Akamai SIEM collector

Configuration requirements

To run this collector, there are some configurations detailed below that you need to consider.

Configuration	Details
Access token	The access token is required to authenticate requests to the Akamai SIEM API.
Client secret	The client secret is required for secure authentication alongside the access token.
Client token	The client token is necessary for identifying and authenticating API requests.
Host	The host specifies the endpoint for the Akamai SIEM API.

Refer to the Vendor setup section to know more about these configurations.

Overview

The Akamai SIEM Collector is designed to retrieve and aggregate security event data from the Akamai platform. Using Akamai's SIEM Integration API, it enables seamless collection of security logs and events, allowing organizations to centralize this critical information in their SIEM systems. This ensures streamlined analysis and improved threat detection by providing real-time, actionable insights into security-related activities across their infrastructure.

2.x to 3.x migrating guide

If you are migrating from v2.x to v3.x, you can find a complete guide in this article.

Devo collector features

Feature	Details
Allow parallel downloading (`multipod`)	`not allowed`
Running environments	`collector server` `on-premise`
Populated Devo events	`table`
Flattening preprocessing	`no`

Data sources

This collector extracts data from the Akamai SIEM log service:

Akamai SIEM security events: Retrieves security event data using an offset to ensure seamless data collection, starting from the last message pulled.

Data Source	Description	API Endpoint	Collector Service Name	Devo Table	Available from release
Security events	Get security events from a determined offset. This offset specifies the last message pulled, for the first execution this value will be NULL and for successive requests will use the offset obtained in every response from the API.	`/siem/v1/configs`	`security_events`	`cdn.akamai.siem`	`v1.0.0`

For more information on how the events are parsed, visit our page

Flattening preprocessing

This collector does not implement flattening

Vendor setup

To configure the Akamai SIEM Collector Service, follow these steps:

Access Akamai Control Center:
- Log in to your Akamai Control Center.
Assign the Manage SIEM Role:
- Navigate to the Identity and Access Management section.
- Ensure that the Manage SIEM user role is assigned to your account.
- For detailed instructions, refer to the Role-based access controls.
Create Authentication Credentials:
- In the API Credentials section, create new credentials.
- Select the API service named SIEM and set the access level to READ-WRITE.
- Generate and securely store the following credentials:
  - Client Token
  - Client Secret
  - Access Token
- Detailed steps can be found in the Get started guide.
Configure the SIEM API Endpoint:
- Identify the appropriate hostname for the API endpoint.
- Ensure your connector is configured to communicate with this endpoint.
Implement the EdgeGrid Authentication Scheme:
- Ensure that your connector supports the Akamai EdgeGrid authentication scheme.
- Configure your connector with the Client Token, Client Secret, and Access Token obtained earlier.
- For implementation details, refer to the SIEM Integration API.
Enable SIEM Integration:
- In the Akamai Control Center, navigate to the SIEM Integration section of your security configuration.
- Turn on SIEM Integration and enable data collection.
- Refer to the SIEM Integration Guide for detailed instructions.

Minimum configuration required for basic pulling

Although this collector supports advanced configuration, the fields required to retrieve data with basic configuration are defined below.

This minimum configuration refers exclusively to those specific parameters of this integration. There are more required parameters related to the generic behavior of the collector. Check setting sections for details.

Setting	Details
`access_token`	The access token is required to authenticate requests to the Akamai SIEM API.
`client_secret`	The client secret is required for secure authentication alongside the access token.
`client_token`	The client token is necessary for identifying and authenticating API requests.
`host`	The host specifies the endpoint for the Akamai SIEM API, typically in the format `{host}`.
`configs_id`	The configuration ID identifies the specific set of logs or security events to retrieve.

See the Accepted authentication methods section to verify what settings are required based on the desired authentication method.

Accepted authentication methods

EdgeGridAuth	Details
`access_token`	The access token is required to authenticate requests to the Akamai SIEM API.
`client_secret`	The client secret is required for secure authentication alongside the access token.
`client_token`	The client token is necessary for identifying and authenticating API requests.

Run the collector

Once the data source is configured, you can either send us the required information if you want us to host and manage the collector for you (Cloud collector), or deploy and host the collector in your own machine using a Docker image (On-premise collector).

Collector services detail

This section is intended to explain how to proceed with specific actions for services.

Security events service

Verify data collection

Once the collector has been launched, it is important to check if the ingestion is performed in a proper way. To do so, go to the collector’s logs console.

