Due to the large and ever-growing presence of cyberattacks, today's businesses are no strangers to the importance of cybersecurity. It is a substantial effort to try and stay ahead of these threats; a strong cybersecurity strategy is essential, and even then, it isn't guaranteed to work. However, one component of cybersecurity that can do quite a bit to help protect your business is event logging.
What Is Event Logging?
Event logging is the act of tracking and keeping a log of all the events that occur on your network. "Events" can be many different things, such as:
- Login attempts
- Accessing files
- Software installations
- Network traffic
- Denial of access
- System changes
- And more
Comprehensive event logging means tracking all these events and their time stamps to get a robust picture of what is going on in your IT ecosystem. Having a comprehensive event log is very useful for helping you detect and respond to threats promptly by enabling you to establish what normal network activity looks like and compare it against any other events that might be malicious. In addition, when responding to a cyber attack, an event log can be referenced to know what actions the attack has taken. Event logs are also helpful for ensuring that your business meets cybersecurity regulations.
Best Practices to Use Event Logging Effectively
Log What Matters Most
While it can be tempting to keep a complete log of your network, the truth is that you don't need to track every digital footstep. Logging every single action on your network can create a mountain of data that's hard to sift through and demands excessive data storage. Instead, focus on the events that truly matter, which can reveal security breaches and compliance risks, such as:
- Logins and Logouts: Track who is accessing your systems and when, as well as failed login attempts, password changes, and new account creation.
- Accessing Sensitive Data: Track who is looking at valuable or sensitive information to help identify unauthorized snooping.
- System Changes: Track any changes to your system, such as software installations, configuration tweaks, and system updates.
Centralize Your Logs
Event logging is most effective when you centralize your logs. Trying to work with seperate logs for different devices and systems is like trying to solve a puzzle with the pieces scattered across different rooms. Using a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) gathers logs from various devices, servers, and applications in one place to help you:
- Spot patterns: Connect the dots between suspicious activities across different systems.
- Respond faster: Have all the data you need at the ready when an incident strikes.
- Get a complete picture: See your network as a whole, making it easier to identify vulnerabilities.
Ensure Logs Are Tamper-Proof
Your event logs need to be tamper-proof to prevent attackers from covering their tracks by deleting or altering logs. Tamper-proof logs provide an accurate record of events even if a breach occurs and stop bad actors from seeing all your system activity tracking. Event log protection can be accomplished by:
- Encrypt your logs: This makes them unreadable to unauthorized users.
- Use WORM storage: Once a log is written, it's locked, preventing changes or deletions.
- Use strong access controls: Limit who can see and change your logs to trusted personnel only.
Establish Log Retention Policies
Keeping logs forever isn't practical and is generally unnecessary, but deleting them too soon can be risky for cybersecurity. You need clear log retention policies, considering things such as:
- Compliance requirements: Some industries have specific rules about how long to keep logs.
- Business needs: How long do you need logs to investigate incidents or for auditing?
- Storage capacity: Make sure your log retention policy doesn't overwhelm your storage.
Check Logs Regularly
Event logging is only helpful if you are able to take advantage of it. Check the logs regularly to spot anomalies and identify suspicious patterns so you can respond to threats before they cause serious damage. Security software can help automate this process such as through:
- Set up automated alerts: Get notified immediately of critical events like failed logins or unauthorized access.
- Correlate events: Use your SIEM to connect the dots between different activities that can reveal more complex attacks.