What is event monitoring in information security and what is its purpose in an enterprise? And what are some of the common event monitoring tools?
The practice of recording and analyzing numerous activities and events in an enterprise’s IT systems, networks, and applications in order to identify potential security threats or incidents is known as event monitoring in information security. To achieve this, log data from multiple sources, including servers, network devices, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and other security devices, is gathered and analyzed.
Event monitoring is used to give businesses real-time visibility into their IT infrastructure and spot any unusual activity that might be a sign of a security breach. Security analysts can spot possible risks, look into issues, and respond to security incidents rapidly before they cause substantial damage by keeping an eye on events and activities.
Typical event tracking tools include:
- Firewall log analysis tools: These programs examine firewall log data to find security-related occurrences and possible security issues.
- Endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools: EDR solutions keep an eye out for any unexpected behavior or activity that could hint to a security breach on endpoints including laptops, desktops, and servers.
- Vulnerability scanners: These tools search an organization’s IT systems and apps for flaws that attackers might exploit.
- Security information and event management (SIEM) systems: SIEM solutions gather and analyze security event data from many sources to offer a thorough understanding of an enterprise’s security posture.
- IDS/IPS (Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems): These systems look for recognizable or suspicious patterns in network traffic in order to identify and stop network-based attacks.