auditlogs

Auditlogs are records of events in information systems, capturing who did what, when, and where. They are essential for security monitoring, compliance, and operational troubleshooting. They may be generated by operating systems, applications, databases, and network devices.

Typical contents include timestamps, user identifiers, event types (login, access, modification), resource identifiers, source IP, outcome (success/failure), and sometimes data payloads or changed values. Logs can be structured (JSON, CSV) or unstructured.

Logs are often collected centrally in a log management or SIEM system. Practices include ensuring log integrity, tamper-evidence (e.g., append-only storage, checksums), secure transmission (TLS), access controls, and retention policies. Retention must balance compliance with privacy and storage costs. Logs may be archived or pruned as needed.

Standards and concerns: Standards such as RFC 5424 syslog, NIST SP 800-92, ISO 27001 guidance inform logging. Privacy concerns require minimization of PII, redaction or masking, and access controls. Privacy laws may impose retention limits and auditing requirements.

Use and challenges: Primary uses include incident response, forensics, compliance audits, and operational troubleshooting. Challenges include high data volume, noisy logs, time synchronization, log normalization, and ensuring completeness. Best practices include enabling critical logs, centralizing collection, implementing immutable storage, setting alerts, reviewing periodically, and testing backups.