Short answer: Use Microsoft Sentinel as the source of the detection context, then move the incident into a response workflow that adds business context, ownership, actions, decisions, and a reviewable timeline. Do not replace the original Sentinel record with a blank ticket.
Preserve the Sentinel context
Carry over the incident identifier, analytics rule, detection time, entities, evidence links, severity, and related alerts. Keep a link back to the original record and record when the response ticket was created. This lets a responder distinguish what Sentinel observed from what the team later concluded.
Add the context Sentinel may not have
Add the affected service, asset owner, user role, data sensitivity, business impact, supplier involvement, recent changes, and known dependencies. Mark missing information explicitly. Context should change a decision or routing outcome; do not add fields just to make the ticket look complete.
Route work with human review
Create tasks for investigation, communication, containment, recovery, and evidence collection. Give each task an owner and next action. Sentinel severity can inform triage, but the incident owner should confirm severity and escalate when the business impact differs from the technical signal.
Keep the record useful after containment
Record actions, approvals, evidence, status changes, and open questions in a timeline. Before closure, state the outcome, residual risk, follow-up owner, and whether a root-cause analysis is needed. The response record should complement, not obscure, the SIEM record.
Practical example
A Sentinel incident for a suspicious mailbox rule can become a response record containing the Sentinel incident ID, analytics rule, entities, severity, affected business service, owner, investigation tasks, and final decision. The original Sentinel link stays attached so responders can distinguish detection from later interpretation.
FAQ
What should move from Sentinel into a response record?
Carry the incident identifier, detection rule, timestamps, entities, severity, evidence links, and related alerts, then add business context, ownership, actions, and decisions.
Should the response record replace the Sentinel incident?
No. Keep the source record and link to it so the detection facts remain distinguishable from the response team’s conclusions.
Sources and further reading
- Microsoft Sentinel overview
- NIST SP 800-61 Rev. 3: Incident Response Recommendations and Considerations