Why Australia Needs Sovereign Event Logging to Combat Modern Cyber Threats

Event logging is the foundation of an organisation’s cybersecurity strategy. It provides the visibility needed to detect, investigate, and respond to security incidents promptly. The Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre (ASD’s ACSC), in cooperation with multiple international partners, has developed a report outlining best practices for event logging and threat detection and the importance of sovereign data solutions.  

This is where Snare steps in, offering a comprehensive approach to event logging that not only adheres to best practices but also guarantees data sovereignty for Australian organizations. 

Best practice in logging and threat detection

Organisations need to implement an enterprise-approved event logging policy. This policy should define what events to log, how to log them, and for how long to retain the logs. Snare facilitates this by offering flexible policy creation and enforcement mechanisms across an organisation’s entire IT infrastructure. 

It’s not just about quantity though; logs must contain sufficient detail to be useful in security analysis. Snare’s agents are designed to capture high-quality, contextual information about security-relevant events, ensuring that security teams have the data they need to make informed decisions. 

Snare also implements a standardised log format across all collected events, making it easier for analysts to search, correlate, and analyse data from diverse sources, ensuring consistency. Additionally, Snare integrates and forward logs to other SIEM platforms to support threat hunting and data correlation. 

Finally, centralised log collection and correlation are essential for comprehensive threat detection. Snare Central is a unified platform for collecting, processing, and analysing logs from various sources, letting organisations detect complex attack patterns and anomalies that might otherwise go unnoticed. Snare Central offers over 850 reports to assist with general cyber hygiene and threat hunting.  

The data sovereignty imperative

While adhering to these best practices is crucial, Australian businesses must also contend with data sovereignty requirements, which requires all data collected in Australia to be to the laws and governance structures of where it is collected and stored. This means ensuring that sensitive data, including security logs, remains within Australian borders and under Australian jurisdiction. 

This is not just a compliance checkbox; it’s a fundamental aspect of national security and digital autonomy. When data is stored in foreign jurisdictions, it becomes subject to foreign laws and potentially accessible by foreign governments. This can pose significant risks to the privacy and security of Australian businesses and their customers. 

Data sovereignty also plays an important role in maintaining trust. Australian customers and partners expect their data to be handled in compliance with Australian laws and standards.  

How Snare achieves data sovereignty for Australian businesses

At Snare, we recognise the critical importance of data sovereignty and have designed our solutions to meet the specific needs of Australian businesses. Here’s how Snare ensures data sovereignty while maintaining best practices in event logging: 

Local data storage options: Australian businesses using Snare can choose to store their log data in Australian data centres. This ensures that all collected event logs remain within Australian borders, subject only to Australian laws and regulations. 

Architecture designed with data sovereignty in mind: the Snare Central server, which acts as the hub for log collection and analysis, can be deployed on-premises or in Australian-based cloud environments. This gives organisations complete control over their data’s location and access. 

Robust data encryption in transit and at rest: even if data were to be intercepted or accessed unauthorised, it would remain unreadable without the proper decryption keys, which are held solely by the organisation. 

Granular access controls: organisations can restrict data access based on user roles and responsibilities. This ensures that only authorised personnel, operating within Australia, can access sensitive log data. 

Full compliance: Snare is designed to meet Australian data protection standards and regulations. Our solutions help organisations comply with various Australian privacy laws and industry-specific regulations that mandate data localisation, the ACSC Essential Eight, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, NIST and more.

Importantly, our approach to data sovereignty doesn’t compromise on its capabilities for threat detection and incident response. Australian businesses can benefit from advanced security analytics and threat detection features while keeping their data within Australian jurisdiction. 

Learn how Snare can help you achieve best practice for event logging and threat detection while maintaining data sovereignty. 

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Further reading on how Snare can help:

Volt Typhoon APT
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Using Snare to Detect Volt Typhoon APT

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Using Snare to Detect Sunburst or Solarigate Backdoor
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MITRE ATT&CK and Snare

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Complying with ISO 27001

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How to Reduce Cybersecurity Costs and Ensure Regulatory ComplianceSnare’s ISO 27001 Certification & Commitment to Cyber Security