Automating VPN threat detection and responses with ManageEngine Log360
In a world where hybrid work is the norm, VPNs are the lifeline connecting employees to corporate networks. However, they’re also a favorite target for attackers looking to exploit weak credentials or misconfigured access. Every failed login attempt could be the prelude to a breach, and organizations can’t afford to wait for manual intervention.
Read about this real-world use case where our customer built an automated system using ManageEngine Log360 that detects excessive VPN login failures, checks the attacker’s IP against threat intelligence feeds, and instantly blocks that IP at the firewall all without human intervention.
The challenge: Turning VPN logs into actionable intelligence
In a hybrid organization, VPNs generate an immense volume of log data. Among thousands of successful logins, a few failed attempts might seem harmless—until they become a pattern.
The customer’s firewall logs every VPN authentication attempt, including failures. When attackers perform brute-force or credential stuffing attacks, the logs record multiple failed logins in a short timeframe. The challenge was identifying these attack patterns and reacting fast enough to stop them.
Before Log360, security analysts had to sift through logs manually, correlate patterns, and update firewall rules—processes that could take minutes or even hours. That delay gave attackers an opening and enough time to get what they wanted.
Goal: Build a fully automated detection-to-response pipeline using Log360.
Step 1: Detecting abnormal VPN login failures
The first step was to teach Log360 to recognize suspicious VPN activity.
Configuration in Log360
Log collection: Log360 collects VPN authentication logs from the firewall using a syslog or API integration.
Alert rule: A custom alert is created to trigger when more than the defined number of failed login attempts occur from the same IP address within the defined number of minutes.
Correlation rule: The Log360 correlation engine then verifies if those failed attempts are tied to a single user or IP, filtering out false positives caused by mistyped passwords.
When the threshold is exceeded, Log360 automatically generates a VPN login failure alert.
Step 2: Enriching detection with threat intelligence
The customer didn’t want every failed login to trigger a block—just those coming from predicted malicious sources.
Log360’s built-in threat intelligence modulecross-checks every suspicious IP against global reputation feeds. These feeds include data on malware command-and-control centers, phishing campaigns, and botnets.
If the IP address involved in the failed logins appears in a threat feed, Log360 marks the alert as high severity and passes it to the next step: automation.
Step 3: Automating the firewall response
Once the IP is confirmed as malicious, Log360’s SOAR feature takes over.
The workflow built by the customer performs three automated actions:
Trigger an alert: The correlated alert confirms a malicious source IP.
Execute a script: Log360 runs a preconfigured PowerShell or Python script via an API.
Apply a rule: The script instructs the firewall to add a deny rule for the attacker’s IP address.
Within seconds, the IP is blocked at the firewall, severing the attacker’s connection.
Results: Real-time defense with minimal effort
By integrating VPN monitoring, threat intelligence, and automation, the customer achieved:
1. Proactive protection
The system reacts to suspicious activity before the hacker can even log in.
2. Drastically reduced false positives
Threat feed verification ensures that only confirmed malicious IPs trigger blocking.
3. Instant responses
The customer gets access to immediate alerts. What used to take several manual steps now happens automatically in under 10 seconds.
4. Scalable security
The same logic can be applied across multiple VPN gateways and firewall types, extending protection without extra workloads.
Conclusion: Autonomous VPN security with Log360
This customer’s story is the perfect example of how Log360 turns reactive monitoring into proactive protection. By combining log correlation, threat intelligence, and automated workflows, the customer created a closed-loop defense system that responds in real time with no manual intervention needed.
In cybersecurity, every second counts. With ManageEngine Log360, those seconds are working in your favor.
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