Episode 173: Leveraging Log Data (Part 1) (Domain 4)

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course

Logs are the record books of your infrastructure, capturing who did what, when, and where—and in this episode, we explore how to extract value from them. We start with common log types including firewall logs, application logs, operating system logs, and security-specific logs like authentication events, audit trails, and IDS alerts. Each source provides a different lens on activity, and together they form a timeline that helps reconstruct incidents or spot early signs of intrusion. We cover how to collect logs in a centralized SIEM, normalize formats for analysis, and retain logs long enough to meet compliance requirements. Understanding log content—like source IPs, process IDs, user accounts, and timestamps—helps security analysts correlate activity across systems. In the world of digital forensics and threat hunting, logs are the breadcrumbs that lead you to the full story.