That us a tough question for CIOs or CISOs to answer with
confidence. But it is being asked more frequently, thanks to
regulations such as HIPAA,
PCI:DSS,
Sarbanes-Oxley and
Basel 2.
It has given a niche to
LogLogic,
one of the few firms to specialise in analysing the log files that
every IT system produces.
Pat Sueltz, CEO of the firm, says in the old days, analysing
logs was left to hard-core IT, network and security professionals.
But increasingly those who manage parts of the company, such as
finance or human resources, also need to understand log
records.
"Very few people these days can read a core dump and understand
what is going on," she said. LogLogic has developed an appliance
that pulls log data from systems in real time, and uses software to
chart trends, highlight exceptions and track remote attempts to
access system resources, among other things.
This enables operations staff, administrators and non-technical
employees to work with log files and time-lines to create a
storyboard that captures any chain of events surrounding a given
incident.
Sueltz already has three of the top four telecommunications
network operators as customers, as well as financial services
firms, health care outfits, and government agencies.
The market is presently driven by the need to conform to
regulations, security concerns and the need to run IT more
efficiently because budgets are tightening, Sueltz said. "The logs
are the place to start because they measure everything," she
said.