Alessandro AleddaInsider RiskInformation Protection

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INTRA/MD/MD002Log collection and centralization

The aggregation of records of activity from systems across the estate into a single store.

Pillar
MD  |  Monitoring and detection
Sources cited
17
Added
30 AUGUST 2026
Updated
5 OCTOBER 2026
ControlJurisdictionSourceWhat it establishesPrerequisite or recommendation
MD002/EUMandatoryEuropean UnionCommission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690European Commission · read 29 Aug 2026What the directive’s categories hold, in an annex setting out asset classification, the inventory, access control, privileged accounts, and removable media as requirements rather than as headings.For the digital infrastructure and service providers it reaches, the list of assets to be logged is derived from the risk assessment, and what the logs hold is named: inbound and outbound traffic, the creation, modification, and deletion of users and the extension of their permissions, access to systems and applications, authentication events, all privileged access and everything done by administrative accounts, access or changes to critical configuration and backup files, physical access to facilities, and the activation, stopping, and pausing of the logs themselves. They are kept for a period fixed in advance and protected from unauthorized access or change, time sources are synchronized so that logs can be correlated across systems, and the availability of the logging systems is monitored independently of the systems they log.
MD002/HRMandatoryCroatiaUredba o kibernetičkoj sigurnostiVlada Republike Hrvatske · read 5 Oct 2026Zakon o kibernetičkoj sigurnosti, članci 4, 29, 30, 37, and 38Hrvatski sabor · read 5 Oct 2026For key and important entities, that candidates are checked before hiring according to the significance of the post, that a record is kept of every login and activity on critical systems for a forensic trail with at least the last 90 days of logs, synchronized time, and named log types, that security-relevant events are copied to a central store within 24 hours with anomaly detection and, where possible, an administrator other than the source system’s, that an owner approves the assignment of access rights and the approval is recorded, that privileged and administrator accounts follow written rules (dedicated accounts, individualized and limited privileges, use only for administration, strong authentication), that user and entity behaviour analytics is in the catalogue, and that a significant incident is notified in an early warning within 24 hours and an initial notification within 72 hours.For key and important entities, where technically feasible, a record is created of every login and activity on critical systems for a forensic trail, logs of at least the last 90 days are kept, all systems keep synchronized time, and the log types include network traffic metadata, access to systems, applications, and devices, creation, change, and deletion of user accounts and extension of rights, changes to backups, and records of security tools; security-relevant events are copied to a central store within 24 hours, protected against unauthorized access and change, with anomaly recognition and alerts, and where possible an administrator other than the source system’s. For key and important entities, incident handling includes the monitoring, recording, and reporting of incidents.
MD002/ITMandatoryItalyDeterminazione ACN n. 379907 del 18 dicembre 2025Agenzia per la cybersicurezza nazionale · read 29 Aug 2026The baseline security measures an Italian NIS subject has to adopt, among them the recording of remote and administrative access and its central retention, the detection of privilege abuse, and the vetting of the people admitted to the systems that matter.For a subject in the national NIS register, all remote access and all access made with administrative privileges are recorded. For the systems that matter, the logs needed to monitor security events are acquired and kept securely and, where it can be done, centrally, and how long they are kept is fixed from the risk assessment and documented.
