Log collector (SIEM): what it is and how it is attacked
Collects the records of what happened, from every computer and system, into one place.
Also known as
- SIEM
- log server
- syslog
Typing any of them into the editor finds this object.
Why it matters on a security diagram
If it is not collecting from a system, an incident on that system leaves no trace to investigate.
How it gets attacked, and what reduces it
How it gets attacked
- Logs cleared or forwarding stopped to remove the trail
- Retention too short to cover how long the intruder was present
What reduces it
- Check what is not sending to it, which is the question that matters
- Retain for longer than the time an intruder is typically present, or the records will not cover the incident
- Write records somewhere the systems they describe cannot delete
Where it sits
- Group
- Security and edge · The things that sit in front of something else and check what is trying to reach it.
- Whose side, by default
- Ours · Belongs to the organisation the diagram is about.
- Catalogue identifier
- log-collector
Reviewed . CC BY 4.0.
Others in security and edge
- FirewallNGFW · packet filterDecides which connections are allowed between two networks.
- Web app shieldWAF · web application firewallChecks visits to your website and blocks the ones that look like an attack.
- Outbound web filterforward proxy · secure web gateway · SWG · web filter · web proxyChecks and records everything staff and servers send out to the internet.
- Traffic splitterload balancer · LB · ADCSpreads incoming requests across several servers.
- Global content cacheCDN · content delivery network · edge cacheCopies your content to servers worldwide so pages load faster.
- API front doorAPI gatewayOne controlled entrance for the automatic requests other software makes of yours, without a person involved.
- Endpoint protectionEDR · antivirus · AV · XDRSoftware on each computer watching for hostile behaviour.
- Secrets storevault · secrets manager · credential store · password safeThe safe where passwords, keys and certificates are kept.
- Encryption key serviceKMS · key management service · key vault · HSM · customer-managed keyThe service that holds the keys used to scramble stored data, and decides who may use them.
- Cloud activity recordCloudTrail · activity log · control plane log · audit trailThe provider's own record of every change made to the cloud, and of who made it.
The security and edge group lists all 11 of them side by side.
Log collector on your own diagram
Open the editor, press N, and type SIEM. The object is placed and connected to whatever was selected, and Tab adds the next one already joined to it. Nothing is uploaded: the page is served with a Content Security Policy that forbids the browser from making any outbound request at all.
Open the diagram maker