Review Of The Audit Log Is An Example Of Which Of The Following Types Of Security Control?

Review Of The Audit Log Is An Example Of Which Of The Following Types Of Security Control?
Choice ‘D’ is correct. Audit logs are detective security controls. They are generally chronological records that provide documentary evidence of the sequence of activities that can be used to detect errors or irregularities.Choice ‘c’ is incorrect. Audit logs do not represent governance security controls. Governance

What type of control is an audit log?

Explanation. Audit trails are considered a passive form of detective security control.

What are security audit logs?

Security Audit Trail – Definition(s): A set of records that collectively provide documentary evidence of processing used to aid in tracing from original transactions forward to related records and reports, and/or backwards from records and reports to their component source transactions.

What are the different types of audit logs?

Hello, and welcome to Log Types. What I want to do here is just introduce you to the different types of cloud audit logs that you’ll find yourself working with. There are four types of audit logs that you’ll work with. They include Admin Activity audit logs, Data Access audit logs, System Event audit logs, and Policy Denied audit logs.

These logs are used to track down who did what, where they did it, and when. It’s the classic who, what, when, and where. Let’s first take a look at Admin Activity audit logs. Log entries for API calls and other administrative actions that result in the changes to the configuration or metadata of resources will be included in the Admin Activity audit logs.

For example, when a user creates a VM instance, an audit log entry will be generated and posted to the Admin Activity audit log. To view Admin Activity audit logs, you need to be assigned either the Logging/Logs Viewer IAM role, or Project/Viewer IAM role.

I should also mention that Admin Activity audit logs are always written.
This isn’t a feature that you can configure or disable.
Data Access audit logs are logs that contain API calls that read the configuration of resources, or that read the metadata of resources.
They also contain user-driven API calls that create, modify, or read user-provided resource data.

It’s important to understand, however, that Data Access audit logs do not record data-access operations on any kind of publicly-shared resources or resources that can be accessed without logging into Google Cloud. Viewing Data Access audit logs requires that you be assigned the IAM role of Logging/Private Logs Viewer OR Project/Owner.

I should also mention that Data Access audit logs are disabled by default. This is because these logs can get large quickly. That being the case, if you wish to leverage them, you have to specifically enable them. Now, when you do this, you may wind up being charged for the additional logs usage. System Event audit logs are used to house log entries for Google Cloud administrative actions that result in the modification of resource configuration.

These audit logs are not created from direct user actions. Instead, they are generated by Google systems. Viewing System Event audit logs requires either the Logging/Logs Viewer IAM role, or the Project/Viewer role. Like the Admin Activity audit logs, System Event audit logs are always written.

They cannot be configured, nor disabled.
The last log type that I want to touch on is the Policy Denied audit log.
Policy Denied audit logs get recorded whenever a Google Cloud service denies access to a user or service account due to a violation of a security policy.
To view Policy Denied audit logs, you need to have been assigned the Logging/Logs Viewer IAM role, or the Project/Viewer IAM role.

Google Cloud generates Policy Denied audit logs by default – and Cloud projects are charged for the storage of these logs. That said, you can limit what is logged, and reduce those charges, by using Logs exclusions to exclude Policy Denied logs. When you do this, the Policy Denied audit logs are not ingested into Cloud Logging.

About the Author Tom is a 25+ year veteran of the IT industry, having worked in environments as large as 40k seats and as small as 50 seats. Throughout the course of a long an interesting career, he has built an in-depth skillset that spans numerous IT disciplines. Tom has designed and architected small, large, and global IT solutions.

In addition to the Cloud Platform and Infrastructure MCSE certification, Tom also carries several other Microsoft certifications. His ability to see things from a strategic perspective allows Tom to architect solutions that closely align with business needs.

What is audit trail type of security control?

An audit trail (also called audit log) is a security-relevant chronological record, set of records, and/or destination and source of records that provide documentary evidence of the sequence of activities that have affected at any time a specific operation, procedure, or event.

What are the examples of audit logging?

Events to audit log – The most basic audit logging functionality requires a clear understanding of which events should be recorded in the audit log. The ISO-27002 specifications provide some clarity about what enterprise customers will likely need to have logged.

