages use the user.alert facility and follow this format: <timestamp> <hostname> AI-Hunter[<pid>]: Host: <IP> Score: <score> PreviousScore: <prev_score> Database: <db_name>

UDM mapping table

Log Field	UDM Mapping	Logic
`api_msg_label`	`additional.fields`	Merged
`prev_score`	`metadata.description`	Directly mapped
`score`	`metadata.description`	Directly mapped
`ts_date`	`metadata.event_timestamp`	Parsed as `MMM dd HH:mm:ss`
`ts_iso8601`	`metadata.event_timestamp`	Parsed as `ISO8601`
`has_principal`	`metadata.event_type`	Mapped: `true` → `STATUS_UNCATEGORIZED`
`src_ip`	`principal.asset.ip`	Merged
`src_ip`	`principal.ip`	Merged
`blacklist_avg_bytes_label`	`principal.labels`	Merged
`blacklist_in_label`	`principal.labels`	Merged
`blacklist_out_label`	`principal.labels`	Merged
`database_label`	`principal.labels`	Merged
`dns_txt_query_label`	`principal.labels`	Merged
`invalid_cert_label`	`principal.labels`	Merged
`max_beacon_label`	`principal.labels`	Merged
`max_duration_label`	`principal.labels`	Merged
`prev_score_label`	`principal.labels`	Merged
`rare_client_label`	`principal.labels`	Merged
`score_label`	`principal.labels`	Merged
`unexpected_proto_label`	`principal.labels`	Merged
`source_module_label`	`principal.resource.attribute.labels`	Merged
`domain`	`target.asset.hostname`	Directly mapped
`domain`	`target.hostname`	Directly mapped
N/A	`metadata.event_type`	Constant: `STATUS_UNCATEGORIZED`
N/A	`metadata.product_name`	Constant: `AI hunter`
N/A	`metadata.vendor_name`	Constant: `Active Countermeasures`

Change Log

View the Change Log for this parser

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