This service has the following components:

Component	Description
Setup	The setup module is in charge of authenticating the service and managing the token expiration when needed.
Puller	The setup module is in charge of pulling the data in a organized way and delivering the events via SDK.

Setup output

A successful run has the following output messages for the setup module:

INFO InputProcess::MainThread -> AkamaiSiemPullerSetup(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> Starting thread
INFO InputProcess::MainThread -> AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) - Starting thread
WARNING InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPullerSetup(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> The token/header/authentication has not been created yet
WARNING InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> Waiting until setup will be executed
INFO InputProcess::MainThread -> InputMetricsThread -> Started thread for updating metrics values (update_period=10.0)
INFO InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPullerSetup(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> Building Akamai SIEM authentication...

Puller output

A successful initial run has the following output messages for the puller module:

Note that the PrePull action is executed only one time before the first run of the Pull action.

InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) Starting the execution of pre_pull()
InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> Reading persisted data
InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> Data retrieved from the persistence: None
InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> Persistence will be overridden due to the retrieved state is empty
InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> Running the persistence upgrade steps
InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> Running the persistence corrections steps
InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> Running the persistence corrections steps
InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> Some changes have been detected and the persistence needs to be updated. Previous content: None. New content: {'@persistence_version': 1, 'configs_id': '15698', 'last_event_time_epoch': 1736875728, 'offset': 'NULL', 'last_ids': []}
InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> Updating the persistence
InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> Persistence has been updated successfully
InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) Finalizing the execution of pre_pull()
InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> Waiting 6.437 seconds before start pulling
InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> Starting data collection every 60 seconds
InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> Pull Started
InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> Offset is invalid or expired. Using time-based mode with from=1736875728 and limit=10000.
InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> Request report: 10012 events retrieved with 81053591 bytes. Sent them to Devo with tag: cdn.akamai.siem.
InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> Stopping collection as there are no more events to process.
InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> (Partial) Statistics for this pull cycle (@devo_pulling_id=1736879340000):Number of requests made: 1; Number of events received: 10012; Number of duplicated events filtered out: 0; Number of events generated and sent: 10012; Average of events per second: 262.162.
InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> Statistics for this pull cycle (@devo_pulling_id=1736879340000):Number of requests made: 1; Number of events received: 10012; Number of duplicated events filtered out: 0; Number of events generated and sent: 10012; Average of events per second: 262.160.
InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> The data is up to date!
InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> Data collection completed. Elapsed time: 38.197 seconds. Waiting for 21.803 second(s) until the next one

After a successful collector’s execution (that is, no error logs found), you will see the following log message:

InputProcess::AkamaiSiemPuller(akamai-siem#12345,security_events#predefined) -> Statistics for this pull cycle (@devo_pulling_id=1736879340000):Number of requests made: 1; Number of events received: 10012; Number of duplicated events filtered out: 0; Number of events generated and sent: 10012; Average of events per second: 262.160.

The value @devo_pulling_id is injected in each event to group all events ingested by the same pull action. You can use it to get the exact events downloaded in that Pull action in Devo’s search window.

Restart the persistence

This collector uses persistent storage to download events in an orderly fashion and avoid duplicates. In case you want to re-ingest historical data or recreate the persistence, you can restart the persistence of this collector by following these steps:

Edit the configuration file.
Change the value of the configs_id parameter to a different one.
Save the changes.
Restart the collector.

The collector will detect this change and will restart the persistence using the parameters of the configuration file or the default configuration in case it has not been provided.

Note that this action clears the persistence and cannot be recovered in any way. Resetting persistence could result in duplicate or lost events.

Troubleshooting

This collector has different security layers that detect both an invalid configuration and abnormal operation. This table will help you detect and resolve the most common errors.

Error Type	Error ID	Error message	Cause	Solution
InitVariablesError	10	"host" setting from "services" section is invalid	The "host" variable is missing or not a string.	Ensure the "host" parameter is properly configured in `config.yaml`.
ApiError	401	HTTP 401 - Unauthorized	The API credentials (access token, client token, or client secret) are invalid.	Verify and update the API credentials in `config.yaml`.
ApiError	403	HTTP 403 - Forbidden	The API key lacks the required permissions to access the endpoint.	Ensure your credentials have the necessary permissions in Akamai Control Center.
ApiError	429	HTTP 429 - Too Many Requests	The rate limit for API requests has been exceeded.	Reduce the frequency of API requests and respect rate limit guidelines.
ApiError	500	HTTP 500 - Internal Server Error	Server-side issue in the Akamai SIEM API.	Retry the request later. If the problem persists, contact Akamai Support.
SetupError	101	Missing required Akamai credentials	The collector is missing client token, client secret, or access token.	Add the required credentials to the `config.yaml` file.
SetupError	102	Unable to access Akamai SIEM endpoint	Incorrect base URL or endpoint configuration.	Verify the `base_url` and `endpoint_siem` values in the configuration.
PullError	310	Failed to generate event ID due to JSON decoding error	An invalid or malformed event was received from the API.	Check the API response for inconsistencies and adjust the pull logic if needed.
PersistenceError	404	Offset expired	The offset used for pulling data has expired due to inactivity or configuration changes.	Reset the persistence state and start a new pull operation.

