Is this normal behavior and does it happen more often?

By designing systems with attention to detection, investigation and response to incidents, an organisation can respond more quickly and decisively. To do this, you need robust logging and security monitoring. It increases visibility and ensures that the chances of something happening out of sight remain low.

For effective detection and investigation of incidents, it is crucial to have a security monitoring strategy in place. This means active analysis of logs and other data sources to identify patterns or behaviors that may indicate a security incident. By monitoring systems in this way, potential threats can be recognized and responded to quickly, minimizing the impact of security incidents.

In addition to monitoring, it is essential to have incident response procedures in place. This includes defining roles and responsibilities, setting up communication channels and creating a plan. This allows an organisation to manage security incidents and gives clear direction to everyone involved in handling the incident. These procedures allow a quick response to incidents and minimize the impact on systems and the organization.

The importance of cyber security logging and monitoring

• Improved visibility: Qualitative logging provides an overview of system activity and usage, enabling a better understanding of how systems are utilized and identifying potential security risks.
• Early detection of threats: Monitoring allows proactive analysis of logs and other data sources to detect patterns or behaviors that may indicate a security risk. This makes it possible to detect and respond to incidents before they escalate.
• Extra layer of protection: Security monitoring adds an extra layer of protection to systems and acts as an early warning system for potential security incidents. It also helps in staying ahead of constantly changing threats.
• Effective incident response: By actively monitoring systems via logging, early signs of intrusion can be responded to quickly, before they can cause significant damage.

Targeted logging and monitoring in security strategies

• Understand the objectives: It is crucial to understand the objectives when implementing logging and monitoring. Consider the context of the system, existing threats and available resources so that appropriate monitoring levels can be determined.
• Adapt the monitoring strategy: Tailor monitoring strategies to the specific needs of the organisation. Frequent cyber attacks may require investment in sophisticated SOC services, while organizations with limited resources may simply collect logs in case of a data breach or leak.
• Responding to incidents: Regardless of the monitoring level chosen, the capacity to respond to incidents should be a top priority. Collecting logs and other crucial data during an incident is essential for effective response.
• Proactive and vigilant: The key word for successful logging and monitoring is to be proactive and vigilant. By reviewing and adapting practices regularly, organizations can anticipate emerging threats and respond quickly to security incidents.

Effective practices for log management in incident response

1. Quick access: Ensure knowledge of the location of stored logs and ensure appropriate access rights to quickly search relevant log data during an incident.
2. Storage policy: Ensure logs are kept long enough to answer questions that arise during an incident. The retention period may vary by source, taking into account factors such as storage costs and the availability of different data types.
3. Frequency:By implementing frequent checks of your log systems, you can rely on capturing the necessary data in your logs.
4. Protection: Protecting logs from tampering is crucial to ensure accurate recording of events. Implement measures to prevent unauthorized access and changes to maintain reliable logs.

Improving security incident detection and response via integration of previous incident insights into logging and monitoring solutions

Integrating insights from previous incidents into logging and monitoring solutions is crucial to identify gaps in the strategy. This improves the ability of systems to detect and respond to security incidents. Analysis of previous incidents provides valuable information on attack patterns and tactics, which can be used to refine surveillance and response capabilities. Incorporating these insights into surveillance solutions strengthens overall security and minimizes the impact of future incidents.

the OpenSight 10 new year’s cyber security resolutions

During the OpenSight 10 new year’s cyber security resolutions, we will publish a blog each week about each of the ten resolutions as listed below:

• The company’s digital assets.
• Are my colleagues engaged and aware of cyber security?
• Are our company assets under control?
• Architecture focused on security and the business.
• How to keep vulnerability management in order?
• Who’s that? And what is he doing here?
• How do we protect digital assets?
• Is this normal behavior and does it happen more often?
• Preparation is key!
• Is there a weak link in my supply chain?

With these 10 new year’s resolutions, we at OpenSight hope to give you some insight regarding the ten steps you could take to decrease the chance and impact of an incident.

Want to know more?

Be sure to keep an eye on our blogs where, following these Cyber Security resolutions for 2024, we will cover all 10 topics in detail. Follow us on LinkedIn to be the first to know about all our updates!