Generate Security Sample Data

Generate ECS-compliant security events, multi-step attack scenarios, and synthetic alert documents that populate Elastic Security dashboards, the Alerts tab, and Attack Discovery.

Quick start

For a zero-friction experience that generates everything and opens Kibana:

bash

node skills/security/generate-security-sample-data/scripts/demo-walkthrough.js

Workflow

text

- [ ] Step 1: Set environment variables
- [ ] Step 2: Generate sample data
- [ ] Step 3: Explore in Kibana
- [ ] Step 4: Clean up when done

Step 1: Set environment variables

bash

export ELASTICSEARCH_URL="https://your-project.es.region.aws.elastic.cloud"
export ELASTICSEARCH_USERNAME="admin"
export ELASTICSEARCH_PASSWORD="your-password"
export KIBANA_URL="https://your-project.kb.region.aws.elastic.cloud"

Step 2: Generate sample data

Generate everything at once

bash

node skills/security/generate-security-sample-data/scripts/sample-data.js \
  system endpoint okta aws windows --scenarios --alerts

Generate only events

bash

node skills/security/generate-security-sample-data/scripts/sample-data.js \
  system endpoint --count 100

Generate only attack scenarios

bash

node skills/security/generate-security-sample-data/scripts/sample-data.js --scenarios

Generate only synthetic alerts

bash

node skills/security/generate-security-sample-data/scripts/sample-data.js --alerts

Step 3: Explore in Kibana

After generating data, direct the user to these pages:

Security > Alerts — synthetic alerts with MITRE ATT&CK mappings
Security > Attack Discovery — requires an LLM connector to analyze alerts
Security > Hosts — host activity from sample events
Security > Overview — summary of all security data
Discover — raw events across all data streams

Step 4: Clean up when done

bash

node skills/security/generate-security-sample-data/scripts/sample-data.js --cleanup

What gets generated

Sample data spans 5 packages (system, endpoint, windows, aws, okta) and 4 focused attack scenarios covering the most common demo themes: Windows credential theft, AWS cloud privilege escalation, Okta identity takeover, and a full ransomware kill chain. Synthetic alert documents are indexed into

.alerts-security.alerts-default

with MITRE ATT&CK mappings, severity levels, and risk scores.

All events use RFC 5737 / RFC 2606 safe addresses. For full tables of packages, scenarios, and alerts see references/sample-data-reference.md.

Continuous mode

Stream events to simulate a live environment:

bash

node skills/security/generate-security-sample-data/scripts/sample-data.js \
  --continuous --interval 15

Every 5th batch includes an attack scenario; every 10th batch adds synthetic alerts. Press Ctrl+C to stop.

Tool reference

sample-data.js

Flag	Description
`--count` , `-n`	Events per package (default: 50)
`--scenarios`	Run all attack simulation scenarios
`--scenario NAME`	Run a specific scenario
`--alerts`	Generate synthetic alert documents
`--cleanup`	Remove all sample data and alerts
`--continuous`	Stream live events (Ctrl+C to stop)
`--interval N`	Seconds between continuous batches (default: 30)
`--json` , `-j`	Output results as JSON
`--yes` , `-y`	Skip confirmation prompts

demo-walkthrough.js

Zero-friction runner that generates everything and opens Kibana.

Flag	Description
`--cleanup`	Remove all sample data, alerts, case
`--continuous`	Generate then stream live events
`--count N`	Events per package (default: 50)
`--interval N`	Seconds between batches (default: 30)

Examples

Quick demo for a stakeholder

"Set up a demo environment so I can show Attack Discovery to my VP."

bash

node skills/security/generate-security-sample-data/scripts/demo-walkthrough.js

Targeted scenario testing

"Generate only the ransomware attack chain to test our detection rules."

bash

node skills/security/generate-security-sample-data/scripts/sample-data.js \
  --scenario ransomwareChain --alerts

Simulating a live SOC

"Keep generating events so the dashboards stay active during the demo."

bash

node skills/security/generate-security-sample-data/scripts/demo-walkthrough.js --continuous

Cleaning up after a demo

"Remove all sample data from my project."

bash

node skills/security/generate-security-sample-data/scripts/sample-data.js --cleanup

Guidelines

All generated documents are tagged with
```
tags: ["elastic-security-sample-data"]
```
for safe cleanup. The cleanup command only deletes documents with this marker.
If marker fields are not indexed in a data stream, cleanup falls back to scanning
```
_source.tags
```
for matching sample documents from the last 14 days.
Synthetic alerts are indexed directly into
```
.alerts-security.alerts-default
```
— they do not require detection rules to be installed or enabled.
Attack Discovery requires an LLM connector (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, or similar) configured in Kibana under Stack Management > Connectors. The "Complete" project tier unlocks the feature, but the connector must be set up separately.
Use the
```
case-management
```
skill for creating investigation cases from alerts.

Production use

Do not run against production clusters unless you intend to inject synthetic data alongside real alerts. Sample events and alerts are tagged for cleanup but will appear in dashboards, the Alerts tab, and Attack Discovery alongside real data.
All write operations (
```
generate
```
,
```
--cleanup
```
,
```
--continuous
```
) prompt for confirmation. Pass
```
--yes
```
or
```
-y
```
to skip when called by an agent.
```
--cleanup
```
runs
```
deleteByQuery
```
across all sample data indices — verify environment variables point to the intended cluster before running.
```
--continuous
```
mode indexes events indefinitely until manually stopped with Ctrl+C.

Environment variables

Variable	Required	Description
`ELASTICSEARCH_URL`	Yes	Elasticsearch URL
`ELASTICSEARCH_API_KEY`	Yes*	Elasticsearch API key
`ELASTICSEARCH_USERNAME`	Yes*	Elasticsearch username (alternative)
`ELASTICSEARCH_PASSWORD`	Yes*	Elasticsearch password (alternative)
`KIBANA_URL`	No	Kibana URL (for case creation and links)
`KIBANA_USERNAME`	No	Kibana username (if using Kibana features)
`KIBANA_PASSWORD`	No	Kibana password (if using Kibana features)

*Either API key or username/password is required for Elasticsearch.

security-generate-security-sample-data

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Generate Security Sample Data

Quick start

Workflow

Step 1: Set environment variables

Step 2: Generate sample data

Generate everything at once

Generate only events

Generate only attack scenarios

Generate only synthetic alerts

Step 3: Explore in Kibana

Step 4: Clean up when done

What gets generated

Continuous mode

Tool reference

sample-data.js

demo-walkthrough.js

Examples

Quick demo for a stakeholder

Targeted scenario testing

Simulating a live SOC

Cleaning up after a demo

Guidelines

Production use

Environment variables