However, every application can be a bit different in terms of what activities should actually be logged for auditing.
Generally, the specific content of a target is not audit logged, rather the state or context is logged.
Examples of events that should be audit logged are as follows: application specific user activities, exceptions, information security events (successful and rejected events), use of privileges, log-on failed-attempts & successes, log-off, data accessed, data attempted to be accessed, administrative configuration changes and the use of advanced privileges.

The best way to organize events is as the combination of targets receiving actions (i.e. user.created, user.deleted, document.viewed, account.setting.updated ). Actions can generally be categorized into their CRUD type (i.e. C reate, R ead, U pdate, or D elete).

What is an example of audit control?

Reconciliations – Comparisons are made between similar records maintained by different people to verify transaction details are accurate and that all transactions are properly recorded. Specific examples would include: Performing a reconciliation from bank statements to check register/records. Balancing/reconciling cash on hand to sales or transaction activity on the cash register totals.

What are audit logs used for?

What Is Audit Logging? – Audit logging is the process of documenting activity within the software systems used across your organization. Audit logs record the occurrence of an event, the time at which it occurred, the responsible user or service, and the impacted entity.

All of the devices in your network, your cloud services, and your applications emit logs that may be used for auditing purposes.
A series of audit logs is called an audit trail because it shows a sequential record of all the activity on a specific system.
By reviewing audit logs, systems administrators can track user activity, and security teams can investigate breaches and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.

Audit logs capture the following types of information:

Event name as identified in the systemEasy-to-understand description of the eventEvent timestampActor or service that created, edited, or deleted the event (user ID or API ID)Application, device, system, or object that was impacted (IP address, device ID, etc.)Source from where the actor or service originated (country, host name, IP address, device ID, etc.)Custom tags specified by the user, such as severity level of the event

While audit logs can take the form of a physical file, the term usually refers to digital records that you can store in a log management platform.

What are examples of security logs?

IV. Standard – Security logs are records of events occurring within the university’s systems and networks. A security log captures information associated with information security-related events. Specifically, security logs:

Can identify anomalies for further analysis and potential remediation; Allow for 24/7 monitoring of security-related issues; and Are critical for successful forensic examination of events related to security incidents.

Examples of security software logs include (non-exhaustive): Antivirus; intrusion prevention system; vulnerability management; authentication servers; firewalls; routers. Examples of operating systems and application logs include (non-exhaustive): System events; audit records.

Security logs, which capture information associated with security events and may contain personally identifiable information about the users of information resources, are a type of IT security information and are classified as High data. Logging must be enabled at the operating system, application and database, and device levels when data classified as Restricted, High, and Moderate are created, processed, maintained, transmitted, or stored.

It is recommended that logging is enabled for systems, applications, and databases that maintain data classified as Low, Individual faculty members that maintain student records (FERPA data) on their own devices, whether or not university-maintained, are exempt from this requirement.

What are the three main types of audit reports?

Key Takeaways –

There are three main types of audits: external audits, internal audits, and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audits.External audits are commonly performed by Certified Public Accounting (CPA) firms and result in an auditor’s opinion which is included in the audit report.An unqualified, or clean, audit opinion means that the auditor has not identified any material misstatement as a result of his or her review of the financial statements.External audits can include a review of both financial statements and a company’s internal controls.Internal audits serve as a managerial tool to make improvements to processes and internal controls.

What are security audit controls?

What Systems Does an Audit Cover? – During a security audit, each system an organization uses may be assessed for vulnerabilities in specific areas including:

Network vulnerabilities —Auditors look for weaknesses in any network component that an attacker could exploit to access systems or information or cause damage. Information as it travels between 2 points is particularly vulnerable. Security audits and regular network monitoring keep track of network traffic, including emails, instant messages, files and other communications. Network availability and access points are also included in this part of the audit.
Security controls —During this part of the audit, the auditor looks at the effectiveness of an organization’s security controls. This includes evaluating how well an organization has implemented the policies and procedures it has established to safeguard its data and systems.
Encryption —This part of the audit verifies that an organization has controls in place to manage data encryption processes.
Software systems —Software systems are examined to ensure that they are working properly and providing accurate information and that controls are in place to prevent unauthorized users from gaining access to private data. The areas examined include data processing, software development and computer systems.
Architecture management capabilities —Auditors verify that IT management has organizational structures and procedures in place to create an efficient and controlled environment to process data.
Telecommunications controls —Auditors check that telecommunications controls are working on client sides, server sides and on the network that connects them.
Systems development audit —Audits covering this area verify that any systems under development meet security objectives set by the organization. This part of the audit is also done to ensure that systems under development are following set standards.
Information processing —These audits verify that data processing security measures are in place.

