Collecting logs from Siemens SICAM SCC and sending them to LogPoint could be complex because of the unique combination of the log source and the desired destination. This post will show you how to forward log data from SICAM SCC to LogPoint by incorporating the NXLog log collection tool.
Siemens SICAM SCC
Siemens SICAM SCC or SICAM Station Control Center is a human-machine interface (HMI) for multiple power automation systems. Using various integrated communication drivers, SICAM SCC can communicate with SICAM PAS/PQS, SICAM RTUs, bay units, and protection devices that support IEC 61850/IEC 60870-5-104.
SICAM SCC system is scalable and offers efficient engineering for energy automation applications at utilities and industrial enterprises.
Collecting Siemens SICAM SCC logs
Siemens SICAM SCC produces a wide variety of logs concerning its operations. Some of those logs are available through Windows Event Log and network monitoring, but most exist as flat files.
Siemens SICAM SCC controls systems of significant financial and security importance. In mission-critical settings, the timely collection and processing of SICAM SCC logs is crucial to the reliability and security of the systems it controls. Even a brief interruption of normal operations could result in catastrophic consequences. However, the sheer diversity of log formats and data structures, and the noise that some of these logs contain, pose severe challenges to most logging software.
NXLog Enterprise Edition is a lightweight, modular log collection tool capable of tackling the most challenging cases log collection may pose. Its rich features allow it to read almost any log format and parse fields to produce structured data for further processing. It is the perfect tool for monitoring and collecting SICAM SCC logs.
- Collecting Siemens SICAM SCC logs from Windows Event Log
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Many applications send their logs directly to Windows Event Log, the preferred logging facility on the Windows platform. Siemens SICAM SCC sends its diagnostic and security-related events, such as user authentication, the state of system components, record modifications, and information about various other services, to Windows Event Log. Logs can be read and collected using an Event ID related to SICAM SCC or by a given source name.
- Collecting Siemens SICAM SCC logs from file
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File-based SICAM SCC logs include logs from:
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Dynamic Alarm Filter Configuration trace log
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Communication Connection trace log
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Add-in trace log
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Runtime Data Server trace log
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Import/Export Wizard trace log
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SICAM Global Wizard log, SICAM PAS Wizard log, SICAM IEC Wizard log
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Import/Export Wizard log
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Report log
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- Siemens SICAM SCC Network Monitoring
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NXLog can passively monitor network traffic and generate logs for most network protocols. This ability to log network communication from Siemens SICAM SCC, and integrated devices, can provide another valuable log source.
The easiest way to collect and normalize Siemens SICAM SCC logs is by deploying NXLog. With its unique capabilities, logs can be collected from literally any file in any format. Given the wide variation in format and structure of such log files, its versatility is ideal for these systems.
For more information on integrating NXLog with Siemens SICAM SCC, see the Siemens SICAM SCC integration guide.
The sources mentioned above and NXLog’s features play an important role in normalizing logs accepted by LogPoint.
Sending logs to LogPoint
LogPoint is a SIEM solution that monitors and analyzes log data. It offers real-time threat detection and response and visualizes aggregate event data collected from different sources.
- Log sources
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For LogPoint to accept logs from a source, it must first be added to its device repository. NXLog can integrate directly with LogPoint by sending log data to it in syslog format over TCP or UDP. NXLog also supports receiving logs from the LogPoint Raw Syslog Forwarder (RSF).
- Forwarding logs
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LogPoint provides the LPA_Windows and JSONCompiledNormalizer compiled normalizers to parse events from Windows Event Log, requiring data to be in JSON format. NXLog can forward events compatible with the format required by these normalizers using the JSON (xm_json) extension module.
NXLog can forward logs to LogPoint over a secure channel using the om_ssl output module. By default, LogPoint’s Syslog Collectors listen for secure connections on port 6514 and use certificates located in the following path:
/opt/immune/etc/remote_connection/certificates/
For more information on configuring NXLog and sending logs to LogPoint, see the LogPoint integration guide in the NXLog User Guide.
