IBM Cloud Docs
Setting up data storage and processing for Security and Compliance Center

Setting up data storage and processing for Security and Compliance Center

When you work with IBM Cloud® Security and Compliance Center, you must configure how you want your data to be handled. For more detailed information about the types of data that can be used with the service, see Understanding data encryption.

Before you begin

Before you get started, be sure that you have the required level of access to update the settings for Security and Compliance Center. To manage settings, you need the Editor platform role or higher.

Bucket requirements

The bucket that you use to store your results does not require any particular settings or naming format. However, it is recommended that you use a bucket on the Standard plan and Smart tier.

All the traffic between Security and Compliance Center and Cloud Object Storage is done over a private network. The retrieval of data for display purposes in the console does not cost you anything. However, if you choose to download the data directly from Cloud Object Storage after it is stored, you do incur a data transfer cost. See Cloud Object Storage pricing for more information.

Configuring storage

Before you can start evaluating your resources for compliance, you must configure a Cloud Object Storage bucket where the service can forward your results data for long-term storage.

The processing of your data is configured in your instance's location. For example, if you provision a Security and Compliance Center instance in the us-south region, your data is processed there.

To connect your Cloud Object Storage bucket, you can use the Security and Compliance Center UI.

  1. In the IBM Cloud console, click the Menu icon Menu icon > Security and Compliance to access Security and Compliance Center.
  2. In the navigation, click Settings.
  3. On the Storage tile, click Connect.
  4. If a service-to-service policy is not enabled between Cloud Object Storage and Security and Compliance Center, a notification will display. You must enable a policy before you can continue. If a policy has already been enabled, you will not see the notification and can skip to step 5. To enable a policy, use the following steps.
    1. Click Authorize.
    2. The Target Service is already selected for Cloud Object Storage.
    3. The Writer role that is required is selected by default.
    4. Click Review. Then, click Assign.
  5. Select an instance of Cloud Object Storage and the bucket that you want to use.
  6. Click Connect.

If you disconnect your instance of Cloud Object Storage or select a new bucket, Security and Compliance Center is not able to read any of your existing results data. An evaluation can't complete without a connected Cloud Object Storage bucket.

Configuring storage with the API

Before you can start evaluating your resources for compliance, you must configure a Cloud Object Storage bucket where the service can forward your results data for long-term storage.

The processing of your data is configured in your instance's location. For example, if you provision a Security and Compliance Center instance in the us-south region, your data is processed there.

To configure the settings of your Cloud Object Storage bucket, you can use the Security and Compliance Center API.

curl -X PATCH 
   --location --header "Authorization: Bearer {iam_token}" 
   --header "Accept: application/json" 
   --header "Content-Type: application/json-patch+json" 
   --data '{ 
               "event_notifications": { 
                  "instance_crn": "crn:v1:staging:public:event-notifications:us-south:a/130003ea8bfa43c5aacea07a86da3000:1c858449-3537-45b8-9d39-2707115b4cc7::" 
                  }, 
               "object_storage": { 
                  "instance_crn": "crn:v1:staging:public:cloud-object-storage:global:a/130003ea8bfa43c5aacea07a86da3000:1c858449-3537-45b8-9d39-2707115b4cc7::", 
                  "bucket": "scc-bucket" 
               } 
            }' 
   "https://us-south.compliance.cloud.ibm.com/instances/{instance_id}/v3/settings"

eventNotificationsModel := &securityandcompliancecenterapiv3.EventNotifications{
  InstanceCrn: &eventNotificationsCrnForUpdateSettingsLink,
  SourceDescription: core.StringPtr("This source is used for integration with IBM Cloud Security and Compliance Center."),
  SourceName: core.StringPtr("compliance"),
}

objectStorageModel := &securityandcompliancecenterapiv3.ObjectStorage{
  InstanceCrn: &objectStorageCrnForUpdateSettingsLink,
  Bucket: &objectStorageBucketForUpdateSettingsLink,
  BucketLocation: &objectStorageLocationForUpdateSettingsLink,
}

updateSettingsOptions := securityAndComplianceCenterApiService.NewUpdateSettingsOptions()
updateSettingsOptions.SetEventNotifications(eventNotificationsModel)
updateSettingsOptions.SetObjectStorage(objectStorageModel)
updateSettingsOptions.SetXCorrelationID("1a2b3c4d-5e6f-4a7b-8c9d-e0f1a2b3c4d5")

settings, response, err := securityAndComplianceCenterApiService.UpdateSettings(updateSettingsOptions)
if err != nil {
  panic(err)
}
b, _ := json.MarshalIndent(settings, "", "  ")
fmt.Println(string(b))

