How to Set Up Security Command Center

Security Command Center (SCC) is Google Cloud's centralized security and risk management platform. It provides unified visibility into your cloud assets, identifies vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, detects threats in real-time, and helps maintain compliance with security standards.

This guide walks you through enabling SCC, configuring findings and notifications, and integrating with Chronicle for advanced threat investigation. For foundational cloud security practices, see our comprehensive 30 Cloud Security Tips for 2026 guide.

Prerequisites

• Organization Administrator or Security Center Admin role
• A Google Cloud organization (recommended) or project
• Billing enabled for Premium tier features
• Cloud Asset Inventory API enabled

Step 1: Enable Security Command Center

Organization-Level Activation (Recommended)

- Navigate to [Security Command Center](https://console.cloud.google.com/security/command-center) in the Console - If not already enabled, click **Enable Security Command Center** - Select your organization from the dropdown - Choose your tier:

• Standard - Free, includes basic vulnerability scanning

• Premium - Advanced threat detection, Chronicle integration

• Review and accept the terms of service

• Click Enable

Via gcloud CLI

# Enable SCC at organization level
gcloud scc settings update \
    --organization=ORGANIZATION_ID \
    --enable-security-command-center

# Check current status
gcloud scc settings describe \
    --organization=ORGANIZATION_ID

Note: After enabling SCC, initial asset discovery and vulnerability scanning takes 15-30 minutes. Some findings may take up to 24 hours to fully populate.

Step 2: Configure Security Health Analytics

Security Health Analytics automatically scans for misconfigurations and vulnerabilities:

- In SCC, navigate to **Settings > Integrated services** - Click on **Security Health Analytics** - Ensure the service is **Enabled** - Review the detector categories:
• IAM - Over-privileged accounts, service account issues
• Network - Open firewall rules, public IPs, missing SSL
• Storage - Public buckets, unencrypted data
• Compute - VM vulnerabilities, missing patches
• Database - Cloud SQL misconfigurations

Customize Detector Settings

Disable detectors that don't apply to your environment:

- Click on a detector category - Toggle individual detectors on/off - Click **Save**

Common detectors to review:

# High-priority detectors (keep enabled)
- PUBLIC_BUCKET
- OPEN_FIREWALL
- MFA_NOT_ENFORCED
- SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY_NOT_ROTATED
- SQL_PUBLIC_IP

# May need customization based on architecture
- LEGACY_NETWORK (if using shared VPC)
- FLOW_LOGS_DISABLED (if using alternative logging)

Step 3: Enable Threat Detection (Premium)

SCC Premium includes advanced threat detection services:

Event Threat Detection

Detects threats by analyzing Cloud Audit Logs:

- Navigate to **Settings > Integrated services** - Click **Event Threat Detection** - Click **Enable** - Configure detection modules:
• Malware - Detects known malware signatures
• Cryptomining - Identifies crypto-mining activity
• SSH brute force - Detects password attack attempts
• Data exfiltration - Unusual data transfer patterns
• Anomalous IAM grants - Suspicious permission changes

Container Threat Detection

Monitors GKE clusters for runtime threats:

- In Integrated services, click **Container Threat Detection** - Click **Enable** - Select which GKE clusters to monitor (or enable for all) - Detection capabilities include:
• Suspicious binary execution
• Reverse shell connections
• Privilege escalation attempts
• Container escape attempts

Virtual Machine Threat Detection

Monitors Compute Engine VMs for threats:

- Click **Virtual Machine Threat Detection** - Click **Enable** - Detects cryptomining, malware, and suspicious processes - Requires the Security Center Service Agent to have access to VM memory

Step 4: Configure Notifications

Set up real-time alerts for critical findings:

Create a Pub/Sub Topic

- Navigate to [Pub/Sub](https://console.cloud.google.com/cloudpubsub) - Click **Create Topic** - Name it (e.g., scc-findings) - Click **Create**

