Are you Event Logging Yet?

If you have a lazy attitude about protecting your network and data, you may be thinking: “What, another thing I have to do? What the heck is event logging?” Since cybercriminals never take a break from trying to steal your data, you (or your IT provider) cannot afford to take a break from protecting it.

It is increasingly important to keep up with the latest in cybersecurity. Cybercriminals aren’t slowing down – they are picking up speed at an alarming rate. As we all face a growing wave of cyberattacks, we need innovative tools and strategies to protect ourselves. How do we stay ahead of these threats? One crucial security component is event logging. Have you ever heard of this? Many business owners haven’t.

Event logging is like a digital detective tracking activities and events across your IT systems, which helps you spot potential security breaches and respond swiftly. As your Managed IT Services provider, IT Support LA is committed to helping you. We can help you understand the importance of event logging as well as how to put in place policies, procedures, and best practices to safeguard your network.

Why is event logging important?

First, let’s establish what it is: Event logging is the act of tracking all events that happen within your IT systems. An ‘Event’ can be many different things:

Login attempts

File access

Software installs

Network traffic

Denial of access

System changes

And many others

Event logging tracks all these and adds a time stamp, providing a thorough picture of what is going on in your IT ecosystem. It’s through that ongoing picture that you can detect and respond to threats promptly.

What is the purpose of the event log?

Simply put, you cannot adequately protect your system unless you know what’s happening in it. Event logging will perform these tasks:

Suspicious activity detection by monitoring user behavior and system events.

Allows for a quick response to incidents by providing a clear record of what happened in a breach.

Maintains compliance with regulations that require businesses to keep accurate records of system activities.

What is the best way to secure event logs?

When you establish and follow best practices, your event logging is at its most effective. Here are some standard guidelines to follow. These are helpful if you're just starting out as well as for those improving existing event-logging processes.

Prioritize actionable events

You don't need to track every digital footstep, because much is mundane and logging every single action on your network can create a mountain of data that's hard to sift through. Instead, focus on the events that truly matter and prioritize them. These are the events that can reveal security breaches and compliance risks.

What type of events should be logged?

Logins and Logouts: You should keep tabs on who's accessing your systems and when, including failed attempts, password changes, and new user accounts.

Accessing Sensitive Data: You should know and track who's peeking at your most valuable information. Logging file and database access helps spot unauthorized snooping.

System Changes: This is critical. Keep a record of any changes to your system, including software installations, configuration tweaks, and system updates. This helps you stay on top of changes and identify potential backdoors.

When you start with the most critical areas, event logging is much more manageable. This also makes it easier for small businesses.

Log Centralization

Suppose you’re putting together a picture puzzle in your den, but the pieces scattered all over the house. That makes it nearly impossible chaos, and that is what happens when you try to work with several logs for different devices and systems. Centralizing your logs is a game-changer. A Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) gathers logs in one place. This includes those from various devices, servers, and applications, which makes it easier to do the following:

Identify patterns: Connect the dots between suspicious activities across different systems.

Respond faster: Have all the evidence you need at your fingertips. This is helpful when an incident strikes.

Get the big picture: Seeing your network as a whole makes it easier to identify vulnerabilities.

Make Sure Logs Are Tamper-Proof

Attackers love to cover their tracks by deleting or altering logs, so it’s important to protect your event logs and render them tamper-proof.

Here are some tips:

Encryption: Lock down your logs with encryption. This makes them unreadable to unauthorized eyes.

Use WORM storage: Once a log is written, it's locked in place, preventing changes or deletions.

Have strong access controls: Limit who can see and change your logs to trusted personnel only.

You get an accurate record of events even if a breach occurs when you have tamper-proof logs. They also keep the bad guys from seeing all your system activity tracking.

Institute Log Retention Policies

How long should you retain certain logs? Keeping some forever isn't practical (or always necessary). But deleting them too soon can be risky, too. That's why you need clear log retention policies.

Consider these ideas:

Compliances: 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.

You always want to ensure you have the data you need without sacrificing performance, so strike the right balance with retention policies.

Regularly Check Logs

Don’t wait until something goes wrong, because event logging is only as good as your ability to use it. Do NOT just ‘set and forget’ your logs - you should check them regularly. This helps you spot anomalies and identify suspicious patterns. It also helps you respond to threats before they cause serious damage. Use security software to help automate this process.

How to do this effectively:

Automate alerts: You need to be notified immediately of critical events like failed logins or unauthorized access.

Review logs periodically: Peruse your logs regularly. Look for patterns that might show a threat.

Event correlation: Use your SIEM to connect the dots between different activities. It can reveal more complex attacks.