FAQs

Topics on this page:

General

1. What is the purpose of the data collected?2024-04-19T16:36:30-04:00

Data collected will only be used for protection against security threats.

2. Who can access the data?2024-04-22T11:46:25-04:00

Access to information is limited to authorized parties (e.g., administrators of the platform).

3. Where does the data get stored?2024-04-19T16:38:34-04:00

S1 data is stored in the cloud within their software as a service (SaaS) service in Canada.

4. How long does the data get stored?2024-04-19T16:40:04-04:00

S1 data is stored for up to 30 days at the S1 cloud service and 90 days within our Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) environment.

5. Why was my unit and my device chosen for the pilot?2024-04-22T11:46:06-04:00

Your unit joined the pilot to enable advanced anti-virus protection for end users within the unit. As a unit member, you were chosen to receive this critical security protection. This is one of the steps to protect individuals against security threats.

Privacy

1. Will S1 track my activity and personal use of my device(s)?2024-06-25T12:12:28-04:00

The University does not use S1 to watch an individual’s personal use of the University networks or devices. The University will not use this data to support investigations related to employee productivity, attendance/activity and any other general monitoring of behaviour not directly associated with security threat protection at the University.

2. Will someone have access to view the files or personal content on my device(s)?2024-06-25T12:12:44-04:00

Designated Information Security staff will interact with the data only if a security threat alert has been triggered. S1 uses artificial intelligence to analyze basic file data such as file name, size and file hashes to find potentially malicious files. Still, it does not analyze content data beyond threat detection. This is consistent with best practices to mitigate against constantly evolving cyber threats.

3. What information does SentinelOne NOT collect or access?2024-06-25T12:12:48-04:00

SentinelOne does not record keystrokes. In addition, it does not access or record the contents of:

  • Documents
  • Email messages
  • IM/chat communications
  • Login credentials (e.g. bank, ROSI, etc.)
4. What happens if a security alert is triggered by SentinelOne on my device?2024-06-25T12:12:53-04:00

If a security alert is triggered, SentinelOne agent (if set up in Protect mode) will automatically block the threat and quarantine any malicious files. The alert and the associated actions performed by the agent can be found on the SentinelOne user interface under threat history and quarantined files. In a few cases, when the tool is not successful at remediating the threat, designated information security staff at your unit may take further actions such as isolating the device from the network. In such cases, you will be informed by your unit’s IT team.

5. How does SentinelOne identify and handle malicious files?2024-06-25T12:12:57-04:00

SentinelOne monitors all applications and files for signs of malicious activity. Data files, being inactive, are ignored unless they contain malicious code. Additionally, SentinelOne compares hashes and other markers of all files against those of known malicious files. Malicious files found on systems may be downloaded individually for further analysis, with the knowledge of the end user. These downloads are encrypted and recorded in the activity log. Search results for a specific suspicious file may also be downloaded in this manner; any file that is not part of a cybersecurity investigation is ignored.

Information collected is only used for protection against security threats. It is not used to support investigations related to employee productivity, attendance/activity and/or any other general monitoring of behaviour not directly associated with security threat protection at the University.

6. I am a researcher with lots of sensitive data (e.g., level 4 data). How can I be certain that my data will not be accessed or tampered with without my explicit consent?2024-06-25T12:13:03-04:00

SentinelOne does not have access to data within your files. It can only read information about your file (metadata) such as filename, author and file path. As such, we recommend that you do not include any personal/sensitive information in the filename and other metadata for your file.

However, if a security alert is triggered, designated information security personnel may request remote access to a file that is flagged as malicious. Such access will be time-bound and will occur with your knowledge and permission. Access is limited to authorized information security staff who are required to sign a confidentiality agreement with the University as part of a formal access request and approval process.

7. Can SentinelOne monitor browser activity?2024-06-25T12:13:08-04:00

SentinelOne does not specifically monitor users’ browser activity. However, as it looks for malicious activity, it captures information about sites and files accessed via browsers by users, devices and automated processes. Typically, majority of these records pertain to automated processes, with user activity constituting only a small fraction.

8. Can SentinelOne access the virtual machines I run?2024-06-25T12:13:13-04:00

SentinelOne cannot access the virtual machines on your system unless you have specifically deployed SentinelOne agent on the virtual machine itself.

