What Is an Audit Trail? Importance and Steps To Implement It

An audit trail, also known as an audit log, records actions and operations within an organization’s system in great chronological detail. Audit trails can be used in various ways; specifically, in cybersecurity, they identify security violations by detecting who accessed data, what changes were made and when an action occurred.

Continue reading to learn why audit trails are important, the ways they can be implemented and how a Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution enhances audit trail management.

Why are audit trails important?

Implementing audit trails ensures compliance with industry standards, effective response to security incidents, data integrity and operational transparency.

• Regulatory compliance: By tracking any actions taken within a system, audit trails help organizations stay compliant with security rules set by various regulations. Organizations can use audit trails to show they are maintaining data security, therefore remaining compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS).
• Incident detection and response: Audit trails detect and respond to suspicious incidents by detailing a time-stamped record of activity within a system, including who accessed data, what actions were taken and when they did it. By reviewing audit trails, an organization can identify unusual activity and improve its overall security.
• Data integrity: Organizations can maintain data integrity by recording every action made on a system with audit trails. Audit trails ensure data integrity because having an accurate record of all actions means data stays reliable and secure.
• Accountability and transparency: Since every action is recorded in detail, audit trails hold employees accountable, making it easy for organizations to track who is responsible for certain actions and increase operational transparency.

Steps to implement audit trails in your organization

To implement audit trails, your organization should identify critical systems, define logging requirements, configure log management tools, implement secure log storage, set up real-time alerts and regularly review audit log data.

Step 1: Identify critical systems and define logging requirements

Begin by identifying which systems are most critical to protect. Then, determine the activities that need to be tracked to protect these systems. Since some systems hold more sensitive data than others, you should ensure that those systems have stricter logging requirements. For example, you can define the logging requirements to record who logs in to systems that hold financial records, when changes were made and what those changes were. Setting logging requirements that match both your security policies and industry standards, such as the GDPR and PCI-DSS, ensures your most critical data will be secure.

Step 2: Choose and configure log management tools

After defining logging requirements for your most critical systems, your organization needs to select the appropriate tools to help collect and analyze the audit trails. Two common types of log management tools are Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and Privileged Access Management (PAM). SIEM tools gather logs from systems and monitor them for potential security threats, such as failed login attempts or suspicious activity in sensitive files. PAM solutions manage and track users with privileged access, such as IT or HR staff, to prevent the misuse of privileged access. When using a centralized log management tool, you can effectively monitor what activity is occurring in your systems, analyze the suspicious behavior and respond immediately to security incidents. SIEMs typically allow for more sophisticated analysis, so a quality PAM solution will integrate with all SIEMs to log event data.

Step 3: Implement secure log storage and retention policies

Audit trails must be stored securely and kept for an adequate amount of time. Because audit trails contain sensitive information, they should always be encrypted both at rest and in transit to prevent unauthorized access or tampering. Implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to limit access to only those who need it, reducing the risk of misuse or human error.

Define retention policies based on legal requirements or business needs. For example,  regulations like GDPR or PCI-DSS may require audit logs to be kept for several years. After determining your retention policies for audit trails, you should automate log deletion or archiving to either erase them or move them to another system for long-term storage. You can also create a backup of audit trails in the event of an incident, such as a system crash or data breach. These backups should be stored securely to allow recovery from a data disaster.

Step 4: Set up real-time monitoring and alerts

Real-time monitoring of audit trails helps detect and respond to unusual behavior or potential security threats as they occur. For example, if someone tries to change sensitive data without authorization, you will know about it immediately with real-time monitoring. Setting up alerts eliminates the need for manual log reviews because you will be notified as soon as something unusual occurs, such as several failed login attempts to a sensitive system. A PAM solution can improve how privileged users’ actions are monitored by tracking and controlling their activities to keep sensitive systems secure. Implementing real-time monitoring and a PAM solution not only strengthens your security posture but also demonstrates compliance with industry regulations.

Step 5: Regularly review and audit log data

Regularly reviewing audit log data is essential to ensure you stay compliant with security standards and that your systems are protected from potential security threats. By regularly going through audit logs, you will be able to validate that your organization’s data is accurate and complete.

As you regularly review your audit log data, you should update data access permissions and log management practices to keep up with evolving risks and regulations. Since employees’ roles may change, your organization should regularly review what access authorized users have and ensure only the correct people have permission to access audit trails. This includes revoking access from employees who leave the organization or granting access to someone with new responsibilities. Your log management tools should capture the correct information and be secure against new types of cyber attacks, including those carried out using Artificial Intelligence (AI).

How PAM solutions enhance audit trail management

A PAM solution enables organizations to monitor and control privileged users’ actions within sensitive systems. By tracking access, managing permissions and recording user activity, PAM solutions enhance audit trail management.

Detailed recording and tracking of privileged access

With a strong PAM solution, organizations can track and record what actions privileged users take when they access sensitive systems. Some of the actions that can be recorded and tracked with a PAM solution include login activity and changes to sensitive data. By knowing who accessed what information, when it was accessed and what changes were made with audit trails, organizations can identify if someone has gained unauthorized privileged access or is tampering with sensitive data. If a security incident occurs, audit trails will speed up the investigation process and help organizations take action quickly to minimize damage to the data.

Clear permission management

A PAM solution will maintain a thorough record of privileged user activity and permissions, including who authorized the privileged access and how permissions were changed. This level of transparency enhances the documentation of privileged access, reducing the risk of privilege abuse. This is especially valuable for audit trails because organizations can hold their employees accountable.

Centralized management and easy retrieval of audit trails

By implementing a PAM solution, organizations can easily retrieve audit trails from a centralized, secure location. Consolidating logs of privileged users’ activities in a centralized management tool allows organizations to oversee and monitor privileged user activities more easily. Having a unified audit trail also simplifies the process of searching for specific information during incident response, including suspicious actions performed by privileged users or unauthorized privilege escalation.

Session recording and replay features

A good PAM solution offers session recording features that capture all actions, including keystrokes, performed by privileged users. These recordings can be viewed later and replayed to gain valuable insight into privileged user behavior. When organizations need to analyze high-risk actions or changes in audit trails, these features help trace the root cause of security incidents and take the necessary actions to ensure overall security.

Support for compliance requirements

Having a PAM solution helps organizations meet regulatory requirements, including GDPR and HIPAA, by offering strong controls and generating thorough reports. A PAM solution collects and organizes relevant data, whether personal data for GDPR or medical information for HIPAA. If audit trails are properly managed, organizations will be prepared for regulatory inspections and can meet compliance requirements.

Seamlessly and securely manage audit trails with KeeperPAM

To be prepared for potential security threats and securely manage audit trails, you should invest in a strong PAM solution like KeeperPAM^®. KeeperPAM is a cloud-based, zero-trust and zero-knowledge platform that constantly verifies your identity to ensure that only authorized users can access your organization’s systems. With KeeperPAM, you can keep a detailed record of all privileged users’ activity, store audit logs securely, receive real-time security alerts and record privileged access sessions.

Request a demo of KeeperPAM today to securely manage your organization’s audit trails and protect sensitive data.