IBM’s customers are turning to Power VM virtualization to consolidate multiple workloads onto fewer systems increasing server utilization and reducing cost. However a virtualized server landscape on several different IBM platforms (IBM Power Systems™, IBM System x®, and IBM BladeCenter®) may reduce hardware complexity but this puts a strain on supporting the entire lifecycle of analysis, implementing, monitoring and maintaining enterprise compliance.
Business today is required to prove compliance with numerous external regulations, industry mandates and internal policies which are designed to protect critical systems and sensitive data. Additionally the increasing number and sophistication of threats require an efficient, integrated approach to threat and vulnerability management. Failure to comply or adequately defend against security breaches can be very costly, destroying customer confidence, reducing business productivity and possibly resulting in financial penalties.
Effective management of log data is essential to reducing the cost and complexity of demonstrating security process and ensuring that measures comply with external and internal requirements. Automation of log management aids today’s business to cost-effectively collect, normalize, and report on enterprise-wide security-related data necessary for compliance and security investigations.
Logs show system user activity, administration changes made by employees who manage critical production systems, the health of your IT environment, and capture evidence of policy violation and malicious activity.
The enormous volume and complexity of security and audit data recording IT activities in different formats makes log analysis a daunting task.
For instance, a large organization operating a multiplatform, enterprise environment can typically generate in excess of 10 terabytes of log data each month, of which only a tiny percentage is actually relevant.
This massive volume of data requires transformation into information and audit reports that demonstrate compliance. Some regulations specify frameworks for log management, while others do not. However, regulations and standards such as ISO 27002, COBIT, Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, GLBA, PCIDSS, FISMA and the EU Privacy Directive all specify robust log management and storage.
These challenges can be addressed with a centralized automated log management system that effectively collects, normalizes and archives logs across the entire IBM multiplatform environment (i, AIX, Linux, Windows) and provide search, analysis, and reporting capabilities to simplify IT activity, compliance reporting and investigation.
The benefits of log management are significant and measurable:-
Cost
A log management solution will drive down the costs associated with delivering IT compliance reporting. The ability to query massive quantities of data and drill down for specific information offsets the complexity, time and money required to complete a compliance audit cycle. Furthermore, unattended report generation and the ability to manage collection, normalization and report across all IBM Systems and partitions, from a single user interface, allows increased productivity of the technical team and separation of duties.
Audit Response
Today’s audit requests often require a swift response. An effective log management tool will enable quick report generation. Streamlining the processes of proving compliance is a key benefit of log management. Simplifying the process of collecting, normalizing vast quantities of audit and security log data into useable, relevant information allows the Company to rapidly report on, or investigate, security and compliance violations.
Improve Security
Increased awareness of security threats and compliance violations is essential. Log management enables fast and efficient forensic analysis of an insider security breach from the user activity trail. Actions can be taken to quickly implement preventative measures to mitigate the same security breach from happening again.
Conclusion
Good log management solutions should gather relevant information from log files, provide the right tools to analyze data, and produce meaningful and actionable security and business information.
Safestone’s log management solution, Compliance Center, will deliver the following benefits:
- High-performance log gathering and consolidation for IBM i, AIX and Linux
- Scalable to meet the needs of the enterprise
- Centralised management of all systems and partitions
- Powerful, flexible analysis tools to help identify trends and threats
- Securely stores log data to guarantee the integrity of historical evidence
- Automates compliance and audit reports to satisfy regulations
Security and storage efficiency are essential requirements for ensuring the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data when it is needed for analysis. These important factors enable the Safestone’s log management solution to form part of a broader security program and facilitate the integration of security information and response across the IBM enterprise.
About Safestone Technologies
Businesses operating in today’s dynamic economies are subject to increasing compliance regulations (SarbanesOxley, PCI, Basel II, HIPAA) and information security standards (ISO27002, CobiT). As a result, organizations are looking for a software solution to manage security and compliance across complex IBM Power Systems™ operating environments.
Partner of choice for organizations with the most stringent security and compliance requirements, Safestone provides the most comprehensive solution in IBM Power Systems™ security to over 700 blue-chip customers worldwide.
Our module-based solutions are flexible, scalable, easy to implement and use, allowing the solution to address all varying degrees of audit, compliance and security requirements. Safestone has a global network, built up over more than 21 years and provides localized sales, consultancy and professional services to help organizations manage all their Power Systems (OS400) security requirements.