Piergiorgio Venuti
Why IT audit and log management are important for Cybersecurity
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Introduction
Cybersecurity has become a major concern for modern businesses. With the increase in cyber attacks, data breaches and privacy threats, organizations must take proactive measures to protect their systems and data. Two key components of any cybersecurity program are IT audit and log management. But what is the difference between these two aspects? And why are both necessary?
What is an IT audit?
An IT audit is a process of checking security controls, configurations and vulnerabilities within an organization’s IT infrastructure and systems. Audits are conducted on a periodic basis by internal or external auditors to identify risks, weaknesses and areas for improvement.
Common elements of an IT audit include:
- Check network and security configurations
- Vulnerability scanning and penetration testing
- Review of access controls and policies
- Evaluation of update and patch management
- Inspection of incident management and response plans
Audits provide a periodic snapshot of the security posture and help ensure regulatory compliance. However, they do not provide continuous monitoring and visibility.
What is log management?
Log management refers to the centralized collection, storage and analysis of logs generated by IT systems, applications and network devices. Logs record user and system activity and are a vital source of security data and information.
The main capabilities of a log management solution include:
- Collection and centralization of logs from heterogeneous sources
- Secure long-term log storage
- Real-time correlation of suspicious events and activities
- Dashboards and reporting for visibility and monitoring
- Configurable alarms and warnings
- Log analysis for investigations and forensics
Log management provides continuous monitoring and visibility into threats and anomalous activities. However, it does not perform proactive checks of security controls.
Key differences
While audit and log management are both critical to an effective security program, there are some key differences:
Frequency – Audits are periodic. Log management is continuous and in real time.
Approach – Audits are proactive, timely checks. Log management is passive and reactive.
Perspective – Audits provide a cross-sectional snapshot. Logs provide a longitudinal view over time.
Coverage – Audits are limited in time and scope. Log management monitors the entire environment.
Output – Audits produce static reports. Logs enable dynamic analysis.
Costs – Audits require ongoing human resources. Log management automates with lower costs.
Benefits of a managed service
For both IT audit and log management, organizations can choose to implement an in-house solution or rely on managed service providers. Managed services offer several benefits:
- Experience – Specialized suppliers with in-depth expertise and established best practices.
- Resources – Access to advanced technologies and dedicated teams of professionals.
- Scalability – Elastic capabilities to meet changing needs.
- Efficiencies – Automation and optimization of processes for greater productivity.
- Compliance – Support meeting compliance standards and frameworks.
- Costs – Converting fixed costs into flexible operating expenses.
- Focus – Freeing up time and resources to focus on your core business.
Whether you choose audit or log management, managed services eliminate complexity and allow you to delegate these critical capabilities to trusted partners.
Considerations for choosing a managed service
When selecting a managed service provider, organizations should consider:
- Coverage – Breadth and depth of functionality and visibility provided.
- Skills – Level of experience with relevant technologies and standards.
- Size – Scale and capacity to handle growing volumes and needs.
- Security – Rigorous controls to protect data confidentiality.
- Flexibility – Customization to fit specific needs.
- Reporting – Clear dashboards and reports for relevant metrics and insights.
- Support – Availability of expert staff for assistance and advice.
- Pricing – Transparent and predictable pricing models.
- Integrations – Ability to incorporate with existing tools.
By choosing carefully, organizations can obtain comprehensive and effective audit and log management services on an ongoing basis.
Internal management vs outsourcing
Organizations must decide whether to manage these capabilities internally or outsource:
Internal management
- Greater control and customization
- Internal network of dedicated staff
- Maintenance of internal skills
Outsourcing
- Instant access to skills and experience
- No hiring or training requirements
- Transfer of complexity and responsibility
- Cost reduction through economies of scale
Outsourcing is often more beneficial for SMEs, while large enterprises can gain value from a hybrid approach.
Conclusion and Summary
IT audit and log management play complementary but distinct roles in a cybersecurity program. Audits provide proactive cross-sectional assessments of security posture, while log management enables ongoing monitoring and analysis. Fully managed services offer specialized expertise, streamlined operations, and elastic capabilities for both audits and log management. By choosing a reliable provider, organizations can enhance their cybersecurity without complexity or excessive expense.
Useful links:
Share
RSS
More Articles…
- From Secure Online Desktop to Cyberfero: rebranding of the leading cybersecurity company
- NIS: what it is and how it protects cybersecurity
- Advanced persistent threats (APTs): what they are and how to defend yourself
- Penetration Testing and MFA: A Dual Strategy to Maximize Security
- Penetration Testing: Where to Strike to Protect Your IT Network
- Ransomware: a plague that brings companies and institutions to their knees. Should you pay the ransom? Here is the answer.
- Why IT audit and log management are important for Cybersecurity
- Red Team, Blue Team and Purple Team: what are the differences?