What are the three categories of security controls?

Three Categories of Security Controls There are three primary areas or classifications of security controls. These include management security, operational security, and physical security controls. Management security is the overall design of your controls.

Is audit trail an example of control?

AUDIT TRAILS Audit trails maintain a record of system activity both by system and application processes and by user activity of systems and applications. In conjunction with appropriate tools and procedures, audit trails can assist in detecting security violations, performance problems, and flaws in applications.

This bulletin focuses on audit trails as a technical control and discusses the benefits and objectives of audit trails, the types of audit trails, and some common implementation issues. An audit trail is a series of records of computer events, about an operating system, an application, or user activities.

A computer system may have several audit trails, each devoted to a particular type of activity. Auditing is a review and analysis of management, operational, and technical controls. The auditor can obtain valuable information about activity on a computer system from the audit trail.

Audit trails improve the auditability of the computer system.
Audit trails may be used as either a support for regular system operations or a kind of insurance policy or as both of these.
As insurance, audit trails are maintained but are not used unless needed, such as after a system outage.
As a support for operations, audit trails are used to help system administrators ensure that the system or resources have not been harmed by hackers, insiders, or technical problems.

BENEFITS AND OBJECTIVES Audit trails can provide a means to help accomplish several security-related objectives, including individual accountability, reconstruction of events (actions that happen on a computer system), intrusion detection, and problem analysis.

Individual Accountability Audit trails are a technical mechanism that help managers maintain individual accountability.
By advising users that they are personally accountable for their actions, which are tracked by an audit trail that logs user activities, managers can help promote proper user behavior.

Users are less likely to attempt to circumvent security policy if they know that their actions will be recorded in an audit log. For example, audit trails can be used in concert with access controls to identify and provide information about users suspected of improper modification of data (e.g., introducing errors into a database).

An audit trail may record “before” and “after” versions of records. (Depending upon the size of the file and the capabilities of the audit logging tools, this may be very resource-intensive.) Comparisons can then be made between the actual changes made to records and what was expected. This can help management determine if errors were made by the user, by the system or application software, or by some other source.

Audit trails work in concert with logical access controls, which restrict use of system resources. Granting users access to particular resources usually means that they need that access to accomplish their job. Authorized access, of course, can be misused, which is where audit trail analysis is useful.

While users cannot be prevented from using resources to which they have legitimate access authorization, audit trail analysis is used to examine their actions.
For example, consider a personnel office in which users have access to those personnel records for which they are responsible.
Audit trails can reveal that an individual is printing far more records than the average user, which could indicate the selling of personal data.

Another example may be an engineer who is using a computer for the design of a new product. Audit trail analysis could reveal that an outgoing modem was used extensively by the engineer the week before quitting. This could be used to investigate whether proprietary data files were sent to an unauthorized party.

Reconstruction of Events Audit trails can also be used to reconstruct events after a problem has occurred. Damage can be more easily assessed by reviewing audit trails of system activity to pinpoint how, when, and why normal operations ceased. Audit trail analysis can often distinguish between operator-induced errors (during which the system may have performed exactly as instructed) or system-created errors (e.g., arising from a poorly tested piece of replacement code).

If, for example, a system fails or the integrity of a file (either program or data) is questioned, an analysis of the audit trail can reconstruct the series of steps taken by the system, the users, and the application. Knowledge of the conditions that existed at the time of, for example, a system crash, can be useful in avoiding future outages.

Additionally, if a technical problem occurs (e.g., the corruption of a data file) audit trails can aid in the recovery process (e.g., by using the record of changes made to reconstruct the file). Intrusion Detection Intrusion detection refers to the process of identifying attempts to penetrate a system and gain unauthorized access.

If audit trails have been designed and implemented to record appropriate information, they can assist in intrusion detection. Although normally thought of as a real-time effort, intrusions can be detected in real time, by examining audit records as they are created (or through the use of other kinds of warning flags/notices), or after the fact (e.g., by examining audit records in a batch process).

