The log management technology has made its way into understanding and addressing the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as large enterprises. These enterprises belong to the emerging industry verticals such as banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI), healthcare and life sciences, retail and e-commerce, etc.
Log management technology is an approach that deals with large volumes of computer-generated log messages. Log files have always been an untapped source of information ranging from daily business numbers, process reports, system data, troubleshooting records, sales transactions, and more. Due to their sheer size and number, it is easy to understand how it may be difficult for a human being to derive any meaningful information from them unless they are properly aggregated and digested.
What is log management technology?
In the world of computation, a log is a file that is created automatically any time certain events occur on your machine. Log files are typically time-stamped and can capture virtually everything that happens behind the scenes of operating systems or software applications-in short, they capture anything that the computer, network, OS, or program thinks is necessary to keep track of.
Log management is an umbrella concept that defines all activities and procedures used to generate, capture, centralize, search, transfer, preserve, archive, and dispose of large quantities of computer-generated log data. Log management applications are used to handle and maintain all logs created by devices, processes, networks, software, or users in any manner that best fits the needs of an organization or entity. Log management is a common trend not only among network administrators and SecOps but also among developers.
What are the common reasons that justify the widespread prevalence of log management technology?
System monitoring and alerts
Log management tools include customized real-time notifications that allow you to respond as soon as an issue happens, which is important in cases of security violation and interference, where an intruder will inflict more harm to the network every second. This means shifting the SIEM from reactive to strategic and scaling up the threat-hunting capability. Monitoring settings may be changed to monitor a specific event collection that is useful for monitoring and troubleshooting.
Unified storage
One of the key benefits of log management is streamlined storage. Having all logs in one location makes an audit much simpler, but the real benefit of centralized logging is to improve the system's efficiency. As this is the area where the time between when a hazard first occurs and where you take action will make a difference, keeping valuable log records together speeds up the whole cycle. Centralized logging also involves providing consistent log records, which also saves time when looking for log information from multiple sources.
Better troubleshooting
Log management gives better control of the IT infrastructure and deeper insight into the operations taking place on computers and peripherals. One of the most common uses of event logs for error analysis is network troubleshooting. Real-time alerts significantly reduce the time needed to detect and address a problem, but the real power of log management tools lies in log analysis. A vast volume of data contained in logs is open to personalized search and analysis. This makes it possible to reconstruct a history for troublesome incidents, find similarities to other incidents, and determine the cause of the issue.
Log management technology for SMEs and large enterprises
Enterprise log management systems are planned for small to large infrastructure. Log management tools are becoming more common as a mechanism for managing and diagnosing security problems, rather than being used solely as systems to show security compliance. The need for enforcement has also contributed to the widespread implementation of log management.
Due to their size, SMEs find it easier to take advantage of the streamlined process capabilities of SIEM and log management tools. Managing a large network comes with a lot of log records, so attempting to manually find only one error or problem within thousands of log files can be a hassle. Enterprise log management tools are the most useful because they can scan such data easily, and companies can spend their time addressing the problem rather than discovering it.
Advanced data processing systems allow small and medium-sized enterprises and large enterprises to track, maintain, and review logs. The rate of adoption of log management tools is high in large enterprises, primarily because large enterprises do not have budget constraints. It helps them to implement on-premise log management tools.
Industries that raise the adoption of log management solutions
Healthcare and life sciences
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 Title II (HIPAA) is the most relevant land legislation to address these concerns. Regulations have been put in place to protect online health information and patient information. Log maintenance and auditing criteria are also widely covered by HIPAA. Records of all sorts are created and registered regularly. Log files (where health data exists) must be obtained, secured, stored, and able to be audited at all times. A loss of data can end up costing a company millions of dollars.
Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI)
Looking at logs proactively allows financial institutions to properly understand the importance of their current monitoring systems. One of the easiest ways for financial institutions to secure sensitive infrastructure is to track machine logs, which provide a gold mine of network health information.
Network devices like servers, routers, firewalls, wireless access points, and antivirus systems, all generate log data that can be archived and checked periodically for employee monitoring, as well as avoiding and identifying system errors and faults. Logs offer a means to track suspicious behavior on the part of registered users, as well as the ability to control unauthorized visitors and what they do when they get in.
Retail and e-commerce
System-wide logging infrastructure combined with log processing is an effective way to boost IT and company operational efficiency. Through reviewing case reports and network metrics to monitor the performance of IT processes and user reports to record the actions of consumers communicating with e-commerce sites, retailers may collect data and find trends that contribute to more streamlined activities, enhanced competitive advantage, and increased sales.
The explosive growth in e-commerce operations and purchases for online stores produces terabytes or more log data every day, making log management and analysis virtually impossible. The combined complexities of data volume and related computing and business operating costs have driven many companies to search at more cost-effective solutions.
Industry insights: Here’s what the giants are doing to mark their presence
In May 2019, SolarWinds launched SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM). It is an effective, easy, and inexpensive SIEM solution designed to help security and IT professionals improve their security status by offering improved access to cybersecurity operations.
The same year, in June, SolarWinds expanded its application performance management (APM) solution, AppOptics. This system can be combined with two other solutions: Loggly, a cloud-based log analysis application, and Papertrail, a log analytics solution. These integrations also allowed users to integrate APM techniques and technology with distributed tracking and log management.
McAfee upgraded the MVISION solution by launching the Unified Cloud Edge in February 2020. It is a technology that safeguards business data across computers, network and cloud; cloud-based Native Infrastructure Security that allows enterprises to secure the entire networks and application stack of cloud-based applications; global Managed Detection and Response (MDR) offering; and improved partner momentum.
Summing up
Log files have always been an untapped source of information ranging from daily business numbers, process reports, system data, troubleshooting records, sales transactions, and more. Due to their sheer size and number, it is easy to understand how it may be difficult for a human being to derive any meaningful information from them unless they are properly aggregated and digested.
Free Valuable Insights: Global Log Management Market to reach a market size of USD 3.3 billion by 2025
Leveraging log management tools is one of the most efficient ways of centralizing all this dispersive data flow, digging into the deepest sources of information, and transforming this raw source of intelligence into clean and functional insights.
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