loggingauditing

Logging auditing is the structured practice of generating, preserving, and examining log data to support security, compliance, and operational accountability. Logging is the automatic capture of events by systems and applications; auditing is the process of reviewing and analyzing those events to detect unauthorized activity, troubleshoot failures, and provide an audit trail for governance.

Logs typically record user authentication and authorization attempts, file and configuration changes, system and application events, network connections, error messages, and performance metrics. Log data may originate from operating systems, servers, databases, applications, cloud services, and security devices. To be usable, data are often centralized, normalized, and time-synchronized.

Auditing involves continuous monitoring, anomaly detection, and forensic analysis. It relies on centralized log management, correlation rules, and, in many environments, a security information and event management system or equivalent tooling. A key goal is to maintain evidence integrity through write-once, tamper-evident storage and controlled access, with retention policies aligned to legal and regulatory requirements.

Standards and best practices include defining a formal logging policy, specifying log formats, retention periods, and access controls; ensuring data minimization for privacy; protecting logs in transit and at rest; and maintaining an auditable chain of custody. Common frameworks referenced include NIST SP 800-92, ISO/IEC 27001, and sector-specific standards such as PCI DSS or HIPAA.

Benefits include improved incident detection and response, operational insight, and verifiable compliance. Challenges include volume, privacy considerations, false positives, and ensuring log integrity and availability across hybrid environments.