Auditing and logging are key components of any security architecture. It is essential for security personnel to know what is being done, what attempted to be done, where it was done, when it was done, and by whom in order to compile an accurate risk assessment. Logging the actions of specific events provides a means to investigate an attack, recognize resource utilization or capacity thresholds, or to simply identify an improperly configured network element. Mechanisms such as a signed hash using asymmetric cryptography must be used to protect the integrity of integrity of the collected audit data. |