File-based logs are where it all began. These logs can yield information of great value to security analysts and administrators alike. Armed with this information, IT professionals are better equipped to troubleshoot issues, evaluate system performance, identify bugs, and even detect security breaches.
In today’s world, we tend to focus on the modern, integrated logging facilities like Microsoft’s Windows Event Log or Apple’s Unified Logging System (ULS). However, all the major operating systems still generate log files that may or may not be integrated into these logging facilities. File-based logs, it seems, are still alive and well, probably far into the foreseeable future.
Whether it be on Windows platforms that log high-frequency events in the form of
ETL binary files, or Linux systems that store log files in the /var/log
directory, organizations rely even more so today on this conventional
logging method for capturing information about unique OS operations.
Beyond the IT departments of large corporations, manufacturing plants also use log files extensively. In these industries, log files are the primary data source for supervisory control and data acquisition systems (SCADA), which monitor and control industrial processes while gathering real-time data.
2020-05-12 12:59:38.103 +03:00 ************************************* 2020-05-12 12:59:38.112 +03:00 *** Citect process is starting up *** 2020-05-12 12:59:38.135 +03:00 Running in 32 bit process architecture 2020-05-12 12:59:38.136 +03:00 Running in Console Mode 2020-05-12 12:59:38.164 +03:00 Data Execution Prevention (DEP), has been enabled successfully
Gleaning useful information from log files may sound easy, but there are some challenges:
Log files often lack structure and standardization. This is mainly due to proprietary platforms or applications whose vendors did not adopt any standard for their log file format. Having to read and translate various incompatible log formats can hinder the aggregation of logged data and hence, the ability to detect security breaches.
Another consideration is the "signal to noise ratio" of log files. Although log files can contain extremely valuable data, these gems are often buried under an enormous heap of rubble.
Therefore, today’s businesses need a solution that can effectively meet these challenges that log files present. This solution should be capable enough—and powerful enough—to read any file format, any data structure, on any platform, aggregate the data, and forward it to your choice of SIEM or Analytics platform. It should also provide a flexible, powerful facility for filtering messages so that each organization can get what it needs.
NXLog can collect your log files from any source and route them to literally any destination simply by using its dedicated im_file module and specifying the path to the log files and their destination.
Due to business requirements, your log data’s cumulative storage needs may have to be kept within prescribed storage limits. With NXlog, you can easily filter your logs based on field values so that any event matching certain criteria is dropped. You may also decide to trim your logs which allows you to choose a list of fields to discard or specify a list of fields to keep, thus reducing the overall size of log files. Another approach NXLog can use to mitigate file size is log file compression for situations in which log records cannot be dropped or altered due to policy restrictions.
Regardless of your organization’s choice of software solutions and their underlying platforms, you can add value to your current log collection strategy by complementing it with file-based logs. All you need is the right log collection tool that can read any file, in any format, from any location. With such a flexible solution, you can rest assured, you will reap the additional benefits of processing file-based logs while forgetting all of the challenges they normally present.
