Spot and stop malicious activities with Sysmon log analysis using EventLog Analyzer

System Monitor (Sysmon) is a Windows logging add-on that offers granular logging capabilities and captures security events that are not usually recorded by default. It provides information on process creations, network connections, changes to file systems, and more. Analyzing Sysmon logs is essential to spot malicious activities and security threats.

ManageEngine EventLog Analyzer, a powerful log management solution, can centrally collect and monitor Sysmon logs from all Windows and Linux devices to ensure endpoint security.

How does EventLog Analyzer help in monitoring and analyzing Sysmon logs?

Upon receiving logs from devices that have Sysmon installed in them, EventLog Analyzer automatically generates out-of-the-box reports that provide detailed information on critical events in the form of intuitive graphs and charts.

Monitor process creations to spot suspicious installations

EventLog Analyzer helps you keep track of various processes, including processes that are currently running as well as processes that have been terminated. Apart from the process name, you can also view additional information about the process such as the process ID, the parent process name, and the process command line. By correlating this information with threat feeds, you can spot malicious software installations or malware attacks.

Spot, investigate, and stop malware

EventLog Analyzer can help you detect and investigate various techniques employed by malware. For instance, malware usually modifies file creation timestamps to cover its tracks. With EventLog Analyzer's file audit reports, you can analyze file modifications in real time. Another common technique used by malware includes using named pipes for inter-process communication. EventLog Analyzer's process audit reports can help you monitor Sysmon event logs generated when a pipe is created or connected.

Detect privilege escalations to stop unauthorized data access

By integrating EventLog Analyzer with the MITRE ATT&CK framework, you can analyze Sysmon logs to discover malicious activities like privilege escalation attacks. For instance, by monitoring process creations, you can detect attackers who try to bypass User Access Control mechanisms to elevate process privileges in a system.

Monitor files to ensure their integrity  

With EventLog Analyzer, you can monitor file and stream creation operations. File creation operations will be logged when a file has been created or overwritten. You can also monitor read operations performed on a drive using the Raw Access Read report. This can help you prevent data exfiltration attacks on these files. With EventLog Analyzer's File Stream Creation report, you can monitor when a file stream is created and keep track of certain malware that drop their executables or configuration settings through browser downloads.

Audit network devices and resources  

With EventLog Analyzer's in-depth Sysmon log analysis capability, monitor network connections and get visibility into each connection’s process ID, source IP address, source and destination ports, and more. You can also analyze logs generated when a process executes a DNS query, regardless of its result (Success, Failure, or Cached).

Audit registry and configuration changes

Sometimes attackers initiate an attack by modifying registries to launch malicious applications. With EventLog Analyzer, you can monitor changes such as modifications to registry keys and registry values.

You can also monitor the state of a Sysmon service using the Service State Change report, which will tell you if the service has started or stopped running along with its version number.

Other solutions offered by EventLog Analyzer

5 reasons to choose EventLog Analyzer for Sysmon log analysis

1. Attack detection  

Using effective Sysmon log analysis, EventLog Analyzer detects known attack patterns such as privilege escalations and lateral movement.

2. Streamline network operations  

With Sysmon log analysis, EventLog Analyzer helps streamline network traffic and detect malicious traffic.

3. Correlate events  

Correlate process creation or modification events with threat intelligence or other security events to detect attacks at an early stage.

4. Securely store Sysmon logs  

Securely archive your Sysmon logs for future forensic investigation purposes and regulatory compliance requirements.

5. Log forensics  

Analyze your network logs and find the root cause of a security breach using EventLog Analyzer's powerful log search engine.