Security Log Management

More about the book

This book instructs IT professionals on how to analyze, manage, and automate security log files to create useful, repeatable insights that enhance network efficiency and security, primarily using open source tools. It starts by identifying the "Top 10" security logs that should be regularly analyzed, covering key areas such as the most active workstations and primary targets of IDS alerts. The relevance of this information is then discussed. The book also explains how to use open source reporting tools like Tcpdstats to automate the correlation of log files from various network devices with the "Top 10" list, enabling IT professionals to quickly identify critical vulnerabilities or significant network performance issues. All scripts featured in the book are available for download from the Syngress Solutions website. Nearly every operating system, firewall, router, switch, intrusion detection system, mail server, web server, and database generates log files, making log analysis a common task for system administrators and security professionals. This resource provides cost-effective, open source solutions for evaluating network performance and security, with numerous working scripts and tools that can save administrators countless hours by automating both simple and complex log analysis tasks.