Collect Windows Defender Antivirus logs

This document explains how to ingest Windows Defender Antivirus logs to Google Security Operations using Bindplane.

Windows Defender Antivirus is the built-in antimalware engine in Microsoft Windows that provides real-time threat detection, scan results, and protection event logs. The Bindplane agent collects exported Windows Defender event log files directly from the local file system.

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following prerequisites:

• A Google SecOps instance
• Windows Server 2016 or later with observiq-otel-collector service support
• If running behind a proxy, ensure firewall ports are open per the Bindplane agent requirements
• Administrator access to Windows endpoints running Windows Defender Antivirus

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 the 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 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 should show as RUNNING.

Additional installation resources

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

Configure Bindplane agent to ingest logs and send to Google SecOps

Locate the configuration file

• 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 
   : 
    
   filelog 
   : 
    
   include 
   : 
    
   - 
    
   C:\Logs\defender-av\*.evtx 
    
   start_at 
   : 
    
   beginning 
   exporters 
   : 
    
   chronicle/windows_defender_av 
   : 
    
   compression 
   : 
    
   gzip 
    
   creds_file_path 
   : 
    
   'C:\Program 
    
   Files\observIQ 
    
   OpenTelemetry 
    
   Collector\ingestion-auth.json' 
    
   customer_id 
   : 
    
   '<customer_id>' 
    
   endpoint 
   : 
    
   malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com 
    
   log_type 
   : 
    
   WINDOWS_DEFENDER_AV 
    
   raw_log_field 
   : 
    
   body 
    
   ingestion_labels 
   : 
    
   env 
   : 
    
   production 
   service 
   : 
    
   pipelines 
   : 
    
   logs/defender_av_to_chronicle 
   : 
    
   receivers 
   : 
    
   - 
    
   filelog 
    
   exporters 
   : 
    
   - 
    
   chronicle/windows_defender_av 
   
  

Configuration parameters

Replace the following placeholders:

• Receiver configuration:

  • filelog : The receiver type for collecting log files from disk
  • include : List of file paths to monitor. Set this to the location where you export Windows Defender event logs (for example, C:\Logs\defender-av\*.evtx )
  • start_at : Set to beginning to read existing logs or end to only read new entries

• Exporter configuration:

  • windows_defender_av : Descriptive name for the exporter
  • creds_file_path : Full path to ingestion authentication file:
    • Windows: C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\ingestion-auth.json
  • <customer_id> : Customer ID from the previous step
  • 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 complete list
  • WINDOWS_DEFENDER_AV : Log type exactly as it appears in Chronicle
  • ingestion_labels : Optional labels in YAML format (for example, env: production )

• Pipeline configuration:

  • defender_av_to_chronicle : Descriptive name for the pipeline

Save the configuration file

• After editing, save the file:
  • Windows: Click File > Save

Restart the Bindplane agent to apply the changes

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 logs for errors:

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

Configure Windows Defender Antivirus log export

Windows Defender Antivirus logs are stored in the Windows Event Log under Microsoft-Windows-Windows Defender/Operational . You need to export these logs to files on disk so the Bindplane agent can collect them.

1. Create a directory to store the exported log files:

    mkdir C:\Logs\defender-av 
   

2. Export Windows Defender Antivirus event logs using wevtutil :

    wevtutil epl "Microsoft-Windows-Windows Defender/Operational" C:\Logs\defender-av\defender-av.evtx 
   

3. (Optional) Schedule regular exports using Windows Task Scheduler:

     $action 
    = 
    New-ScheduledTaskAction 
    -Execute 
    "wevtutil" 
    -Argument 
    'epl "Microsoft-Windows-Windows Defender/Operational" C:\Logs\defender-av\defender-av.evtx /ow:true' 
    $trigger 
    = 
    New-ScheduledTaskTrigger 
    -RepetitionInterval 
    ( 
    New-TimeSpan 
    -Hours 
    1 
    ) 
    -Once 
    -At 
    ( 
    Get-Date 
    ) 
    Register-ScheduledTask 
    -Action 
    $action 
    -Trigger 
    $trigger 
    -TaskName 
    "ExportDefenderLogs" 
    -Description 
    "Export Windows Defender AV logs for Bindplane agent" 
    
   

4. Verify that the exported log file is being created at `C:\Logs\defender-av`.

5. Ensure the Bindplane agent include path in config.yaml matches the export directory.

UDM mapping table

Change Log

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