Collector operations

This section is intended to explain how to proceed with specific operations of this collector.

Verify collector operations

Initialization

The initialization module is in charge of setup and running the input (pulling logic) and output (delivering logic) services and validating the given configuration.

A successful run has the following output messages for the initializer module:

INFO MainThread -> (CollectorMultithreadingQueue) standard_queue_multithreading -> max_size_in_messages: 10000, max_size_in_mb: 1024, max_wrap_size_in_items: 100
WARNING MainThread -> [INTERNAL LOGIC] DevoSender::_validate_kwargs_for_method__init__ -> The <address> does not appear to be an IP address and cannot be verified: collector-us.devo.io
WARNING MainThread -> [OUTPUT] OutputLookupSenders -> <threshold_for_using_gzip_in_transport_layer> setting has been modified from 1.1 to 1.0 due to this configuration increases the Lookup sender performance.
WARNING MainThread -> [INTERNAL LOGIC] DevoSender::_validate_kwargs_for_method__init__ -> The <address> does not appear to be an IP address and cannot be verified: collector-us.devo.io
INFO MainThread -> [OUTPUT] OutputMultithreadingController(threatquotient_collector) -> Starting thread
INFO MainThread -> [OUTPUT] DevoSender(standard_senders,devo_sender_0) -> Starting thread
INFO MainThread -> [OUTPUT] DevoSenderManagerMonitor(standard_senders,devo_1) -> Starting thread (every 600 seconds)
INFO MainThread -> [OUTPUT] DevoSenderManager(standard_senders,manager,devo_1)(devo_1) -> Starting thread
INFO MainThread -> [OUTPUT] DevoSender(lookup_senders,devo_sender_0) -> Starting thread
INFO MainThread -> [OUTPUT] DevoSenderManagerMonitor(lookup_senders,devo_1) -> Starting thread (every 600 seconds)
INFO MainThread -> [OUTPUT] DevoSenderManager(lookup_senders,manager,devo_1)(devo_1) -> Starting thread
INFO MainThread -> InitVariables Started
INFO MainThread -> start_time_value initialized
INFO MainThread -> verify_host_ssl_cert initialized
INFO MainThread -> event_fetch_limit_in_items initialized
INFO MainThread -> InitVariables Terminated
INFO MainThread -> [INPUT] InputMultithreadingController(threatquotient_collector) - Starting thread (executing_period=300s)
INFO MainThread -> [INPUT] InputThread(threatquotient_collector,threatquotient_data_puller#111) - Starting thread (execution_period=600s)
INFO MainThread -> [INPUT] ServiceThread(threatquotient_collector,threatquotient_data_puller#111,events#predefined) - Starting thread (execution_period=600s)
INFO MainThread -> [SETUP] ThreatQuotientDataPullerSetup(threatquotient_collector,threatquotient_data_puller#111,events#predefined) - Starting thread
INFO MainThread -> [INPUT] ThreatQuotientDataPuller(threatquotient_collector,threatquotient_data_puller#111,events#predefined) - Starting thread

Events delivery and Devo ingestion

The event delivery module is in charge of receiving the events from the internal queues where all events are injected by the pullers and delivering them using the selected compatible delivery method.

A successful run has the following output messages for the initializer module:

