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    Collect Cisco VCS logs

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    This document explains how to ingest Cisco VCS (Video Communication Service), (controlled through ExpressWay) logs to Google Security Operations using Bindplane. The parser extracts fields from the syslog messages, normalizes them into a Unified Data Model (UDM), and categorizes the event type based on extracted details like IP addresses, ports, and actions. It handles various log formats, extracts key-value pairs, and maps severity levels to standardized values for security analysis.

    Before you begin

    Make sure you have the following prerequisites:

    • Google SecOps instance
    • A Windows 2016 or later, or a Linux host with systemd
    • If running behind a proxy, firewall ports are open
    • Privileged access to the Cisco ExpressWay

    Get 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 th system where BindPlane will be installed.

    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 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 the 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

    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 the installation guide .

    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 /etc/bindplane-agent/ 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 
 : 
  
 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 
 : 
  
 'CISCO_VCS' 
  
 raw_log_field 
 : 
  
 body 
  
 ingestion_labels 
 : 
 service 
 : 
  
 pipelines 
 : 
  
 logs/source0__chronicle_w_labels-0 
 : 
  
 receivers 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 udplog 
  
 exporters 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 chronicle/chronicle_w_labels
      • Replace the port and IP address as required in your infrastructure.
      • Replace <customer_id> with the actual customer ID.
      • Update /path/to/ingestion-authentication-file.json to the path where the authentication file was saved in the Get Google SecOps ingestion authentication file section.

    Restart the Bindplane agent to apply the changes

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

       sudo  
systemctl  
restart  
bindplane-agent

    • To restart the Bindplane agent in Windows, you can either use the Servicesconsole or enter the following command:

       net stop BindPlaneAgent && net start BindPlaneAgent

    Configure Syslog for Cisco ExpressWay

    1. Sign in to the Cisco ExpressWayweb UI.
    2. Go to Maintenance > Logging.
    3. Enter the Bindplane agent IP addresses as the Remote syslog server.
    4. Click Options.
    5. Provide the following configuration details:
      • Transport: Select UDP.
      • Port: Enter the Bindplane agent port number.
      • Message Format: Select BSD, the other possible option is IETF.
      • Filter by Severity: Select Informational.
    6. Click Save.

    UDM mapping table

    Log field UDM mapping Logic
    Action
    		 read_only_udm.security_result.action_details The value of Action field from the raw log.
    Code
    		 read_only_udm.network.http.response_code The value of Code field from the raw log, converted to integer. Used when Response-code is not present.
    Detail
    		 read_only_udm.security_result.description The value of Detail field from the raw log.
    Dst-ip
    		 read_only_udm.target.ip The value of Dst-ip field from the raw log. Used when Action is not Received .
    Dst-port
    		 read_only_udm.target.port The value of Dst-port field from the raw log, converted to integer. Used when Action is not Received .
    Event
    		 read_only_udm.metadata.product_event_type The value of Event field from the raw log.
    Level
    		 read_only_udm.security_result.severity_details The value of Level field from the raw log.
    Level
    		 read_only_udm.security_result.severity Mapped based on the value of Level field from the raw log:
    - 9 , 10 , VERY-HIGH : CRITICAL
    - error , warning , 7 , 8 , HIGH : HIGH
    - notice , 4 , 5 , 6 , MEDIUM : MEDIUM
    - information , info , 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , LOW : LOW
    Local-ip
    		 read_only_udm.principal.ip The value of Local-ip field from the raw log. Used when Action is not Received .
    Local-ip
    		 read_only_udm.target.ip The value of Local-ip field from the raw log. Used when Action is Received .
    Local-port
    		 read_only_udm.principal.port The value of Local-port field from the raw log, converted to integer. Used when Action is not Received .
    Local-port
    		 read_only_udm.target.port The value of Local-port field from the raw log, converted to integer. Used when Action is Received .
    Method
    		 read_only_udm.network.http.method The value of Method field from the raw log.
    Module
    		 read_only_udm.additional.fields.value.string_value The value of Module field from the raw log.
    Node
    		 read_only_udm.additional.fields.value.string_value The value of Node field from the raw log.
    Protocol
    		 read_only_udm.network.ip_protocol The value of Protocol field from the raw log, parsed and mapped to the corresponding IP protocol name using the parse_ip_protocol.include logic.
    Response-code
    		 read_only_udm.network.http.response_code The value of Response-code field from the raw log, converted to integer.
    Src-ip
    		 read_only_udm.principal.ip The value of Src-ip field from the raw log. Used when Action is Received .
    Src-ip
    		 read_only_udm.principal.ip The value of Src-ip field from the raw log. Used when Action is not Received and Local-ip is not present.
    Src-port
    		 read_only_udm.principal.port The value of Src-port field from the raw log, converted to integer. Used when Action is Received .
    Src-port
    		 read_only_udm.principal.port The value of Src-port field from the raw log, converted to integer. Used when Action is not Received and Local-port is not present.
    application
    		 read_only_udm.target.application The value of application field from the raw log.
    description
    		 read_only_udm.security_result.description The value of description field from the raw log.
    inner_msg
    		 read_only_udm.security_result.description The value of inner_msg field from the raw log. Used when inner_msg_grok_failure occurs.
    principal_hostname
    		 read_only_udm.principal.hostname The value of principal_hostname field from the raw log.
    timestamp
    		 read_only_udm.metadata.event_timestamp.seconds The epoch timestamp extracted from the timestamp field in the raw log.
    timestamp
    		 read_only_udm.events.timestamp.seconds The epoch timestamp extracted from the timestamp field in the raw log.
    		read_only_udm.additional.fields.key Hardcoded value: Module , Node
    		read_only_udm.metadata.log_type Hardcoded value: CISCO_VCS
    		read_only_udm.metadata.product_name Hardcoded value: CISCO VCS
    		read_only_udm.metadata.vendor_name Hardcoded value: CISCO VCS
    		read_only_udm.metadata.event_type Determined based on the values of Action , Src-ip , principal_hostname , Local-ip , and Dst-ip fields:
    - NETWORK_CONNECTION : if either ( Action is Received and Local-ip is present) or ( Action is not Received and Dst-ip is present)
    - STATUS_UPDATE : otherwise

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