A log metric filter and alert should exist for SQL instance configuration changes

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Description

It is recommended that a metric filter and alarm be set up for SQL instance configuration changes.

Rationale

Monitoring changes to SQL instance configuration changes may reduce the time needed to detect and correct SQL server misconfigurations. Below are a few configurable options that may impact the security posture of an SQL instance: • Enable auto backups and high availability: Misconfiguration may adversely impact business continuity, disaster recovery, and high availability • Authorize networks: Misconfiguration may increase exposure to untrusted networks

Impact

Enabling logging may result in your project being charged for the additional logs usage.

Remediation

From the console

Create the prescribed log metric

Go to Logging/Logs-based Metrics by visiting https://console.cloud.google.com/logs/metrics and clicking CREATE METRIC.
Click the down arrow icon on the Filter Bar at the top right corner and select Convert to Advanced Filter.

Clear any text and add:

protoPayload.methodName="cloudsql.instances.update"

Click Submit Filter. Display logs appear based on the filter text.
In the Metric Editor menu on the right, fill out the name field. Set Units to 1 (default) and Type to Counter. This ensures that the log metric counts the number of log entries matching the user’s advanced logs query.
Click Create Metric.

Create the prescribed alert policy

Go to https://console.cloud.google.com/logs/metrics. Under the User-defined Metrics section, identify the newly created metric.
Click the kebab icon in the rightmost column for the new metric and select Create alert from Metric.
Fill out the alert policy configuration and click Save. Choose the alerting threshold and configuration that makes sense for the user’s organization. For example, a threshold of zero(0) for the most recent value ensures that a notification is triggered for every owner change in the project:

   Set `Aggregator` to `Count`
   Set `Configuration`:
   - Condition: above
   - Threshold: 0
   - For: most recent value

Configure the desired notifications channels in the section Notifications.
Name the policy and click Save.

From the command line

Create the prescribed log metric using the following command:
```
gcloud logging metrics create
```
Reference for command usage
Create the prescribed alert policy using the following command:
```
gcloud alpha monitoring policies create
```
Reference for command usage