INFO OutputProcess::SyslogSenderManagerMonitor(standard_senders,sidecar_0) -> Number of available senders: 1, sender manager internal queue size: 0
INFO OutputProcess::SyslogSenderManagerMonitor(standard_senders,sidecar_0) -> enqueued_elapsed_times_in_seconds_stats: {}
INFO OutputProcess::SyslogSenderManagerMonitor(standard_senders,sidecar_0) -> Sender: SyslogSender(standard_senders,syslog_sender_0), status: {"internal_queue_size": 0, "is_connection_open": True}
INFO OutputProcess::SyslogSenderManagerMonitor(standard_senders,sidecar_0) -> Standard - Total number of messages sent: 44, messages sent since "2022-06-28 10:39:22.511671+00:00": 44 (elapsed 0.007 seconds)
INFO OutputProcess::SyslogSenderManagerMonitor(internal_senders,sidecar_0) -> Number of available senders: 1, sender manager internal queue size: 0
INFO OutputProcess::SyslogSenderManagerMonitor(internal_senders,sidecar_0) -> enqueued_elapsed_times_in_seconds_stats: {}
INFO OutputProcess::SyslogSenderManagerMonitor(internal_senders,sidecar_0) -> Sender: SyslogSender(internal_senders,syslog_sender_0), status: {"internal_queue_size": 0, "is_connection_open": True}
INFO OutputProcess::SyslogSenderManagerMonitor(internal_senders,sidecar_0) -> Internal - Total number of messages sent: 1, messages sent since "2022-06-28 10:39:22.516313+00:00": 1 (elapsed 0.019 seconds)

By default, these information traces will be displayed every 10 minutes.

Sender services

The Integrations Factory Collector SDK has 3 different senders services depending on the event type to delivery (internal, standard, and lookup). This collector uses the following Sender Services:

Sender services	Description
`internal_senders`	In charge of delivering internal metrics to Devo such as logging traces or metrics.
`standard_senders`	In charge of delivering pulled events to Devo.

Sender statistics

Each service displays its own performance statistics that allow checking how many events have been delivered to Devo by type:

Logging trace

Description

Number of available senders: 1

Displays the number of concurrent senders available for the given Sender Service.

sender manager internal queue size: 0

Displays the items available in the internal sender queue.

This value helps detect bottlenecks and needs to increase the performance of data delivery to Devo. This last can be made by increasing the concurrent senders.

Total number of messages sent: 44, messages sent since "2022-06-28 10:39:22.511671+00:00": 21 (elapsed 0.007 seconds)

Displayes the number of events from the last time and following the given example, the following conclusions can be obtained:

44 events were sent to Devo since the collector started.
The last checkpoint timestamp was 2022-06-28 10:39:22.511671+00:00.
21 events where sent to Devo between the last UTC checkpoint and now.
Those 21 events required 0.007 seconds to be delivered.

By default these traces will be shown every 10 minutes.

Check memory usage

To check the memory usage of this collector, look for the following log records in the collector which are displayed every 5 minutes by default, always after running the memory-free process.

The used memory is displayed by running processes and the sum of both values will give the total used memory for the collector.
The global pressure of the available memory is displayed in the global value.
All metrics (Global, RSS, VMS) include the value before freeing and after previous -> after freeing memory

INFO InputProcess::MainThread -> [GC] global: 20.4% -> 20.4%, process: RSS(34.50MiB -> 34.08MiB), VMS(410.52MiB -> 410.02MiB)
INFO OutputProcess::MainThread -> [GC] global: 20.4% -> 20.4%, process: RSS(28.41MiB -> 28.41MiB), VMS(705.28MiB -> 705.28MiB)

Differences between RSS and VMS memory usage:

RSS is the Resident Set Size, which is the actual physical memory the process is using
VMS is the Virtual Memory Size which is the virtual memory that process is using

Enable/disable the logging debug mode

Sometimes it is necessary to activate the debug mode of the collector's logging. This debug mode increases the verbosity of the log and allows you to print execution traces that are very helpful in resolving incidents or detecting bottlenecks in heavy download processes.

To enable this option you just need to edit the configuration file and change the debug_status parameter from false to true and restart the collector.
To disable this option, you just need to update the configuration file and change the debug_status parameter from true to false and restart the collector.

For more information, visit the configuration and parameterization section corresponding to the chosen deployment mode.

Change log

Release

Released on

Release type

Details

Recommendations

v3.0.0

10 Jan 2025

BUG FIX
IMPROVEMENT

Improvements:

Separated Security Events and Event Viewer services.
Refactored code using templates.
Enhanced pull logic and persistence.

Bug fixes:

Refactored collector freezing under high load.
Upgraded DCSDK from 1.10.3 to 1.13.1.

Recommended version

v2.1.0

15 Feb 2024

BUG FIX
IMPROVEMENT

Improvements:

Improved API limits to align with official documentation.
Upgraded DCSDK from 1.10.2 to 1.10.3.

Bug fixes:

Fixed API rate limits causing slowdowns.

Update

v2.0.0

18 Jan 2024

IMPROVEMENT

Improvements:

Refactored source code.
Introduced new templates and enhanced logging
Upgraded DCSDK from 1.2.0 to 1.10.2.

Update