Real-time intrusion detection is primarily aimed at outsiders attempting to gain unauthorized access to the system.
It may also be used to detect changes in the system’s performance indicative of, for example, a virus or worm attack (forms of malicious code).
There may be difficulties in implementing real-time auditing, including unacceptable system performance.

After-the-fact identification may indicate that unauthorized access was attempted (or was successful). Attention can then be given to damage assessment or reviewing controls that were attacked. Problem Analysis Audit trails may also be used as on-line tools to help identify problems other than intrusions as they occur.

This is often referred to as real-time auditing or monitoring.
If a system or application is deemed to be critical to an organization’s business or mission, real-time auditing may be implemented to monitor the status of these processes (although, as noted above, there can be difficulties with real-time analysis).

An analysis of the audit trails may be able to verify that the system operated normally (i.e., that an error may have resulted from operator error, as opposed to a system-originated error). Such use of audit trails may be complemented by system performance logs.

For example, a significant increase in the use of system resources (e.g., disk file space or outgoing modem use) could indicate a security problem. AUDIT TRAILS AND LOGS A system can maintain several different audit trails concurrently. There are typically two kinds of audit records, (1) an event-oriented log and (2) a record of every keystroke, often called keystroke monitoring.

Event-based logs usually contain records describing system events, application events, or user events. An audit trail should include sufficient information to establish what events occurred and who (or what) caused them. In general, an event record should specify when the event occurred, the user ID associated with the event, the program or command used to initiate the event, and the result.

Date and time can help determine if the user was a masquerader or the actual person specified.
Eystroke Monitoring Keystroke monitoring is the process used to view or record both the keystrokes entered by a computer user and the computer’s response during an interactive session.
Eystroke monitoring is usually considered a special case of audit trails.

Examples of keystroke monitoring would include viewing characters as they are typed by users, reading users’ electronic mail, and viewing other recorded information typed by users. (See the CSL Bulletin of March 1993, for guidance on the legality of keystroke monitoring.) Some forms of routine system maintenance may record user keystrokes.

This could constitute keystroke monitoring if the keystrokes are preserved along with the user identification so that an administrator could determine the keystrokes entered by specific users. Keystroke monitoring is conducted in an effort to protect systems and data from intruders who access the systems without authority or in excess of their assigned authority.

Monitoring keystrokes typed by intruders can help administrators assess and repair damage caused by intruders. Audit Events System audit records are generally used to monitor and fine-tune system performance. Application audit trails may be used to discern flaws in applications, or violations of security policy committed within an application.

User audits records are generally used to hold individuals accountable for their actions. An analysis of user audit records may expose a variety of security violations, which might range from simple browsing to attempts to plant Trojan horses or gain unauthorized privileges. The system itself enforces certain aspects of policy (particularly system-specific policy) such as access to files and access to the system itself.

Understanding audit logs

Monitoring the alteration of systems configuration files that implement the policy is important. If special accesses (e.g., security administrator access) have to be used to alter configuration files, the system should generate audit records whenever these accesses are used.

Sometimes a finer level of detail than system audit trails is required.
Application audit trails can provide this greater level of recorded detail.
If an application is critical, it can be desirable to record not only who invoked the application, but certain details specific to each use.
For example, consider an e-mail application.

It may be desirable to record who sent mail, as well as to whom they sent mail and the length of messages. Another example would be that of a database application. It may be useful to record who accessed what database as well as the individual rows or columns of a table that were read (or changed or deleted), instead of just recording the execution of the database program.

A user audit trail monitors and logs user activity in a system or application by recording events initiated by the user (e.g., access of a file, record or field, use of a modem).
Flexibility is a critical feature of audit trails.
Ideally (from a security point of view), a system administrator would have the ability to monitor all system and user activity, but could choose to log only certain functions at the system level, and within certain applications.

The decision of how much to log and how much to review should be a function of application/data sensitivity and should be decided by each functional manager/application owner with guidance from the system administrator and the computer security manager/officer, weighing the costs and benefits of the logging.

Audit logging can have privacy implications; users should be aware of applicable privacy laws, regulations, and policies that may apply in such situations. System-Level Audit Trails If a system-level audit capability exists, the audit trail should capture, at a minimum, any attempt to log on (successful or unsuccessful), the log-on ID, date and time of each log-on attempt, date and time of each log-off, the devices used, and the function(s) performed once logged on (e.g., the applications that the user tried, successfully or unsuccessfully, to invoke).

