AWS Audit Log Detection
Learn how to detect audit logs across AWS environments. Follow step-by-step guidance for SOC 2 compliance.
Why It Matters
The core goal is to identify and continuously monitor all audit log sources across your AWS environment, ensuring comprehensive visibility into user activities, API calls, and system events. Detecting audit logs in AWS is essential for organizations subject to SOC 2 requirements, as it helps you prove you've established proper logging controls and can detect unauthorized access attempts before they escalate into security incidents.
A comprehensive audit log detection strategy delivers immediate visibility into your security posture, laying the foundation for automated threat detection and ongoing compliance monitoring.
Prerequisites
Permissions & Roles
- AWS administrator or security audit role
- CloudTrail, CloudWatch, Config read/write permissions
- Ability to create and manage IAM policies
External Tools
- AWS CLI or AWS Console access
- Cyera DSPM account
- API credentials for integrations
Prior Setup
- AWS account with proper organization structure
- CloudTrail trails configured
- S3 buckets for log storage
- Cross-account roles if multi-account
Introducing Cyera
Cyera is a modern Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) platform that discovers, classifies, and continuously monitors your sensitive data and security configurations across cloud services. By leveraging AI-powered log analysis and anomaly detection, Cyera automatically correlates audit events across CloudTrail, VPC Flow Logs, and application logs to identify patterns indicating potential security incidents or compliance violations in real time.
Step-by-Step Guide
Enable CloudTrail organization trails, configure VPC Flow Logs, and set up AWS Config recording. Ensure all log destinations are properly secured with encryption and access controls.
In the Cyera portal, navigate to Integrations → Cloud Security → Add AWS. Provide cross-account role ARNs and configure log ingestion from CloudTrail, CloudWatch, and other audit sources.
Configure Cyera's AI-powered detection rules to identify suspicious patterns in audit logs, such as unusual API calls, failed authentication attempts, or privilege escalation activities. Set up real-time alerts for critical events.
Review the audit log discovery report to ensure all AWS services and regions are covered. Fine-tune detection sensitivity to reduce false positives while maintaining comprehensive security monitoring.
Architecture & Workflow
AWS Audit Sources
CloudTrail, VPC Flow Logs, Config, GuardDuty
Cyera Connector
Ingests and normalizes log data from multiple sources
AI Analysis Engine
Applies ML models for anomaly and threat detection
Security Operations
Dashboards, alerts, and incident response workflows
Data Flow Summary
Best Practices & Tips
Performance Considerations
- Use lifecycle policies for cost-effective log retention
- Configure appropriate log sampling for high-volume services
- Implement log aggregation for multi-region deployments
Tuning Detection Rules
- Establish baselines for normal user behavior
- Configure severity levels based on risk assessment
- Use allowlists for known administrative activities
Common Pitfalls
- Missing logs from newly launched AWS regions
- Insufficient retention periods for compliance requirements
- Overlooking service-specific audit logs like S3 access logs