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Write a 500 word technical blog post about the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint API to perform Incident Response with Python examples

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a comprehensive, cloud-based endpoint security solution that provides real-time protection against a wide range of cyber threats. It offers an API that allows security teams to integrate the platform with their existing security tools and workflows. In this blog post, we will explore how to use the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint API to perform incident response with Python examples.

Before we dive into the technical details, it’s important to note that using the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint API requires a valid subscription to the service. If you do not have access to the platform, you can sign up for a free trial to test the API.

The Microsoft Defender for Endpoint API provides a rich set of features for incident response. These include:

  • Retrieving alerts and incidents
  • Getting details about devices and endpoints
  • Querying security events and alerts
  • Retrieving and analyzing files
  • Managing remediation actions To use the API, you will need to authenticate with Azure Active Directory (AAD) and obtain an access token. This token will be used to make requests to the API endpoints. Here is an example of how to obtain an access token using the AAD Authentication Library (ADAL) in Python:
tenant_id = 'your_tenant_id'
client_id = 'your_client_id'
client_secret = 'your_client_secret'

context = adal.AuthenticationContext(f'https://login.microsoftonline.com/{tenant_id}')
token = context.acquire_token_with_client_credentials('https://api.securitycenter.microsoft.com', client_id, client_secret)
access_token = token.get('accessToken')

Once you have obtained an access token, you can use it to authenticate your requests to the API endpoints. Here is an example of how to retrieve a list of all alerts:

import requests

url = 'https://api.securitycenter.microsoft.com/api/alerts'
headers = {'Authorization': f'Bearer {access_token}'}
response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
alerts = response.json()

This will retrieve a JSON object containing information about all alerts in the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint platform.

To retrieve information about a specific alert, you can use the alert ID to make a request to the API. Here is an example:

alert_id = 'your_alert_id'
url = f'https://api.securitycenter.microsoft.com/api/alerts/{alert_id}'
response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
alert = response.json()

This will retrieve a JSON object containing detailed information about the specified alert.

You can also use the API to retrieve information about a specific device or endpoint. Here is an example:

device_id = 'your_device_id'
url = f'https://api.securitycenter.microsoft.com/api/machines/{device_id}'
response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
device = response.json()

This will retrieve a JSON object containing information about the specified device or endpoint.

Another useful feature of the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint API is the ability to retrieve and analyze files. Here is an example of how to retrieve a file and analyze it using the API:

file_id = 'your_file_id'
url = f'https://api.securitycenter.microsoft.com/api/files/{file_id}'
response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
file_content = response.content

analysis_url = 'https://api.securitycenter.microsoft.com/api/analysis'
data = {'content': file_content}
response = requests.post(analysis_url, headers=headers, data=data)
analysis_result = response.json()

This will retrieve the contents of the specified file and submit it to the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint cloud for analysis. The API will return a JSON object containing the analysis result.

Finally, you can use the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint API to manage remediation actions.