MD002/PTMandatoryPortugalRegulamento n.º 756/2026, Regulamento do Regime Jurídico da CibersegurançaCentro Nacional de Cibersegurança · read 5 Oct 2026Deliberação n.º 1638/2013, Princípios aplicáveis aos tratamentos de dados pessoais decorrentes do controlo da utilização para fins privados das tecnologias de informação e comunicação no contexto laboralComissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados · read 5 Oct 2026For entities in scope, that HR processes, selection, hiring, position categorization, and termination, are assessed against the entity’s cybersecurity requirements, that identities and credentials are issued, managed, verified, revoked, and audited, that access follows need to know and least privilege, that privileged passwords sit in a password manager and remote and privileged access carries multi-factor authentication, that logs are collected, stored, protected, and reviewed regularly, their retention set by risk and proportionality, failures in log processing raising alerts and critical systems’ logs stored on an autonomous system, that internal and external threats, intentional or accidental, are identified, that all staff receive awareness and training under a measured plan which includes awareness of internal threats, and that a significant incident is notified through the CNCS platform in an initial notification, an end-of-impact notification, and a final or interim report.For entities in scope, logs are collected, stored, protected, and reviewed regularly, their retention set by the risk of the systems and the activities and by proportionality; failures in log processing raise alerts; logs of critical systems are stored on an autonomous system. Access to the monitoring system is logged with user, timestamp, operation, a sequential id, and a hash over them, digitally signed for legal validity; anomalous situations are defined to feed an alarm system; a log analysis policy produces periodic reports kept for the CNPD.
MD002/ROMandatoryRomaniaOrdonanța de urgență nr. 155/2024, articolele 11 la 15Guvernul României · read 5 Oct 2026For essential and important entities, that the measures include the logging and traceability of all activities in the networks and information systems, human resources security, access control policies and asset management, and incident handling; that the management bodies approve the measures, supervise them, and answer for breaches, follow accredited training and ensure training of all personnel; that an annual self-assessment of maturity goes to the DNSC; and that a significant incident is notified in an early warning within 24 hours, a notification within 72 hours, and a final report within one month.For essential and important entities, the comprehensive approach the measures have to hold includes the logging and traceability of all activities in the networks and information systems.
MD002/ESMandatorySpainReal Decreto 311/2022, Esquema Nacional de SeguridadGobierno de España · read 29 Aug 2026The security measures a Spanish public sector body has to apply, graded by category, among them the concurrence of two people on critical tasks so that no single authorized individual can abuse their rights, an access control on the activity records themselves, and the recording of evidence where an incident may end in disciplinary action.The audit record carries at least the identifier of the user or entity the event belongs to, the date and time, what information the event was performed on, the type of event, and whether it succeeded or failed. Above the low level the security documentation states which events are audited and how long the records are kept before deletion, the clock is an administration function protected by authentication and integrity, and the records and their backups may be reached or deleted only by duly authorized personnel.
RecommendedAustriawhere writtenÖsterreichisches Informationssicherheitshandbuch 4.4.0Bundeskanzleramt und A-SIT · read 29 Aug 2026That logging is only effective as a security measure once someone independent reads it, that where nobody independent can, the administrators’ own activity is what stops being checkable, and that the evaluation goes before the Data Protection Officer either way.Logging security relevant events works as a security measure only where the data are evaluated at regular intervals by an independent reviewer. Where no independent reviewer can be put in place the administrators may do it, and the handbook states the consequence rather than leaving it: checking the administrators’ own activity then becomes hard. The evaluation is to be laid before the Data Protection Officer or the security officer in any case, the responsibility for carrying it out is to be fixed exactly, the four eyes principle should be used in the security critical cases, and it must be ensured by technical or organizational means that the administrators’ activities can be adequately checked.
RecommendedBelgiumwhere writtenCyberFundamentals 2025, EssentialCentre for Cybersecurity Belgium · read 29 Aug 2026What the Belgian centre sets out for the heaviest of its assurance levels, and the only place in this record where a national authority names the insider as something the detection tools are there to catch.The logging functionality of the protection and detection tools is enabled, the logs are backed up and kept for a period fixed in advance, and they are reviewed regularly for unusual or potentially harmful activity, on a documented procedure.
RecommendedFinlandwhere writtenKatakri 2020Kansallinen turvallisuusviranomainen · read 29 Aug 2026The criteria an authority audits against, among them the requirement to recognize which functions call for special trustworthiness, a clearance graded on three scales, and log retention set by the limitation periods of the criminal law.The retention follows what the records may later have to answer. At the fourth classification level the essential recordings are kept at least six months; where the limitation periods of the criminal law bear on the information, at least five years, which is also the floor at the two levels above. The clocks within a security domain are synchronized to a single reference, the log files are backed up, a procedure covers their integrity, and they and the register services are protected against unauthorized access.