9. What access does SentinelOne have on the applications running on my system?2024-06-25T12:13:17-04:00

SentinelOne monitors all applications on your system for signs of malicious activity, but it cannot access those applications. It tracks the names and versions of installed applications to identify security vulnerabilities on them. In addition, SentinelOne maintains a log of activities related to services and applications running at any given time. This is needed to track progress of malicious activity and, ideally, roll back any unauthorized changes. Information about process/application activity is only used for the purposes of security threat detection and is automatically deleted in accordance with the retention policy.

10. Does SentinelOne have remote access capability?2024-06-25T12:13:22-04:00

SentinelOne provides remote console capabilities that allow information security personnel to use command-line prompts for accessing endpoints remotely. This capability is available to a limited number of security personnel and is solely used for cybersecurity investigations. Remote access is conducted with the knowledge and permission of the end user (for end-user devices) or IT administrators (for infrastructure assets).

11. Does SentinelOne collect login credentials for web applications such as bank website, U of T mail, intranet, ROSI, etc.?2024-06-25T12:13:28-04:00

SentinelOne does not collect login credentials for websites. At most, it collects URLs for websites visited by you, your device or automated processes running on your device.

12. What are the chances that a zero-day exploit compromising SentinelOne could result in a massive amount of sensitive data being exposed?2024-06-25T12:13:33-04:00

The likelihood of something like this happening is very low. In 2023, there were 26,447 new vulnerabilities but only 97 zero-day exploits. It is more probable that a vulnerability on an unprotected device would be exploited, potentially leading to data loss, rather than a zero-day exploit specifically targeting SentinelOne and causing a data breach.

Technical

1. Are we creating S1 rules to block internet access once a virus is detected on a computer?2024-06-25T12:13:53-04:00

No. S1 is a SaaS solution and always requires access to the internet. If a machine has a virus/malware, it may be placed in “quarantine” mode depending on the policy applied against a particular set of machines.

2. Which license (basic/enhanced/advanced) should we choose for test computers?2024-06-25T12:14:00-04:00

The advice is to start with an advanced license first for managed endpoints. However, if the testing machine only deals with non-sensitive data, then a case can be made for the use of enhanced licenses.

3. Should we remove other anti-virus solutions before deploying S1 on a computer so it doesn’t slow down the performance?2024-06-25T12:14:05-04:00

Yes. Otherwise, it might interfere with the performance of the machine.

4. Should we recommend S1 for personal computers and manage them on S1 console centrally by IT?2024-06-25T12:14:09-04:00

Yes. However, careful consideration needs to be given to how this would be paid for, deployed and supported by the different divisions. Another consideration might be privacy.

The project team will be looking at deploying endpoint detection and response to some student computer labs, which run on Windows, Mac and Linux, each having its system administrator.

5. Is there any documentation available on how to deploy the agents?2024-06-25T12:14:14-04:00

Not yet. This is part of the documentation provided by professional services (i.e., the vendor).

6. Can multi-factor authentication (MFA) be used to access the console?2024-06-25T12:14:18-04:00

If it’s UTORauthed, then yes, Duo is inherited.

7. Is the management console web-based or do we need to deploy the Sentinel console on our VMware host server?2024-06-25T12:14:24-04:00

It is web-based.

8. Does S1 support VMware host server?2024-06-25T12:14:28-04:00

Yes, S1 supports VMware host server, but it would require a separate license.

9. How can I learn more about the S1 product and how it works?2024-08-22T12:07:56-04:00

You can watch the SentinelOne product tour.

Onboarded SentinelOne administrators can also navigate the built-in help feature.

10. Does S1 support Linux?2024-06-25T12:14:37-04:00

In addition to the operating systems listed below, SentinelOne also provides dedicated agents for K8s and NetApp.