Categories …
- Backup as a Service (18)
- Acronis Cloud Backup (11)
- Veeam Cloud Connect (4)
- Cloud Conference (3)
- Cloud CRM (1)
- Cloud Server/VPS (22)
- Conferenza Cloud (4)
- Cyberfero (15)
- ICT Monitoring (5)
- Log Management (2)
- News (25)
- ownCloud (4)
- Privacy (7)
- Security (203)
- Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) (8)
- Deception (4)
- Ethical Phishing (11)
- Netwrix Auditor (2)
- Penetration Test (11)
- Posture Guard (3)
- SOCaaS (65)
- Vulnerabilities (84)
- Web Hosting (15)
Tags
darkreading
- Genetec Physical Security Report Shows Accelerating Hybrid Cloud Adoption December 9, 2024More than 4% of US attempted e-commerce transactions between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday suspected to be fraudulent.
- Large-Scale Incidents & the Art of Vulnerability Prioritization December 9, 2024We can anticipate a growing number of emerging vulnerabilities in the near future, emphasizing the need for an effective prioritization strategy.
- Texas Teen Arrested for Scattered Spider Telecom Hacks December 6, 2024An FBI operation nabbed a member of the infamous cybercrime group, who is spilling the tea on "key Scattered Spider members" and their tactics.
- Microsoft Expands Access to Windows Recall AI Feature December 6, 2024The activity-recording capability has drawn concerns from the security community and privacy experts, but the tech giant is being measured in its gradual rollout, which is still in preview mode.
- Why SOC Roles Need to Evolve to Attract a New Generation December 6, 2024The cybersecurity industry faces a growing crisis in attracting and retaining SOC analysts.
- Open Source Security Priorities Get a Reshuffle December 6, 2024The "Census of Free and Open Source Software" report, which identifies the most critical software projects, sees more cloud infrastructure and Python software designated as critical software components.
- Compromised Software Code Poses New Systemic Risk to U.S. Critical Infrastructure December 5, 2024New Fortress Information Security research shows 90% of software products used by critical infrastructure organizations contain code developed in China.
- Library of Congress Offers AI Legal Guidance to Researchers December 5, 2024Researchers testing generative AI systems can use prompt injection, re-register after being banned, and bypass rate limits without running afoul of copyright law.
- Russia's 'BlueAlpha' APT Hides in Cloudflare Tunnels December 5, 2024Cloudflare Tunnels is just the latest legitimate cloud service that cybercriminals and state-sponsored threat actors are abusing to hide their tracks.
- Bypass Bug Revives Critical N-Day in Mitel MiCollab December 5, 2024A single barrier prevented attackers from exploiting a critical vulnerability in an enterprise collaboration platform. Now there's a workaround.
Full Disclosure
- SEC Consult SA-20241204-0 :: Multiple Critical Vulnerabilities in Image Access Scan2Net (14 CVE) December 5, 2024Posted by SEC Consult Vulnerability Lab via Fulldisclosure on Dec 04SEC Consult Vulnerability Lab Security Advisory < 20241204-0 > ======================================================================= title: Multiple Critical Vulnerabilities product: Image Access Scan2Net vulnerable version: Firmware
- Microsoft Warbird and PMP security research - technical doc December 3, 2024Posted by Security Explorations on Dec 03Hello All, We have released a technical document pertaining to our Warbird / PMP security research. It is available for download from this location: https://security-explorations.com/materials/wbpmp_doc.md.txt The document provides a more in-depth technical explanation, illustration and verification of discovered attacks affecting PlayReady on Windows 10 / 11 x64 and pertaining […]
- Access Control in Paxton Net2 software December 3, 2024Posted by Jeroen Hermans via Fulldisclosure on Dec 02CloudAware Security Advisory [CVE pending]: Potential PII leak and incorrect access control in Paxton Net2 software ======================================================================== Summary ======================================================================== Insecure backend database in the Paxton Net2 software. Possible leaking of PII incorrect access control. No physical access to computer running Paxton Net2 is required....
- SEC Consult SA-20241127-0 :: Stored Cross-Site Scripting in Omada Identity (CVE-2024-52951) November 27, 2024Posted by SEC Consult Vulnerability Lab via Fulldisclosure on Nov 27SEC Consult Vulnerability Lab Security Advisory < 20241127-0 > ======================================================================= title: Stored Cross-Site Scripting product: Omada Identity vulnerable version:
- SEC Consult SA-20241125-0 :: Unlocked JTAG interface and buffer overflow in Siemens SM-2558 Protocol Element, Siemens CP-2016 & CP-2019 November 27, 2024Posted by SEC Consult Vulnerability Lab via Fulldisclosure on Nov 27SEC Consult Vulnerability Lab Security Advisory < 20241125-0 > ======================================================================= title: Unlocked JTAG interface and buffer overflow product: Siemens SM-2558 Protocol Element (extension module for Siemens SICAM AK3/TM/BC), Siemens CP-2016 & CP-2019 vulnerable version: JTAG: Unknown HW revision, Zynq Firmware...