RecommendedFrancewhere writtenGuide d'hygiène informatiqueAgence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d'information · read 29 Aug 2026Forty two measures at a standard and a reinforced level, among them the joining, leaving, and function change procedures written with the human resources function, and a minimum retention of one year for security critical events.The critical components are determined first, the workstations of sensitive users named among them, and the logging on each is configured to match. Security critical events are kept for at least a year, or longer where the sector’s legal obligations require it, and the time synchronization source is the same across components so that events can be correlated. At the reinforced level the logs are centralized on a dedicated device, which is wanted for three reasons: automated searching, long archiving, and preventing an attacker from erasing the traces of their passage on what they compromised.
RecommendedGermanywhere writtenIT-Grundschutz-Kompendium, Edition 2023Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik · read 29 Aug 2026What the German federal authority holds to be the state of the art, in numbered requirements, among them the checking of a candidate’s own account of themselves, a logging infrastructure the administrators who run it cannot alter, a regular audit of the detection systems against the state they are supposed to be in, and how evidence is secured.A logging policy of its own is drawn up, saying how, where, and what is logged, with the kind and the extent of it following the protection the information needs. All security relevant events on systems and applications are logged, the clocks of everything that logs are kept synchronized and the date and time format made uniform, and it is checked at defined intervals that the logging still works. Data protection law and the co-determination rights of the workforce representation are to be kept to, logging data are deleted on a defined process, and their uncontrolled deletion or alteration is prevented technically. The data should be held centrally, on a log server assembly in a network segment set up for it, and filtered, normalized, aggregated, and correlated for evaluation while a copy is kept in unaltered original form. The administrators who run it should have no entitlement to change or delete what has been recorded.
RecommendedGreecewhere writtenΟδηγός για τη Συμμόρφωση των Επιχειρήσεων με τον Ν. 5160/2024 και την Οδηγία NIS2ΣΕΒ (Hellenic Federation of Enterprises), with material from the Εθνική Αρχή Κυβερνοασφάλειας · read 5 Oct 2026That the guide proposes ten procedures for compliance with Law 5160/2024, that under access control and account management it names role-based access on least privilege, multi-factor authentication for critical systems, logging of all accesses and actions, protection of service and privileged accounts by privileged access management, access reviews, and that the policies reach internal and external personnel across the whole access lifecycle.All accesses and actions are recorded in logs, with log management or a SIEM recording and monitoring user actions; the Act itself does not name logging.
RecommendedNetherlandswhere writtenBaseline Informatiebeveiliging Overheid 2, versie 1.3Nederlandse overheid · read 29 Aug 2026The government measures Dutch public bodies add on top of the two information security standards, among them a screening policy, a detection use case named in the text, and a log retention set against the scenario that an attacker has been inside for a long time.There is an overview of the log files that are generated. How long the log files and the data in the security information and event monitoring are kept is settled against the risk, and the scenario it is settled against is named: that the attackers have been inside for a long time. Improper alteration or deletion of log data, and any attempt at it, is reported as soon as it can be.
RecommendedNorwaywhere writtenNSMs grunnprinsipper for IKT-sikkerhet 2.1Nasjonal sikkerhetsmyndighet · read 29 Aug 2026A set of principles for securing information systems, with the monitoring ones carrying what the collected data may be used for, what employees are to be told about it, and the requirement to verify that the collection is working.A written strategy for security monitoring settles the purpose and the field of use of what is collected, which data are collected, their secure storage including for legal proceedings, capacity planning, who may reach them, the consolidation of logs from the different units and services, deletion, and the interval at which the strategy is reviewed, at least once a year and after a major incident. What is collected is verified against what was meant to be, the data are archived and digitally signed at intervals for integrity, functionality is put in place that detects attempts to alter or delete a log, everything is synchronized to one and the same time source, and what has lost its operational or security relevance is removed.