Platform OSVersion
WindowsWindows Server Core2022, 2019, 2016, 2012
WindowsWindows Server2022, 2019, 2016, 2012 R2, 2012, 2008 R2 SP1
WindowsWindows Storage Server2016, 2012 R2, 2012
WindowsWindows 7 SP1, 8, 8.1, 10, 1132/64-bit
Windows LegacyWindows XPSP3 or later (KB968730), 32/64-bit NTFS/FAT32
Windows LegacyWindows Server 2003SP2 or later, or R2 SP2 or later,  (KB968730), 32/64-bit
Windows LegacyWindows 2008(Pre-R2)
Windows LegacyWindows Server 2008x64 - Only with Agent version 2.1.0.93, (KB4474419)
Windows LegacyWindows Embedded POSReady 2009
LinuxCentOS8.0 - 8.4, 7.0 - 7.9, 6.4+
LinuxRed Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)9.0 - 9.1, 8.0 - 8.7, 7.0 - 7.9, 6.4+
LinuxUbuntu22.04, 20.04, 19.10, 19.04, 18.04, 16.04, 14.04
LinuxAmazonAmazon Linux 2, AMI 2018, AMI 2017
LinuxSUSE Linux Enterprise Server15.x, 12.x
LinuxDebian11, 10, 9, 8
LinuxVirtuozzo7
LinuxScientific Linux7.6
LinuxAlmaLinux9.0 - 9.1, 8.4 - 8.7
LinuxRockyLinux 9.0 - 9.1, 8.4 - 8.7
LinuxOracle9.0, 8.0 - 8.7, 7.0 - 7.9, 6.9 - 6.10
LinuxFedora32 - 37, 31 (starting with kernel 5.5.x), 25 - 30
Linux ARMRHEL9.0 - 9.1, 8.4-8.7
Linux ARMAmazon Linux2
Linux ARMUbuntu22.04, 20.04, 18.04
Linux ARMSUSE15.x
Linux ARMCentOS8.3
Linux ARMAlma Linux9, 8.7, 8.6
Linux ARMRocky Linux9, 8.7, 8.6
Linux ARMDebian11, 10
MacOSVentura13.0 - 13.2
MacOSMonterey12.0 - 12.6.3
MacOSBig Sur11.0 - 11.7.3

Vigilance service

1. What would qualify a “malicious” alert as an “urgent” alert?2024-06-25T12:07:17-04:00

Malicious alerts are considered urgent when they require security administrators’ immediate attention and action. This includes ransomware incidents, which necessitate quarantining affected devices or networks, and where manual intervention such as restoration of files, rebuilding endpoints or resetting accounts must be done.

2. How would the unit be notified when a malicious alert is classified as an urgent alert that necessitates device disconnection?2024-06-25T12:07:46-04:00

Information Security will notify the unit through their designated incident response channel, which is commonly email. In past incidents, we have endeavored to escalate the matter efficiently, often by contacting security personnel through Teams or, in cases where only help desk information was available, by directly emailing the impacted individuals.

3. Does the action of disconnecting the devices occur before any discussion and concurrence with the unit?2024-06-25T12:08:19-04:00

Only in urgent, high-priority breach cases that require aggressive action. In these cases, the vigilance analyst will disconnect machine(s) from the network to isolate the machine and prevent further spread. The analyst will first send a proactive notification, alerting Information Security of the situation and requesting immediate response.

Devices in detect mode will not be remediated or disconnected by Vigilance without approval. Vigilance will contact Information Security for permission to act on these devices. Information Security will also attempt to contact someone at the affected unit before acting.

However, as a guiding principle, Information Security will always favour protecting the environment from the spread of the incident and will act before getting permission if the threat is obviously genuine.

4. Does activating the “action” feature of the Vigilance service mean that all devices within U of T are being moved to protect mode?2024-06-25T12:08:52-04:00

No, the detect vs. protect mode policies will remain, as this is part of the SentinelOne engine itself. Detection mode is only recommended at the beginning after installing the agent to capture false positives. After the initial analysis, we recommend that units activate protect mode on all devices with SentinelOne. The Vigilance service acts on significant alerts flagged by the SentinelOne agent after they review and confirm that the threat is real.

5. Will units be able to opt out of the action feature?2024-06-25T13:06:30-04:00

No, units won’t be able to opt out as the action feature is an on/off option for the entire institutional service.

6. With the action feature enabled, can Vigilance/the vendor now access information from U of T’s data repository?2024-06-25T12:09:56-04:00

Vigilance’s view of U of T’s data remains the same. Vigilance currently has access to the logs of deployed endpoints to conduct threat hunting and investigations as necessary; this does not change.

7. Are there any privacy agreements being issued for the Vigilance service?2024-09-27T17:22:22-04:00

As Vigilance’s view of U of T’s data remains the same, there isn’t a new privacy agreement. Please refer to the existing SentinelOne privacy notice.

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