EventNotifications eventNotificationsModel = new EventNotifications.Builder()
  .instanceCrn(eventNotificationsCrnForUpdateSettingsLink)
  .sourceDescription("This source is used for integration with IBM Cloud Security and Compliance Center.")
  .sourceName("compliance")
  .build();
ObjectStorage objectStorageModel = new ObjectStorage.Builder()
  .instanceCrn(objectStorageCrnForUpdateSettingsLink)
  .bucket(objectStorageBucketForUpdateSettingsLink)
  .bucketLocation(objectStorageLocationForUpdateSettingsLink)
  .build();
UpdateSettingsOptions updateSettingsOptions = new UpdateSettingsOptions.Builder()
  .eventNotifications(eventNotificationsModel)
  .objectStorage(objectStorageModel)
  .xCorrelationId(xCorrelationIdLink)
  .build();

Response<Settings> response = securityAndComplianceCenterApiService.updateSettings(updateSettingsOptions).execute();
Settings settings = response.getResult();

System.out.println(settings);

// Request models needed by this operation.

// EventNotifications
const eventNotificationsModel = {
  instance_crn: eventNotificationsCrnForUpdateSettingsLink,
  source_description: 'This source is used for integration with IBM Cloud Security and Compliance Center.',
  source_name: 'compliance',
};

// ObjectStorage
const objectStorageModel = {
  instance_crn: objectStorageCrnForUpdateSettingsLink,
  bucket: objectStorageBucketForUpdateSettingsLink,
  bucket_location: objectStorageLocationForUpdateSettingsLink,
};

const params = {
  eventNotifications: eventNotificationsModel,
  objectStorage: objectStorageModel,
  xCorrelationId: '1a2b3c4d-5e6f-4a7b-8c9d-e0f1a2b3c4d5',
};

let res;
try {
  res = await securityAndComplianceCenterApiService.updateSettings(params);
  console.log(JSON.stringify(res.result, null, 2));
} catch (err) {
  console.warn(err);
}

event_notifications_model = {
  'instance_crn': event_notifications_crn_for_update_settings_link,
  'source_description': 'This source is used for integration with IBM Cloud Security and Compliance Center.',
  'source_name': 'compliance',
}

object_storage_model = {
  'instance_crn': object_storage_crn_for_update_settings_link,
  'bucket': object_storage_bucket_for_update_settings_link,
  'bucket_location': object_storage_location_for_update_settings_link,
}

response = security_and_compliance_center_api_service.update_settings(
  event_notifications=event_notifications_model,
  object_storage=object_storage_model,
  x_correlation_id='1a2b3c4d-5e6f-4a7b-8c9d-e0f1a2b3c4d5',
)
settings = response.get_result()

print(json.dumps(settings, indent=2))

If you disconnect your instance of Cloud Object Storage or select a new bucket, Security and Compliance Center is not able to read any of your existing results data. An evaluation can't complete without a connected Cloud Object Storage bucket.

A successful response returns the Event Notifications and Cloud Object Storage settings, along with other metadata. For more information about the required and optional request parameters, check out the API docs.

Configuring storage with the CLI

Before you can start evaluating your resources for compliance, you must configure a Cloud Object Storage bucket where the service can forward your results data for long-term storage.

To connect your Cloud Object Storage bucket, you can use the Security and Compliance Center CLI. For more information, see the CLI reference.

ibmcloud security-compliance setting update
--event-notifications='{
  "instance_crn": "crn:v1:staging:public:event-notifications:us-south:a/ff88f007f9ff4622aac4fbc0eda36255:7199ae60-a214-4dd8-9bf7-ce571de49d01::",
  "updated_on": "2019-01-01T12:00:00.000Z",
  "source_id": "crn:v1:staging:public:event-notifications:us-south:a/ff88f007f9ff4622aac4fbc0eda36255:b8b07245-0bbe-4478-b11c-0dce523105fd::",
  "source_description": "This source is used for integration with IBM Cloud Security and Compliance Center.",
  "source_name": "compliance"
  }'
--object-storage='{
  "instance_crn": "crn:v1:staging:public:cloud-object-storage:global:a/ff88f007f9ff4622aac4fbc0eda36255:7199ae60-a214-4dd8-9bf7-ce571de49d01::",
  "bucket": "px-scan-results",
  "bucket_location": "us-south",
  "bucket_endpoint": "exampleString",
  "updated_on": "2019-01-01T12:00:00.000Z"
  }'
--x-correlation-id=1a2b3c4d-5e6f-4a7b-8c9d-e0f1a2b3c4d5
--x-request-id=exampleString

If you disconnect your instance of Cloud Object Storage or select a new bucket, Security and Compliance Center is not able to read any of your existing results data. An evaluation can't complete without a connected Cloud Object Storage bucket.