System-level logging also typically includes information that is not specifically security-related, such as system operations, cost-accounting charges, and network performance. Application-Level Audit Trails System-level audit trails may not be able to track and log events within applications, or may not be able to provide the level of detail needed by application or data owners, the system administrator, or the computer security manager.

In general, application-level audit trails monitor and log user activities, including data files opened and closed, specific actions, such as reading, editing, and deleting records or fields, and printing reports. Some applications may be sensitive enough from a data availability, confidentiality, and/or integrity perspective that a “before” and “after” picture of each modified record (or the data element(s) changed within a record) should be captured by the audit trail.

User Audit Trails User audit trails can usually log: – all commands directly initiated by the user; – all identification and authentication attempts; and – files and resources accessed. It is most useful if options and parameters are also recorded from commands.

It is much more useful to know that a user tried to delete a log file (e.g., to hide unauthorized actions) than to know the user merely issued the delete command, possibly for a personal data file.
IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES Audit trail data requires protection, since the data should be available for use when needed and is not useful if it is not accurate.

Also, the best planned and implemented audit trail is of limited value without timely review of the logged data. Audit trails may be reviewed periodically, as needed (often triggered by occurrence of a security event), automatically in real-time, or in some combination of these.

System managers and administrators, with guidance from computer security personnel, should determine how long audit trail data will be maintained – either on the system or in archive files.
Following are examples of implementation issues that may have to be addressed when using audit trails.
Protecting Audit Trail Data Access to on-line audit logs should be strictly controlled.

Computer security managers and system administrators or managers should have access for review purposes; however, security and/or administration personnel who maintain logical access functions may have no need for access to audit logs. It is particularly important to ensure the integrity of audit trail data against modification.

One way to do this is to use digital signatures.
Another way is to use write-once devices.
The audit trail files need to be protected since, for example, intruders may try to “cover their tracks” by modifying audit trail records.
Audit trail records should be protected by strong access controls to help prevent unauthorized access.

The integrity of audit trail information may be particularly important when legal issues arise, such as when audit trails are used as legal evidence. (This may, for example, require daily printing and signing of the logs.) Questions of such legal issues should be directed to the cognizant legal counsel.

The confidentiality of audit trail information may also be protected, for example, if the audit trail is recording information about users that may be disclosure-sensitive such as transaction data containing personal information (e.g., “before” and “after” records of modification to income tax data).

Strong access controls and encryption can be particularly effective in preserving confidentiality. Review of Audit Trails Audit trails can be used to review what occurred after an event, for periodic reviews, and for real-time analysis. Reviewers should know what to look for to be effective in spotting unusual activity.

They need to understand what normal activity looks like.
Audit trail review can be easier if the audit trail function can be queried by user ID, terminal ID, application name, date and time, or some other set of parameters to run reports of selected information.
Audit Trail Review After an Event.
Following a known system or application software problem, a known violation of existing requirements by a user, or some unexplained system or user problem, the appropriate system-level or application-level administrator should review the audit trails.

Review by the application/data owner would normally involve a separate report, based upon audit trail data, to determine if their resources are being misused. Periodic Review of Audit Trail Data. Application owners, data owners, system administrators, data processing function managers, and computer security managers should determine how much review of audit trail records is necessary, based on the importance of identifying unauthorized activities.

This determination should have a direct correlation to the frequency of periodic reviews of audit trail data.
Real-Time Audit Analysis.
Traditionally, audit trails are analyzed in a batch mode at regular intervals (e.g., daily).
Audit records are archived during that interval for later analysis.
Audit analysis tools can also be used in a real-time, or near real-time fashion.

Such intrusion detection tools are based on audit reduction, attack signature, and variance techniques. Manual review of audit records in real-time is almost never feasible on large multiuser systems due to the volume of records generated. However, it might be possible to view all records associated with a particular user or application, and view them in real time.

(This is similar to keystroke monitoring, though, and may be legally restricted.) Tools for Audit Trail Analysis Many types of tools have been developed to help to reduce the amount of information contained in audit records, as well as to distill useful information from the raw data. Especially on larger systems, audit trail software can create very large files, which can be extremely difficult to analyze manually.

