Audit Trail
An audit trail, also called an audit log, is a record of sequentially recorded events that shows who did what, when they did it, and how they did it. Audit trails are used to track system activity and resource access in computer systems, networks, and enterprise applications. They can also be used to diagnose and troubleshoot problems.
The term “audit trail” originates from the auditing process in accounting, where paper records were used to track financial transactions. In computing, an audit trail is a digital record of system activity that can be used to reconstruct past events or track real-time activity.
Most audit trails include the following information:
• Timestamp: When the event occurred
• User ID: Who performed the action
• Action: What was done (e.g., “opened file” or “sent email”)
• Object: Which file or resource was accessed
Audit trails can be stored locally on a system or server, or they can be transmitted to a central logging repository. They can be used for real-time monitoring or forensics analysis after an incident has occurred.