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File Integrity Monitoring in Microsoft Defender for Cloud

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File Integrity Monitoring (FIM) examines operating system files, Windows registries, application software, and Linux system files for changes that might indicate an attack.

FIM (file integrity monitoring) uses the Azure Change Tracking solution to track and identify changes in your environment. When FIM is enabled, you have a Change Tracking resource of type Solution. If you remove the Change Tracking resource, you'll also disable the File Integrity Monitoring feature in Defender for Cloud. FIM lets you take advantage of Change Tracking directly in Defender for Cloud. For data collection frequency details, see Change tracking data collection details.

Defender for Cloud recommends entities to monitor with FIM, and you can also define your own FIM policies or entities to monitor. FIM informs you about suspicious activity such as:

  • File and registry key creation or removal
  • File modifications (changes in file size, access control lists, and hash of the content)
  • Registry modifications (changes in size, access control lists, type, and content)

Many regulatory compliance standards require implementing FIM controls, such as PCI-DSS and ISO 17799.

Which files should I monitor?

When choosing which files to monitor, consider the files that are critical for your system and applications. Monitor files that you don’t expect to change without planning. If you choose files that are frequently changed by applications or operating system (such as log files and text files) it will create noise, making it difficult to identify an attack.

Defender for Cloud provides the following list of recommended items to monitor based on known attack patterns.

Linux files Windows files Windows registry keys (HKLM = HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE)
/bin/login C:\autoexec.bat HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Cryptography\OID\EncodingType 0\CryptSIPDllRemoveSignedDataMsg{C689AAB8-8E78-11D0-8C47-00C04FC295EE}
/bin/passwd C:\boot.ini HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Cryptography\OID\EncodingType 0\CryptSIPDllRemoveSignedDataMsg{603BCC1F-4B59-4E08-B724-D2C6297EF351}
/etc/*.conf C:\config.sys HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\IniFileMapping\SYSTEM.ini\boot
/usr/bin C:\Windows\system.ini HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows
/usr/sbin C:\Windows\win.ini HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
/bin C:\Windows\regedit.exe HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders
/sbin C:\Windows\System32\userinit.exe HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
/boot C:\Windows\explorer.exe HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
/usr/local/bin C:\Program Files\Microsoft Security Client\msseces.exe HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
/usr/local/sbin HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx
/opt/bin HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
/opt/sbin HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce
/etc/crontab HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Cryptography\OID\EncodingType 0\CryptSIPDllRemoveSignedDataMsg{C689AAB8-8E78-11D0-8C47-00C04FC295EE}
/etc/init.d HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Cryptography\OID\EncodingType 0\CryptSIPDllRemoveSignedDataMsg{603BCC1F-4B59-4E08-B724-D2C6297EF351}
/etc/cron.hourly HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\IniFileMapping\system.ini\boot
/etc/cron.daily HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows
/etc/cron.weekly HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
/etc/cron.monthly HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders
HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx
HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\hivelist
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\KnownDLLs
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SharedAccess\Parameters\FirewallPolicy\DomainProfile
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SharedAccess\Parameters\FirewallPolicy\PublicProfile
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SharedAccess\Parameters\FirewallPolicy\StandardProfile

Next steps

In this article, you learned about File Integrity Monitoring (FIM) in Defender for Cloud.

Next, you can: