Welcome to the First of Many!
This post marks the beginning of a new monthly blog series focused on everything QRadar. Each month, we will explore key features, share practical guidance, and provide updates across the QRadar community. You can expect insights into product enhancements, highlights from user group events, and stories that reflect how teams are using QRadar in the real world. Each blog post will have an accompanying monthly webinar to dive deeper into the monthly topic. This series is here to keep you informed, inspired, and connected to the broader conversation around the platform.
To kick things off, we’re taking a closer look at User Behavior Analytics (UBA), a powerful capability within QRadar that helps detect unusual activity and insider threats. We’ll explore how it works and walk through practical steps for tuning it to get the most value in real-world environments. To wrap things up, we’ll also share highlights from recent community events and give you a preview of what’s coming up next.
What is User Behavior Analytics?
The User Behavior Analytics (UBA) application focuses on monitoring and analyzing how users interact with systems to detect potential threats that might otherwise go unnoticed. By collecting and correlating data from sources like authentication logs, network traffic, and endpoint activity, UBA builds a behavioral profile for each user and flags deviations that could signal risks such as compromised credentials, insider threats, or unauthorized access.
What makes UBA especially powerful is its use of machine learning to enhance detection accuracy. These models learn what normal behavior looks like for individuals and peer groups, then continuously adapt to identify subtle anomalies like unusual login times, unexpected data transfers, or access to sensitive resources. This approach improves threat detection and reduces false positives, helping security teams focus their efforts where it matters most.
Best Practices and Tuning
User Behavior Analytics offers strong potential for identifying threats that traditional security tools might overlook, especially when paired with machine learning to detect subtle behavioral anomalies. However, realizing that potential depends on how well the system is configured and maintained. UBA is most effective when it reflects the specific patterns, risks, and operational context of the organization using it. With a thoughtful approach to setup and tuning, it can become a valuable and dependable part of a security team’s toolkit. In the following sections, we’ll explore a set of tuning recommendations and best practices that can improve performance, reduce noise, and make the application more effective for day-to-day use.
Start with the Right Version
Before diving into tuning, it’s important to make sure your environment is running a supported and optimized version of QRadar. For the best performance with UBA, IBM recommends using the latest QRadar version but supports 7.5.0 Update Pack 6 Interim Fix 2 or higher. This ensures compatibility with the latest features and performance improvements that support UBA functionality.
Use Indexes to Improve Search Performance
UBA relies on search performance to surface meaningful insights. One way to improve this is by enabling indexes on specific fields that are commonly used in queries. Adding indexes for fields like High Level Category, Low Level Category, senseValue, senseOverallScore, and Username can significantly reduce search times and improve responsiveness in the UBA app.
Configure User Coalescing Thoughtfully
User coalescing is one of the most critical settings in UBA. It determines how user identities are merged across different data sources. To avoid errors, work with your team managing directory services identify one or two unique attributes that can reliably distinguish users. Starting with a small set of attributes helps reduce the risk of merging unrelated accounts and improves overall performance. Be mindful when saving changes, as each save triggers a re-coalescing process that can take time to complete.
Set Display Fields for Clarity
The display fields in UBA determine what information is shown in the user details view. These fields are evaluated in order, so it’s best to choose attributes that are consistently available in your directory. This helps ensure that the most relevant and recognizable information is shown for each user, making it easier for analysts to interpret behavior.
Tune LDAP Filters for Precision
LDAP settings play a key role in how user data is imported and coalesced. Using broad filters like (objectClass=person) may bring in both users and service accounts, which can clutter your data. If your goal is to focus only on user accounts, consider using a more specific filter such as (objectClass=user) to keep the dataset clean and relevant.
Monitor Only Imported Users When Needed
In some environments, UBA may learn about a large number of users from event data that are not part of the directory import. If this leads to noise or performance issues, enabling the “monitor imported users only” setting can help. This limits UBA’s focus to users explicitly imported from the directory, which can simplify tuning and improve clarity.
Bringing It All Together
These tuning steps are not meant to be one-time tasks but part of an ongoing process that evolves with your environment. As your organization grows and changes, so will the behaviors and patterns that UBA needs to monitor. Regularly reviewing these settings and making adjustments where needed can help ensure that UBA continues to provide accurate, actionable insights that support your broader security goals.
Community Corner
IBM QRadar Community in Action
There’s no substitute for the clarity and confidence that come from face-to-face conversations. We saw that clearly at our recent IBM QRadar events in Budapest, Pune, Mumbai and Vienna. These in-person sessions helped strengthen relationships across the community and reinforce a shared sense of direction. In Hungary, over 40 attendees gathered for an open discussion on the future of QRadar, with strong engagement and thoughtful feedback. One participant summed it up best: "This is what we wanted to achieve, and it was completed 100%," reflecting on the renewed trust in our long-term roadmap and commitment to the future of our on-premise solutions. The momentum we’re seeing reflects a growing alignment between our vision and the needs of the community.
In addition to our in-person sessions, we also hosted a global webinar in May titled QRadar Unlocked: What’s New and Next (see replay here), providing another way to connect with our broader community. We’re continuing with a monthly cadence of webinars focused on QRadar topics that are discussed in the monthly blog in a series called IBM QRadar Monthly. Looking ahead, we’re also planning in-person events in Atlanta, Frankfurt and Rome to further strengthen regional engagement and keep the conversation going-face to-face. Check out our Event Calendar for upcoming events and webinars. If you are interested in hosting a user group in your area and need help getting started please reach out to me at lmhogge@us.ibm.com.
We’re excited to keep building on this energy as we head into the next round of events and conversations. Whether it’s through a local user group, a global webinar, or a casual chat over coffee at an in-person session, these moments of connection are helping shape the future of QRadar in meaningful ways. We look forward to meeting more of you, hearing your ideas, and continuing to grow this community together.
Upcoming Events
IBM QRadar Monthly: Maximize UBA (NA & EMEA)
Date: June 26th, 2025 10 AM EST
Where: Online Webinar
Description: Join us for a practical and forward-looking session focused on enhancing your experience with IBM QRadar User Behavior Analytics. This session is designed to help you fine-tune your deployment and explore what’s coming next in behavioral analytics.
IBMers Register Here
Partners and Public Register Here
IBM QRadar Monthly: Maximize UBA (APAC)
Date: June 26th, 2025 11 AM IST
Where: Online Webinar
Description: Join us for a practical and forward-looking session focused on enhancing your experience with IBM QRadar User Behavior Analytics. This session is designed to help you fine-tune your deployment and explore what’s coming next in behavioral analytics.
IBMers Register Here
Partners and Public Register Here
IBM Security Day Atlanta, an IBM TechXchange Workshop
Date: July 15th, 2025 10:30 AM–7:00 PM EDT
Where: 6303 Barfield Rd NE, Atlanta GA, 30328
Description: Join us for an exclusive afternoon of learning, networking, and innovation at IBM Security Day. Discover how IBM is advancing cybersecurity with expert-led sessions on Identity & Access Management, Threat Detection & Response,Data Protection, and Risk Management.
Register Here
IBM QRadar Support 101: Best Practices for Getting Help, Escalating Issues, and Avoiding Delays
Date: July 2nd, 2025 4:00PM EST
Where: Online Webinar
Description: An IBM QRadar User Group Deep Dive, where John Dawson, IBM Threat Management Support Architect, will share best practices for working with QRadar Technical Support. Learn when and how to contact support, how to escalate tickets, and what to do (and avoid) to get the help you need.
Register Here