Cloud Detection Engineering
Cloud-Native Detection Library for Cloud-Specific Attacks with MITRE ATT&CK Mapping and Analyst Runbooks
Generic SIEM rules written for on-premises environments do not detect cloud-specific attacks. Credential theft via metadata services, IAM privilege escalation through policy manipulation, lateral movement via role assumption chains, persistence through backdoor identity providers, and data exfiltration through cloud-native services — these attack techniques have no equivalent in traditional environments, and your existing detection library does not cover them.
This engagement builds a cloud-native detection library tailored to your specific cloud environments, services, and threat profile. Every detection rule is mapped to MITRE ATT&CK for Cloud and paired with an analyst runbook that provides investigation steps, context enrichment queries, and response actions. The rules are designed for your actual environment — not generic templates that generate false positives on day one.
The approach addresses alert fatigue directly: rules are tuned against your baseline before deployment, severity is calibrated to your environment context, and every rule includes a documented false positive profile. Coverage spans AWS, Azure, and GCP with detections for the attack techniques that matter in cloud environments.
Who This Is For
Ideal clients for this engagement.
The Problem
What this engagement addresses.
Generic Rules, Cloud-Specific Attacks
On-premises SIEM rules cannot detect cloud-native attack techniques. IAM privilege escalation, role chaining, metadata service abuse, and cloud-native persistence mechanisms require purpose-built detections that most organizations do not have.
Alert Fatigue from Untuned Rules
Cloud security vendors provide hundreds of out-of-box rules. Without environment-specific tuning, these rules generate a flood of alerts — most benign — that overwhelm analysts and bury real attacks in noise. Alert fatigue is the number one reason cloud attacks go undetected.
No Analyst Context for Cloud Alerts
When a cloud detection fires, analysts often lack the context to investigate it. They do not know what the alert means in cloud context, what to look at next, or how to determine if it is a true positive. Without runbooks, cloud alerts sit in queues until they age out.
Coverage Gaps in High-Impact Techniques
The most impactful cloud attack techniques — IAM escalation, cross-account lateral movement, identity provider backdoors, data exfiltration via cloud services — are precisely the techniques with the least detection coverage in most environments.
Deliverables
What you receive.
Cloud Detection Library
Production-ready detection rules covering cloud-specific attack techniques: credential theft, IAM escalation, lateral movement, persistence, and data exfiltration. Each rule includes detection logic, MITRE ATT&CK mapping, severity, confidence level, and false positive profile.
Analyst Runbooks
Investigation runbook paired with every detection rule. Each runbook covers alert context, investigation steps, enrichment queries, true/false positive determination criteria, and recommended response actions. Written for analysts with varying cloud expertise.
MITRE ATT&CK Coverage Map
Visual and tabular mapping of detection coverage against MITRE ATT&CK for Cloud. Shows covered techniques, detection confidence per technique, and remaining coverage gaps for future development.
Detection Engineering Playbook
Operational guide for maintaining and extending the detection library: rule development lifecycle, testing methodology, tuning procedures, and metrics for detection program health.
Methodology
How the engagement works.
Threat Profiling & Baseline
Weeks 1 – 2
- Cloud environment inventory and architecture review
- Threat profile development based on cloud services, industry, and attack surface
- Current detection coverage assessment and gap analysis
- Log source inventory and telemetry coverage validation
- Baseline traffic and behavior profiling for tuning
Detection Development
Weeks 2 – 5
- Detection rule development for prioritized attack techniques
- MITRE ATT&CK for Cloud mapping
- Analyst runbook development per detection rule
- Environment-specific tuning and false positive suppression
- Detection testing against simulated attack scenarios
Deployment & Validation
Weeks 5 – 6
- Detection rule deployment to SIEM/detection platform
- Monitoring period for false positive validation
- Severity and confidence calibration based on live data
- MITRE ATT&CK coverage map finalization
Handoff & Operationalization
Weeks 6 – 7
- Detection engineering playbook delivery
- Knowledge transfer to SOC and detection engineering teams
- Runbook walkthrough and analyst training
- Detection program metrics and improvement roadmap
Engagement Tiers
Scoped to your architecture.
Focused
Single cloud provider (AWS, Azure, or GCP). Core detection coverage for top 15-20 cloud attack techniques. Analyst runbooks for all detections.
- 15-20 cloud-native detection rules
- Analyst runbooks for all rules
- MITRE ATT&CK coverage map
- Environment-specific tuning
- Detection engineering playbook
Standard
Up to 2 cloud providers. Extended detection coverage for 30-40 attack techniques including cross-cloud lateral movement. Full analyst runbooks and operational playbook.
- Everything in Focused
- 30-40 detection rules across 2 providers
- Cross-cloud lateral movement detections
- Advanced persistence and data exfiltration detections
- Detection testing with simulated attacks
Complex
Multi-cloud (AWS + Azure + GCP). 50+ detection rules with advanced techniques, cross-cloud correlation, and Kubernetes-specific detections.
- Everything in Standard
- 50+ detection rules across all providers
- Cross-cloud correlation rules
- Kubernetes threat detection
- Custom detection development for organization-specific attack surface
Prerequisites
- SIEM or detection platform with cloud log ingestion configured
- Cloud audit logs enabled (CloudTrail, Activity Log, Audit Log)
- Read-only access to cloud environments for baseline profiling
- SOC or security team available for runbook validation and knowledge transfer
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions.
Which SIEM or detection platforms do you support?
We develop detection rules in a platform-agnostic format (Sigma where applicable) and then translate to your specific platform. We have direct experience with Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, Google Chronicle/SecOps, Elastic Security, CrowdStrike Falcon LogScale, Sumo Logic, and AWS Security Hub/GuardDuty custom rules.
How do you address alert fatigue if we already have too many cloud alerts?
We start by assessing your existing cloud detection rules — identifying which are generating value and which are contributing to fatigue. Existing rules are tuned or retired as part of the engagement. New rules are baselined against your environment before deployment, with documented false positive profiles and calibrated severity. The result is fewer, more accurate alerts — not more alerts on top of existing noise.
Do we need a dedicated detection engineering team to maintain these rules?
Not necessarily. The detection engineering playbook covers maintenance procedures for SOC teams without dedicated detection engineers. Rules are designed for stability — they detect technique patterns, not ephemeral IOCs. That said, extending the library with new detections does benefit from detection engineering skills, and the playbook includes a development lifecycle for teams ready to build that capability.
Related Offerings
Often paired with this engagement.
Cloud Security Posture Assessment
Identifies the security gaps and misconfigurations that cloud detection rules monitor for. Assessment findings inform detection prioritization.
Cloud Security Remediation
Fixes the misconfigurations that detections alert on — reducing alert volume by fixing the root cause rather than just detecting the symptom.
Cloud IAM Architecture
IAM architecture design that reduces the attack surface for IAM escalation and credential-based attacks that detection rules monitor.
Ready to discuss this engagement?
30-minute discovery call. We will discuss your application architecture, your specific concerns, and whether this assessment is the right fit.