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Cyber Security Academy · Lesson

Detection-as-Code Principles

Treating detections like software.

Why Detection-as-Code

Detection-as-Code (DaC) applies software engineering discipline to security detections. Instead of analysts hand-editing rules inside a SIEM console, detections live as text files in version control and ship through a pipeline.

The benefits are concrete:

  • Reviewable changes via pull requests
  • Reproducible deployments across environments
  • Testable logic before it reaches production
  • Auditable history of who changed what and why

A detection becomes an artifact you can diff, roll back, and reason about like any other code.

Detections as Versioned Files

Each detection is stored as a standalone file, typically YAML or a vendor query language, committed to a Git repository. The repository layout mirrors how you organize your coverage.

A common structure separates rules by platform and tactic:

detections/
  windows/
    credential_access/
      lsass_memory_dump.yml
    execution/
      suspicious_powershell.yml
  cloud/
    aws/
      root_account_usage.yml
tests/
  windows/
    lsass_memory_dump_test.yml

All lessons in this course

  1. Detection-as-Code Principles
  2. Writing Sigma Rules
  3. Mapping to MITRE ATT&CK
  4. Testing and Tuning Detections
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