Collect Cisco Firewall Service Module (FWSM) logs

Parser Version: 2.0

This document explains how to ingest Cisco Firewall Service Module (FWSM) logs to Google Security Operations using Bindplane. The parser first extracts common fields like timestamps, IP addresses, and event descriptions from the appliance syslog messages using Grok patterns. Then, it maps the extracted information to the standardized Unified Data Model (UDM) schema, converting data types, renaming fields, and enriching the output with security-related classifications based on specific values and keywords.

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following prerequisites:

• Google SecOps instance
• Windows 2016 or later, or a Linux host with systemd
• If running behind a proxy, ensure firewall ports are open
• Privileged access to the Cisco FWSM appliance

Get Google SecOps credentials for the Bindplane agent

To authenticate the Bindplane agent to Google SecOps, choose one of the following methods:

• New deployments: Use the Chronicle API (Option 1).
• Legacy deployments: Continue using the ingestion authentication file (Option 2) until the Ingestion API is discontinued on July 20, 2027.

Option 1: Create a service account for the Chronicle API (recommended)

1. Sign in to the Google Cloud console and select the Google Cloud project that is linked to your Google SecOps instance.
2. Go to IAM & Admin > Service Accounts.
3. Click Create service account.
4. Provide the following configuration details:
   • Service account name: Enter a name for the account (for example, bindplane-ingest).
   • Service account description: Enter a description (for example, Bindplane agent log ingestion).
5. Click Create and continue.
6. In the Grant this service account access to project section, click Select a role and select Chronicle Editor.
7. Click Continue, and then click Done.
8. Click the service account you created, and then go to the Keys tab.
9. Click Add key > Create new key.
10. Select JSON and click Create. The key file is downloaded to your computer.
11. Save the key file as ingestion-auth.json in the Bindplane collector directory (/opt/observiq-otel-collector/ingestion-auth.json on Linux or C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\ingestion-auth.json on Windows), or update creds_file_path in config.yaml to match the path where you save it.
12. Go to IAM & Admin > Settings and copy the Project number. You'll need it for the exporter configuration.

Option 2: Download the ingestion authentication file (legacy)

1. Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
2. Go to SIEM Settings > Collection Agents.
3. Download the ingestion authentication file.
4. Save the file securely on the system where the Bindplane agent will be installed.

Get Google SecOps customer ID

1. Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
2. Go to SIEM Settings > Profile.
3. Copy and save the Customer ID from the Organization Details section.

Install the Bindplane agent

Install the Bindplane agent on your Windows or Linux operating system according to the following instructions.

Windows installation

1. Open the Command Prompt or PowerShell as an administrator.

2. Run the following command:

   msiexec /i "https://github.com/observIQ/bindplane-agent/releases/latest/download/observiq-otel-collector.msi" /quiet
   

Linux installation

1. Open a terminal with root or sudo privileges.

2. Run the following command:

   sudo sh -c "$(curl -fsSlL https://github.com/observiq/bindplane-agent/releases/latest/download/install_unix.sh)" install_unix.sh
   

Additional installation resources

For additional installation options, consult the installation guide.

Configure the Bindpolane agent to ingest Syslog and send to Google SecOps

1. Access the configuration file:
   • Locate the config.yaml file. Typically, it's in the /opt/observiq-otel-collector/ directory on Linux or in the installation directory on Windows.
   • Open the file using a text editor (for example, nano, vi, or Notepad).

2. Edit the config.yaml file as follows:

   receivers:
       udplog:
           # Replace the port and IP address as required
           listen_address: "0.0.0.0:514"
   
   exporters:
       chronicle/chronicle_w_labels:
           protocol: https
           # Region of your instance, for example us, europe, asia-southeast1
           location: <LOCATION>
           # Project number of the Google Cloud project linked to the instance
           project: '<PROJECT_NUMBER>'
           compression: gzip
           # Adjust the path to the credentials file you downloaded in Step 1
           creds_file_path: '/path/to/ingestion-authentication-file.json'
           # Replace with your actual customer ID from Step 2
           customer_id: <customer_id>
           endpoint: chronicle.googleapis.com
           # Add optional ingestion labels for better organization
           log_type: 'CISCO_FWSM'
           raw_log_field: body
           ingestion_labels:
   
   service:
       pipelines:
           logs/source0__chronicle_w_labels-0:
               receivers:
                   - udplog
               exporters:
                   - chronicle/chronicle_w_labels
   

   • Replace the port and IP address as required in your infrastructure.
   • Replace <LOCATION> with the region of your Google SecOps instance (for example, us, europe, or asia-southeast1). The exporter prefixes chronicle.googleapis.com with this value.
   • Replace <PROJECT_NUMBER> with the project number from IAM & Admin > Settings.
   • Replace <customer_id> with the actual customer ID.
   • Update /path/to/ingestion-authentication-file.json to the path where the service account key file (Option 1) was saved in the Get Google SecOps credentials for the Bindplane agent section.

Legacy ingestion API exporter

• If you use the ingestion authentication file from Option 2, replace the exporters block with the following. Set creds_file_path to the path to the ingestion authentication file, and if your instance is outside the US, replace malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com with your regional endpoint (for example, europe-malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com).

  exporters:
      chronicle/chronicle_w_labels:
          compression: gzip
          # Adjust the path to the credentials file you downloaded in Step 1
          creds_file_path: '/path/to/ingestion-authentication-file.json'
          # Replace with your actual customer ID from Step 2
          customer_id: <customer_id>
          endpoint: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
          # Add optional ingestion labels for better organization
          log_type: 'CISCO_FWSM'
          raw_log_field: body
          ingestion_labels:
  

Restart the Bindplane agent to apply the changes

• To restart the Bindplane agent in Linux, run the following command:

  sudo systemctl restart bindplane-agent
  

• To restart the Bindplane agent in Windows, you can either use the Services console or enter the following command:

  net stop BindPlaneAgent && net start BindPlaneAgent
  

Configure Syslog on Cisco FWSM

1. Sign in to Cisco FWSM using SSH or a console connection.

2. Configure logging:

   logging on
   

3. Configure the logging level:

   logging trap <level>
   

   • Change the logging trap level to 6 (informational).

4. Configure the syslog settings:

   logging host [interface] bindplane_ip_address udp[/bindplane_port]
   

UDM mapping table

Change Log

View the Change Log for this parser

Need more help? Get answers from Community members and Google SecOps professionals.