The use of automated tools is likely to be the difference between unused audit trail data and a robust program. Some of the types of tools include: Audit reduction tools are preprocessors designed to reduce the volume of audit records to facilitate manual review.

Before a security review, these tools can remove many audit records known to have little security significance.
This alone may cut in half the number of records in the audit trail.) These tools generally remove records generated by specified classes of events, such as records generated by nightly backups might be removed.

Trends/variance-detection tools look for anomalies in user or system behavior. It is possible to construct more sophisticated processors that monitor usage trends and detect major variations. For example, if a user typically logs in at 9 a.m., but appears at 4:30 a.m.

One morning, this may indicate a security problem that may need to be investigated. Attack signature-detection tools look for an attack signature, which is a specific sequence of events indicative of an unauthorized access attempt. A simple example would be repeated failed log-in attempts. COST CONSIDERATIONS Audit trails involve many costs.

First, some system overhead is incurred recording the audit trail. Additional system overhead will be incurred storing and processing the records. The more detailed the records, the more overhead is required. Another cost involves human and machine time required to do the analysis.

This can be minimized by using tools to perform most of the analysis. Many simple analyzers can be constructed quickly (and cheaply) from system utilities, but they are limited to audit reduction and identifying particularly sensitive events. More complex tools that identify trends or sequences of events are slowly becoming available as off-the-shelf software.

(If complex tools are not available for a system, development may be prohibitively expensive. Some intrusion detection systems, for example, have taken years to develop.) The final cost of audit trails is the cost of investigating anomalous events. If the system is identifying too many events as suspicious, administrators may spend undue time reconstructing events and questioning personnel.

What is audit trail examples?

What is the Purpose of an Audit Trail and Logging? – Audit trails (or audit logs) act as record-keepers that document evidence of certain events, procedures or operations, so their purpose is to reduce fraud, material errors, and unauthorized use. Even your grocery store receipt is an example of a logged audit trail.

What is log and audit trail?

Conclusion – The article introduced you to Audit Trail Logs and discussed its 6 key aspects including its applications, benefits and challenges. An audit trail log is a time and date-stamped, sequential record with details and history of events that happen within a software system.

An audit trail log helps to track administrative events, data accesses and modifications, login failures, user denials, and system-wide changes.
The audit trail is good for ensuring that compliance standards are met within an organization, gaining insights, troubleshooting software to improve security, and providing legal evidence.

However, organizations experience a challenge in identifying what to audit in their software systems. The Audit trail log can also be accessed and edited by an intruder with the goal of covering their tracks. Visit our Website to Explore Hevo Now, to perform Data Analytics on your Log data, you first need to export this data to a Data Warehouse.

This will require you to custom code complex scripts to develop the ETL processes. Hevo Data can automate your data transfer process, hence allowing you to focus on other aspects of your business like Analytics, Customer Management, etc. This platform allows you to transfer data from 100+ multiple sources to Cloud-based Data Warehouses like Amazon Redshift, Snowflake, Google BigQuery, etc.

It will provide you with a hassle-free experience and make your work life much easier. Want to take Hevo for a spin? Sign Up for a 14-day free trial and experience the feature-rich Hevo suite first hand. Share your understanding of the concept of Audit Trail Logs in the comments below!

What are control risks audit examples?

Examples of control risks include cybersecurity risks, integrity and moral risks, risk of fraud, poor business system designs, etc. Control risk monitoring is a vital responsibility for an organization’s accounting department.

What are the types of audit control risk?

What Are the 3 Types of Audit Risk? – There are three main types of audit risk: Inherent risk, detection risk, and control risk.

What data is audit logs?

All of the devices in your network, your cloud services, and your applications emit logs that may be used for auditing purposes. A series of audit logs is called an audit trail because it shows a sequential record of all the activity on a specific system. By reviewing audit logs, systems administrators can track user activity, and security teams can investigate breaches and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.

Audit logs capture the following types of information:

While audit logs can take the form of a physical file, the term usually refers to digital records that you can store in a log management platform.

What are the audit 5 internal controls?

There are five interrelated components of an internal control framework: control environment, risk assessment, control activities, information and communication, and monitoring.