Integrating Defender XDR and Sentinel for Unified Security Operations

In modern security environments, managing fragmented alerts across different platforms leads to critical gaps in detection and response times. Centralizing your threat intelligence by connecting your extended detection and response data to a cloud-native security information and event management platform is essential for comprehensive visibility. This text-based course guides you through the process of connecting Defender XDR to Sentinel, transforming how you monitor and defend your digital estate. By completing this course, you will transition from managing siloed security tools to establishing a unified, automated security operations workflow. You will learn how to design, configure, and validate a secure integration that brings deep visibility to your security operations center. What you'll learn: - Understand the foundational architecture of cloud SIEM and XDR systems - Configure data connectors to stream alerts, incidents, and raw telemetry - Apply zero-trust principles to secure your integrated workspace and manage permissions - Practice writing basic KQL queries to verify successful data ingestion and analyze logs - Design workspace configurations that optimize data storage and manage ingestion costs - Create automated rules to streamline incident synchronization across platforms You will start with core definitions, security terminology, and architectural basics before moving into step-by-step configuration guides and permission requirements. The material then guides you through practical validation techniques, query exercises, and optimization strategies to ensure your integration is both secure and highly efficient. This course is designed for beginner security analysts, system administrators, and IT professionals new to cloud security integration, requiring no prior experience with Sentinel. Start reading today to unify your security telemetry and build a more resilient defense posture.