Are all security events logged in production? (authentication events, privilege escalations, access to sensitive data)
Explanation & Context
Explanation of the Question
This question is asking whether your organization systematically records all significant security-related activities that occur in your production environment. Specifically, it wants to know if you log events such as users attempting to log in (authentication events), users gaining higher levels of access (privilege escalations), and users accessing sensitive or critical data.
Why It Matters
Logging these events is crucial for several reasons. First, it allows you to detect and respond to security incidents promptly. If an unauthorized user attempts to log in or access sensitive data, having a log of these events enables you to identify the attempt and take appropriate action. Second, logs provide an audit trail that can be used to investigate security breaches, comply with regulatory requirements, and understand user behavior within your systems.
Example of Evidence
To demonstrate that you are logging these security events, you might provide documentation or configuration settings that show how your systems are set up to capture authentication attempts, privilege escalations, and access to sensitive data. Additionally, you could offer samples of log entries that illustrate the types of events being recorded. For instance, a log entry might show a successful or failed login attempt, detailing the user ID, timestamp, and the outcome of the attempt.
Example Responses
Example Response 1
All security events, including authentication attempts, privilege escalations, and access to sensitive data, are logged in production using Heroku's built-in logging features. These logs are regularly reviewed by our security team to ensure any anomalies are promptly addressed.
Example Response 2
In our AWS-hosted environment, we utilize CloudTrail and CloudWatch to log all security events across our production infrastructure. These logs are integrated with our SIEM solution for real-time monitoring and alerting, ensuring comprehensive coverage of authentication events, privilege escalations, and access to sensitive data.
Example Response 3
As our software is deployed on-premises and primarily used internally, we do not log security events in the same manner as cloud-hosted solutions. However, we maintain detailed access logs for critical systems and conduct regular audits to ensure compliance with our security policies.
