You can monitor App and API Protection for .NET apps running in Docker, Kubernetes, Amazon ECS, and AWS Fargate.

Prerequisites

• The Datadog Agent is installed and configured for your application’s operating system or container, cloud, or virtual environment.
• Datadog APM is configured for your application or service, and traces are being received by Datadog.
• If your service is running with an Agent with Remote Configuration enabled and a tracing library version that supports it, you can block attackers from the Datadog UI without additional configuration of the Agent or tracing libraries.

Enabling threat detection

Get started

1. Update your Datadog .NET library to at least version 2.2.0 for your target operating system architecture.

   To check that your service’s language and framework versions are supported for AAP capabilities, see Compatibility.

2. Enable AAP by setting the DD_APPSEC_ENABLED environment variable to true. For example, on Windows self-hosted, run the following PowerShell snippet as part of your application start up script:

   $target=[System.EnvironmentVariableTarget]::Process
   [System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("DD_APPSEC_ENABLED","true",$target)
   

   Or one of the following methods, depending on where your application runs:

   In a Windows console:

   rem Set environment variables
   SET CORECLR_ENABLE_PROFILING=1
   SET CORECLR_PROFILER={846F5F1C-F9AE-4B07-969E-05C26BC060D8}
   SET DD_APPSEC_ENABLED=true
   
   rem Start application
   dotnet.exe example.dll
   

   Run the following PowerShell command as administrator to configure the necessary environment variables in the registry HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment and restart IIS.

   $target=[System.EnvironmentVariableTarget]::Machine
   [System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("DD_APPSEC_ENABLED","true",$target)
   net stop was /y
   net start w3svc
   

   Or, for IIS services exclusively, on WAS and W3SVC with Powershell as an administrator, run:

   $appsecPart = "DD_APPSEC_ENABLED=true"
   [string[]] $defaultvariable = @("CORECLR_ENABLE_PROFILING=1", "CORECLR_PROFILER={846F5F1C-F9AE-4B07-969E-05C26BC060D8}", $appsecPart)
   
   function Add-AppSec {
   
       param (
           $path
       )
       $v = (Get-ItemProperty -Path $path).Environment
       If ($v -eq $null) {
           Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name "Environment" -Value $defaultvariable
       }
       ElseIf (-not ($v -match $appsecPart)) {
           $v += " " + $appsecPart;
           Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name "Environment" -Value $v
       }
   }
   Add-AppSec -path "HKLM:SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WAS\"
   Add-AppSec -path "HKLM:SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W3SVC\"
   
   net stop was /y
   net start w3svc
   

   Or, to avoid editing registry keys, edit the application settings in the web.config file of your application:

   <configuration>
     <appSettings>
           <add key="DD_APPSEC_ENABLED" value="true"/>
     </appSettings>
   </configuration>
   

   This can also be done at the IIS application pools level in the applicationHost.config file, usually in C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\config\:

   <system.applicationHost>
   
       <applicationPools>
           <add name="DefaultAppPool">
               <environmentVariables>
                   <add name="DD_APPSEC_ENABLED" value="true" />
               </environmentVariables>
               (...)
   

   Add the following to your application configuration:

   DD_APPSEC_ENABLED=true
   

   Update your configuration container for APM by adding the following argument in your docker run command:

   docker run [...] -e DD_APPSEC_ENABLED=true [...]
   

   Add the following environment variable value to your container Dockerfile:

   ENV DD_APPSEC_ENABLED=true
   

   Update your deployment configuration file for APM and add the AAP environment variable:

   spec:
     template:
       spec:
         containers:
           - name: <CONTAINER_NAME>
             image: <CONTAINER_IMAGE>/<TAG>
             env:
               - name: DD_APPSEC_ENABLED
                 value: "true"
   

   Update your ECS task definition JSON file, by adding this in the environment section:

   "environment": [
     ...,
     {
       "name": "DD_APPSEC_ENABLED",
       "value": "true"
     }
   ]
   

   Add the following line to your container Dockerfile:

   ENV DD_APPSEC_ENABLED=true
   

3. Restart the application using a full stop and start.

   After this configuration is complete, the library collects security data from your application and sends it to the Agent. The Agent sends the data to Datadog, where out-of-the-box detection rules flag attacker techniques and potential misconfigurations so you can take steps to remediate.

4. To see App and API Protection threat detection in action, send known attack patterns to your application. For example, trigger the Security Scanner Detected rule by running a file that contains the following curl script:

   for ((i=1;i<=250;i++)); 
   do
   # Target existing service's routes
   curl https://your-application-url/existing-route -A dd-test-scanner-log;
   # Target non existing service's routes
   curl https://your-application-url/non-existing-route -A dd-test-scanner-log;
   done

   Note: The dd-test-scanner-log value is supported in the most recent releases.

   A few minutes after you enable your application and send known attack patterns to it, threat information appears in the Application Signals Explorer and vulnerability information appears in the Vulnerabilities explorer.

Using AAP without APM tracing

If you want to use Application & API Protection without APM tracing functionality, you can deploy with tracing disabled:

1. Configure your tracing library with the DD_APM_TRACING_ENABLED=false environment variable in addition to the DD_APPSEC_ENABLED=true environment variable.
2. This configuration will reduce the amount of APM data sent to Datadog to the minimum required by App and API Protection products.

For more details, see [Standalone App and API Protection][standalone_billing_guide]. [standalone_billing_guide]: /security/application_security/guide/standalone_application_security/

4. Verify setup

To verify that App and API Protection is working correctly:

1. Send some traffic to your application
2. Check the Application Signals Explorer in Datadog
3. Look for security signals and vulnerabilities

Further Reading

Additional helpful documentation, links, and articles:

Adding user information to tracesDOCUMENTATION .NET Datadog library source codeSOURCE CODE OOTB App and API Protection RulesDOCUMENTATION Troubleshooting App and API ProtectionDOCUMENTATION