Create a Notification Config

- In SCC, go to **Settings > Notifications** - Click **Create Notification** - Configure:

• Name: critical-findings-alert

• Description: Alerts for high-severity findings

• Pub/Sub topic: Select your topic

• Set the filter for findings:

severity="CRITICAL" OR severity="HIGH"

Copy
• Click Save

Via gcloud CLI

# Create notification config
gcloud scc notifications create critical-alerts \
    --organization=ORGANIZATION_ID \
    --pubsub-topic=projects/PROJECT_ID/topics/scc-findings \
    --filter='severity="CRITICAL" OR severity="HIGH"'

Forward to Email or Slack

Create a Cloud Function to forward notifications:

- Create a Pub/Sub subscription to your topic - Deploy a Cloud Function that:
• Parses the SCC finding from Pub/Sub
• Formats a notification message
• Sends to email (SendGrid/Mailgun) or Slack webhook

Step 5: Set Up Chronicle Integration (Premium)

Chronicle provides advanced SIEM capabilities:

- Navigate to **Settings > Chronicle** - Click **Enable Chronicle Integration** - Configure the Chronicle instance details - Select which findings to export:

• All findings

• High and Critical only

• Specific categories

• Click Save

With Chronicle integration, you can:

• Correlate findings with other security data sources
• Build detection rules using YARA-L language
• Investigate timelines of security events
• Search historical data for threat hunting

Step 6: Review and Remediate Findings

Navigate the Findings Dashboard

- In SCC, click **Findings** in the left menu - Use filters to focus on priority issues:

• Severity: Critical, High, Medium, Low

• State: Active, Muted, Inactive

• Category: Vulnerability, Threat, Misconfiguration

• Source: Security Health Analytics, Event Threat Detection, etc.

• Click on a finding to see details and remediation steps

Prioritize Remediation

Focus on findings that represent actual risk:

- **Critical threats** - Active compromises (cryptominers, malware) - **Public exposure** - Public buckets, open firewalls to internet - **Credential issues** - Exposed keys, missing MFA - **Compliance violations** - Based on your requirements

Mute Findings (False Positives)

For findings that don't apply to your environment:

- Click on the finding - Click **Mute** - Select mute duration and provide justification - Click **Confirm**

# Mute via gcloud
gcloud scc findings update FINDING_NAME \
    --organization=ORGANIZATION_ID \
    --source=SOURCE_ID \
    --mute=MUTED

Step 7: Configure Compliance Monitoring

Track compliance posture against standards:

- Navigate to **Compliance** in SCC - Select a compliance standard:

• CIS Google Cloud Foundation Benchmark

• PCI DSS

• NIST 800-53

• ISO 27001

• View passing and failing controls

• Click on failing controls to see affected resources

• Export compliance reports for audits

Step 8: Enable Attack Path Simulation (Premium)

Attack path simulation identifies how attackers could reach high-value assets:

- Navigate to **Attack Path Simulation** - Click **Enable** - Define high-value assets (databases, secret stores, etc.) - Review simulated attack paths - Prioritize remediations that break attack chains

Attack paths show:

• Entry points (public services, compromised credentials)
• Lateral movement opportunities
• Path to high-value targets
• Blast radius of potential breaches

Best Practices

• Enable at organization level for complete visibility
• Start with Standard tier and upgrade to Premium as needed
• Configure notifications for Critical and High findings immediately
• Review findings weekly and track remediation progress
• Mute false positives with documented justification
• Integrate with existing SIEM (Chronicle or third-party)
• Use attack path simulation to prioritize remediations
• Export compliance reports quarterly for audit evidence

Related Resources

• 30 Cloud Security Tips for 2026 - Comprehensive cloud security guide
• How to Enable Cloud Audit Logs in GCP - Foundation for threat detection
• Security Command Center Documentation
• SCC Notifications Guide

Need help implementing Security Command Center or building a security operations program? Contact InventiveHQ for expert guidance on cloud security monitoring and incident response.