- Re: Local Privilege Escalations in needrestart November 27, 2024Posted by Mark Esler on Nov 27The security fix for CVE-2024-48991, 6ce6136 (“core: prevent race condition on /proc/$PID/exec evaluation”) [0], introduced a regression which was subsequently fixed 42af5d3 ("core: fix regression of false positives for processes running in chroot or mountns (#317)") [1]. Many thanks to Ivan Kurnosov and Salvatore Bonaccorso for their review. [0] […]
- APPLE-SA-11-19-2024-5 macOS Sequoia 15.1.1 November 21, 2024Posted by Apple Product Security via Fulldisclosure on Nov 21APPLE-SA-11-19-2024-5 macOS Sequoia 15.1.1 macOS Sequoia 15.1.1 addresses the following issues. Information about the security content is also available at https://support.apple.com/121753. Apple maintains a Security Releases page at https://support.apple.com/100100 which lists recent software updates with security advisories. JavaScriptCore Available for: macOS Sequoia Impact: Processing maliciously crafted […]
- Local Privilege Escalations in needrestart November 21, 2024Posted by Qualys Security Advisory via Fulldisclosure on Nov 21Qualys Security Advisory LPEs in needrestart (CVE-2024-48990, CVE-2024-48991, CVE-2024-48992, CVE-2024-10224, and CVE-2024-11003) ======================================================================== Contents ======================================================================== Summary Background CVE-2024-48990 (and CVE-2024-48992) CVE-2024-48991 CVE-2024-10224 (and CVE-2024-11003) Mitigation Acknowledgments Timeline I got bugs...
- APPLE-SA-11-19-2024-4 iOS 17.7.2 and iPadOS 17.7.2 November 21, 2024Posted by Apple Product Security via Fulldisclosure on Nov 21APPLE-SA-11-19-2024-4 iOS 17.7.2 and iPadOS 17.7.2 iOS 17.7.2 and iPadOS 17.7.2 addresses the following issues. Information about the security content is also available at https://support.apple.com/121754. Apple maintains a Security Releases page at https://support.apple.com/100100 which lists recent software updates with security advisories. JavaScriptCore Available for: iPhone XS […]
- APPLE-SA-11-19-2024-3 iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1 November 21, 2024Posted by Apple Product Security via Fulldisclosure on Nov 21APPLE-SA-11-19-2024-3 iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1 iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1 addresses the following issues. Information about the security content is also available at https://support.apple.com/121752. Apple maintains a Security Releases page at https://support.apple.com/100100 which lists recent software updates with security advisories. JavaScriptCore Available for: iPhone XS […]
Customers
Twitter FEED
Recent activity
-
SecureOnlineDesktop
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes L'impatto crescente delle minacce informatiche, su sistemi operativi privati op… https://t.co/FimxTS4o9G
-
SecureOnlineDesktop
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes The growing impact of cyber threats, on private or corporate operating systems… https://t.co/y6G6RYA9n1
-
SecureOnlineDesktop
Tempo di lettura stimato: 6 minuti Today we are talking about the CTI update of our services. Data security is… https://t.co/YAZkn7iFqa
-
SecureOnlineDesktop
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes Il tema della sicurezza delle informazioni è di grande attualità in questo peri… https://t.co/tfve5Kzr09
-
SecureOnlineDesktop
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes The issue of information security is very topical in this historical period ch… https://t.co/TP8gvdRcrF
Newsletter
{subscription_form_1}Products and Solutions
Partners
Cloud Models
News
- From Secure Online Desktop to Cyberfero: rebranding of the leading cybersecurity company May 6, 2024
- NIS: what it is and how it protects cybersecurity April 22, 2024
- Advanced persistent threats (APTs): what they are and how to defend yourself April 17, 2024
- Penetration Testing and MFA: A Dual Strategy to Maximize Security April 15, 2024
- Penetration Testing: Where to Strike to Protect Your IT Network March 25, 2024
Google Reviews
Ottima azienda, servizi molto utili, staff qualificato e competente. Raccomandata!read more
Ottimo supportoread more
E' un piacere poter collaborare con realtà di questo tiporead more
Un ottimo fornitore.
Io personalmente ho parlato con l' Ing. Venuti, valore aggiunto indubbiamente.read more
About
© 2024 Cyberfero s.r.l. All Rights Reserved. Sede Legale: via Statuto 3 - 42121 Reggio Emilia (RE) – PEC [email protected] Cod. fiscale e P.IVA 03058120357 – R.E.A. 356650 Informativa Privacy - Certificazioni ISO