Why Event Log Monitoring Is Critical for Detecting Cyber Threats

In today's world, cyber threats are a constant concern for businesses of all sizes. While many organizations invest in firewalls, antivirus software, and other security measures, these alone are not enough to protect against all types of cyber attacks. One often-overlooked area of security is Event Log Monitoring.

This article will cover the basics of event log monitoring and provide examples of threats that could go unnoticed without proper monitoring.

Examples of Cyber Threats That Can Go Undetected Without Event Log Monitoring

Cyber threats are constantly evolving and becoming more sophisticated, making it difficult for organizations to keep their systems secure. Hackers and malicious insiders can perform various actions on an endpoint that can go undetected by traditional security tools like firewalls and antivirus. These actions can include stealing confidential information, installing malware, deleting data, or taking control of the system.

Here are some examples of threats that could go unnoticed without Event Log Monitoring:

Failed Logins

One of the most common attacks against any network is brute-force attacks. This is when an attacker repeatedly tries different username and password combinations until they guess the right one. This is a slow and steady process, and most of the time it goes unnoticed. With event log monitoring, every failed login attempt is recorded and can be used to detect when a brute-force attack is happening.

Unauthorized Access

Hackers can gain unauthorized access to systems by exploiting vulnerabilities or taking advantage of unsecured ports or connections. This kind of activity can be detected with event log monitoring, which will show when a user account is created or enabled or when an account’s password is changed. This information can help IT teams determine whether the access was authorized or not.

Malware Infections

Malware can infect a system in a number of ways, such as through email attachments, drive-by downloads, or malicious websites. Once inside the system, malware can perform a variety of malicious activities such as stealing data or destroying files. Without event log monitoring, these activities can go unnoticed for a long time. Event log monitoring can help detect suspicious activities such as changes to system files, unusual network traffic, or unexpected process executions that may indicate a malware infection.

Lateral Movement

Once a hacker has gained access to a system, they will typically try to expand their access within the network. This is called lateral movement, and it can go undetected if event logs aren’t being monitored. Event log monitoring can detect suspicious activity such as a user account logging in from an unusual location or accessing files they shouldn’t have access to.

By having event log monitoring in place, small and medium-sized businesses can detect these and other types of threats early and take proactive measures to prevent them from becoming a full-blown cyber attack.

Manual Event Log Monitoring

One way to monitor event logs is to manually comb through them for suspicious activity. However, this is an extremely time-consuming and tedious process, which is why many organizations choose not to do it. Manually monitoring event logs would require logging into each device individually and inspecting each event for malicious activity. Additionally, given the sheer number of events generated by each endpoint, it is easy for suspicious activity to be missed.

Even when a threat is identified, manual monitoring can lead to a slow response time. In many cases, threats can be identified early but are not acted upon until it is too late. For example, the 2017 Equifax breach, which exposed sensitive information for millions of people, was caused by a vulnerability that was identified but not addressed for months.

Despite these challenges, manual event log monitoring can be an effective way to detect threats if done correctly. IT professionals can manually monitor events such as logon failures, privilege escalation attempts, and changes to user accounts to identify suspicious activity.

To be effective, manual monitoring should be conducted on a regular basis, with a focus on critical devices and systems. Additionally, IT professionals should be trained on what to look for and have a clear process for escalating and addressing identified threats.

While manual monitoring can be effective, it is not a scalable or efficient solution for most organizations. This is where automated event log monitoring comes in.

Automated Event Log Monitoring

Automated event log monitoring has emerged as an effective solution to address the challenges associated with manual monitoring. Automated event log monitoring tools can scan event logs across all endpoints in real-time, using predefined rules to detect and alert IT teams about potential security threats.

Automated event log monitoring allows IT teams to efficiently identify security incidents in real-time, reducing response times and improving the overall security posture of an organization. Furthermore, automated event log monitoring enables IT teams to identify trends and patterns in event logs, which can be used to proactively address potential security risks before they become incidents.

Conclusion

Event log monitoring is a critical component of any effective cybersecurity strategy. Without it, organizations are vulnerable to a wide range of threats that can go undetected until it's too late. However, manually monitoring event logs can be a daunting and time-consuming task, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses that don't have the necessary resources or expertise.

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