Audit Log Management Policy
1. Purpose
Establish requirements for collecting, managing, protecting, and reviewing audit logs to support security monitoring, incident detection, and forensic investigation at [ORGANIZATION].
2. Scope
This policy applies to all information systems, applications, network devices, and services that generate audit log data within [ORGANIZATION]'s environment.
3. Policy
3.1 Log Collection Requirements
Audit logging shall be enabled on all enterprise assets and shall capture, at minimum: authentication events (success and failure), authorization changes, system and application startup/shutdown, administrative actions, data access to Confidential and Restricted information, and security-relevant configuration changes.
Log entries shall include: timestamp (synchronized to authoritative time source), source system, event type, user identity, source IP address, success/failure indication, and relevant details.
All enterprise assets shall have their system clocks synchronized to [ORGANIZATION]'s authoritative NTP sources with accuracy within [CUSTOMIZE: 1 second/1 minute].
3.2 Centralized Log Management
All audit logs shall be forwarded to [ORGANIZATION]'s centralized log management system (SIEM) in near real-time, with forwarding latency not to exceed [CUSTOMIZE: 5/15] minutes.
The centralized logging system shall provide: aggregation and correlation of events from multiple sources, search and query capabilities, alerting on predefined security events, dashboard visualization, and long-term storage.
Adequate log storage capacity shall be maintained to support retention requirements with at least [CUSTOMIZE: 20/30]% buffer.
3.3 Log Protection
Audit logs shall be protected against unauthorized modification and deletion.
Log storage shall be separate from the systems being monitored.
Access to log management systems shall be restricted to authorized security personnel with logging of all administrative actions on the log infrastructure itself.
Log data in transit shall be encrypted. Log data at rest shall be protected with access controls and integrity verification.
3.4 Log Review and Monitoring
Automated alerts shall be configured for security-relevant events including: multiple failed authentication attempts ([CUSTOMIZE: 5/10] failures within [CUSTOMIZE: 15/30] minutes), privileged account usage, after-hours administrative activity, known indicators of compromise, and data exfiltration patterns.
Security log reviews shall be performed at least [CUSTOMIZE: daily/weekly] by trained security analysts.
Log review findings shall be documented, and identified incidents shall be escalated per the Incident Response Policy.
4. Compliance
Compliance with this policy is mandatory for all personnel within its scope. Compliance will be monitored through periodic audits, automated controls, and management review.
Exceptions to this policy must be documented with a business justification, approved by [CUSTOMIZE: CISO/Security Team], and reviewed at least annually.
5. Enforcement
Violations of this policy may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment or contract, and may result in civil or criminal penalties where applicable law has been violated.
[ORGANIZATION] reserves the right to audit compliance with this policy at any time, with or without notice.
6. Review and Revision
This policy shall be reviewed at least annually by [CUSTOMIZE: CISO/Policy Owner] and updated as necessary to reflect changes in the threat landscape, regulatory requirements, or organizational structure.
All revisions shall be documented with version number, date, author, and description of changes.
Policy Approval
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