Audit Log Enrichment via Contextual Data Integration
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current audit logging systems in enterprise computer networks lack real-time monitoring and notification capabilities for actual data element access, failing to provide comprehensive and timely insights into access operations, including user identity, access type, and geographical location, which hampers effective security and access management.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for monitoring actual access to data elements in an enterprise computer network, utilizing a near real-time data element audit subsystem that captures and provides audit output data, including timestamps, user identities, accessed data elements, access types, and IP addresses, and an additional data providing subsystem that integrates external data sources to offer additional context, such as physical locations and social network activities, to enhance monitoring and notification capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If traditional audit logging systems are used, then system complexity is reduced, but real-time monitoring capability and comprehensive access insights are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into distinct functional modules: an audit logging module that captures access events, an enrichment module that adds contextual data from multiple sources, and a notification module that alerts relevant parties. This segmentation allows real-time monitoring capabilities to be implemented without requiring complete system redesign, thus managing complexity while achieving speed improvements.
Solution Approach 2:
An intermediary enrichment service is introduced between the audit logging system and the monitoring interface. This intermediary collects raw access logs and automatically enriches them with additional context from user profiles, device information, and location data, enabling comprehensive real-time monitoring without directly complicating the core logging infrastructure.
2Loss of information
If comprehensive audit data collection is implemented, then access insight quality is improved, but data processing time and system resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-collecting and storing contextual information about users, devices, and locations in advance in readily accessible formats. When access events occur, this pre-prepared contextual data can be quickly retrieved and attached to audit logs, providing comprehensive insights without requiring time-consuming data gathering at the moment of access.
Solution Approach 2:
The enrichment system operates autonomously to collect, process, and attach contextual data to audit logs without requiring manual intervention. Automated scripts continuously gather information from various sources and maintain updated user profiles, device databases, and location services, enabling the system to self-serve comprehensive data needs efficiently.
3Reliability
If manual audit log analysis is used, then system resource consumption is reduced, but security response time and threat detection capability are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements automated feedback mechanisms that continuously monitor access patterns and compare them against established security policies and anomaly thresholds. When suspicious activities are detected, the system automatically generates alerts and notifications to security personnel, providing reliable real-time response without requiring constant manual analysis, thus optimizing resource consumption while maintaining high security responsiveness.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for monitoring actual access to data elements in an enterprise computer network and providing associated data, the system including an at least near real time data element audit subsystem providing audit output data including at least one of a time stamp, identification of an accessor, user depository stored data regarding the accessor, accessed data element data, affected data element data, type of access operation, source IP address of access and access outcome data, in at least near real time, relating to actual access to data elements in the enterprise computer network, and an additional data providing subsystem receiving in at least near real time at least a part of the audit output data and utilizing the at least part of the audit output data for providing additional data which is not part of the audit output data.