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Last updated on 2024年7月22日

How can you identify suspicious activity and events in system logs?

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System logs are records of events and activities that occur in an operating system, such as user actions, system errors, security alerts, and network connections. They can be useful sources of information for troubleshooting, auditing, and forensic analysis. However, they can also contain signs of suspicious or malicious activity, such as unauthorized access, data theft, malware infection, or system tampering. How can you identify these indicators of compromise and respond accordingly? In this article, we will discuss some tips and tools for analyzing system logs and detecting anomalies.

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Henry Korir

"IT Systems Engineer | Network Security & Cloud Solutions Expert | Advancing Digital Education"
Amit Kulkarni

Sr. Technology Leader - Translating Technology Maturity into Business Benefits. || Product Engineering, R&D, Digital…
Lavian D.

Skilled IT Support Engineer with a Strong Technical Background

1 Know your baseline

The first step to identify suspicious activity and events in system logs is to establish a baseline of normal behavior and patterns. This means knowing what types of events are expected, how often they occur, what sources and destinations they involve, and what data they generate. A baseline can help you filter out irrelevant or benign events and focus on the ones that deviate from the norm. You can use various tools and techniques to create and maintain a baseline, such as log aggregation, normalization, correlation, and visualization.

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Henry Korir

"IT Systems Engineer | Network Security & Cloud Solutions Expert | Advancing Digital Education"
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Identifying suspicious activity in system logs involves monitoring critical logs, setting up alerts for anomalies, and analyzing user behavior. Utilize log management tools like ELK Stack or Splunk to centralize and analyze log data. Look for deviations from baseline activity, unusual patterns, or indicators of compromise. Correlate events across systems and applications to detect potential security incidents, and investigate any anomalies promptly. Implementing least privilege and regularly reviewing logs are essential for maintaining a robust cybersecurity posture.

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Amit Kulkarni

Sr. Technology Leader - Translating Technology Maturity into Business Benefits. || Product Engineering, R&D, Digital Transformation & Network Modernization.
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While most of the important things are covered in comments by fellow contributors, an important thing to keep in mind is the relevancy of the baseline. You need to ensure you should have systems/tools & processes which analyze the baseline at a regular interval & update it if necessary. This will sustain your Detecting/Alerting/Warning/Ticketing system function well for a longer time. Cheers! AK

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Michail Tsikalakis

IT Support Specialist - Certified Computer Forensic Technician (CCFT)
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Τhe following event IDs are the most important types of log events Windows security event log ID 4688 documents each program a computer executes, its identifying data, and the process that started it. ID 1102 it relates to clearing the audit log. Event ID 4624 is generated when a user successfully logs on to a computer. ID 4625 is generated when a user fails to log on to a computer. Event ID 4634: is generated when a user logs off from a computer. Event ID 4647 is generated when a user logs off from a computer and the logon session is destroyed. Event ID 4768 is generated when a Kerberos TGT request is submitted. Event ID 4769 is generated when a Kerberos service ticket request is submitted.

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Lavian D.

Skilled IT Support Engineer with a Strong Technical Background
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Profiling normal user and system behaviors and detecting deviations that may indicate malicious activity, such as unusual access times or data transfers.

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2 Look for anomalies

The next step is to look for anomalies or outliers that indicate something unusual or suspicious is happening in your system. These can be events that are rare, unexpected, inconsistent, or abnormal in terms of frequency, volume, timing, source, destination, or content. For example, you might notice a sudden spike in failed login attempts, a large amount of data transferred to an external server, a change in system configuration or permissions, or a new process or service running in the background. Anomalies can be detected manually or with the help of automated tools and algorithms, such as log analysis, alerting, and anomaly detection.

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Lavian D.

Skilled IT Support Engineer with a Strong Technical Background
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Using tools like Wireshark to analyze network traffic for unusual patterns, such as large data transfers to unknown locations or unexpected communication between internal devices.

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3 Investigate the context

The third step is to investigate the context and details of the anomalous events and activities to determine their nature and impact. This means looking for clues and evidence that can help you identify the cause, source, target, method, and motive of the suspicious activity. You can use various tools and techniques to investigate the context, such as log filtering, searching, parsing, enrichment, and forensics. For example, you might want to examine the IP addresses, user accounts, timestamps, payloads, signatures, or hashes of the events and activities to find out who, what, when, where, how, and why they occurred.

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4 Respond and remediate

The final step is to respond and remediate the suspicious activity and events in system logs to prevent or minimize the damage and restore the system to a normal state. This means taking appropriate actions to stop, isolate, contain, or remove the threat and to recover, repair, or restore the affected system or data. You can use various tools and techniques to respond and remediate, such as log backup, recovery, archiving, and deletion. For example, you might want to block or disconnect the malicious source or destination, terminate or quarantine the malicious process or service, or restore or delete the compromised data or configuration.

System logs are valuable assets for operating system forensics and incident response. By following these steps and using these tools and techniques, you can identify suspicious activity and events in system logs and protect your system from potential threats.

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Lavian D.

Skilled IT Support Engineer with a Strong Technical Background
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Analyzing system and application logs to detect irregularities, such as multiple failed login attempts, unexpected changes in file access, or unusual system processes.

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5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How can you identify suspicious activity and events in system logs?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Know your baseline

2 Look for anomalies

3 Investigate the context

4 Respond and remediate

5 Here’s what else to consider

Operating Systems

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How can you identify suspicious activity and events in system logs?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Know your baseline

2 Look for anomalies

3 Investigate the context

4 Respond and remediate

5 Here’s what else to consider

Operating Systems

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