Rule: CloudTrail trails should be integrated with CloudWatch logs
This rule ensures that CloudTrail trails are properly integrated with CloudWatch logs for monitoring and security purposes.
| Rule | CloudTrail trails should be integrated with CloudWatch logs |
| Framework | NIST 800-53 Revision 5 |
| Severity | ✔ Critical |
Rule Description:
CloudTrail trails should be integrated with CloudWatch logs to meet the requirements of NIST 800-53 Revision 5. This rule ensures that all CloudTrail logs are being consolidated and centrally stored in CloudWatch logs for easy management, analysis, and compliance.
By integrating CloudTrail with CloudWatch logs, organizations can have a centralized view of their AWS API activity logs, enabling real-time monitoring, alerting, and analysis of events across their AWS infrastructure.
Troubleshooting Steps:
- 1.
Check if CloudTrail trail exists: Verify if the CloudTrail trail has been already created in your AWS account. You can do this by navigating to the CloudTrail service in the AWS Management Console and checking the list of trails.
- 2.
Verify CloudWatch logs integration: Ensure that the CloudTrail trail is integrated with CloudWatch logs. This can be done by checking the settings of the CloudTrail trail. If the integration is not enabled, follow the remediation steps mentioned below.
- 3.
Check IAM permissions: Verify that the IAM role associated with the CloudTrail trail has sufficient permissions to write logs to the CloudWatch Logs group. Inadequate IAM permissions can cause the integration to fail.
- 4.
Check CloudWatch Logs group: Ensure that the CloudWatch Logs group, where the CloudTrail logs will be stored, exists and is properly configured. If the group does not exist or has incorrect configurations, create or update it accordingly.
- 5.
Verify CloudWatch Logs subscription: Confirm that your CloudTrail trail is successfully subscribed to the CloudWatch Logs group. This ensures that the logs generated by CloudTrail are being sent to the correct destination.
- 6.
Check for trail logging errors: If there are any issues with CloudTrail logging, review the CloudTrail trail and CloudWatch Logs CloudWatch Metrics for any error messages or notifications.
Remediation Steps:
To integrate CloudTrail trails with CloudWatch logs, follow these steps:
- 1.
Open the AWS Management Console and navigate to the CloudTrail service.
- 2.
Select the desired CloudTrail trail that you want to integrate with CloudWatch logs.
- 3.
Click on "Edit" or "Configure" trail settings.
- 4.
In the "CloudWatch Logs" section, enable the option to "Enable Log File Validation" and select the desired CloudWatch Logs group where the logs will be stored.
- 5.
Ensure that the IAM role associated with the trail has sufficient permissions to write logs to CloudWatch Logs.
- 6.
Click on "Save" or "Update trail" to apply the changes.
Once the integration is enabled, CloudTrail logs will be sent to the specified CloudWatch Logs group in near real-time. You can then use CloudWatch Logs features such as log insights, metric filters, and alarms to monitor and analyze the logs as per your requirements.
Additional Recommendations:
- Regularly review CloudTrail logs in CloudWatch Logs to identify and respond to potential security incidents or compliance violations.
- Enable CloudTrail log file validation to ensure log integrity and minimize the risk of tampering or unauthorized modifications.
- Implement automated monitoring and alerting on CloudWatch Logs for critical events or suspicious activities to improve incident response capabilities.
- Integrate CloudWatch Logs with other AWS services such as AWS Lambda or Amazon Athena for advanced log analysis and automated actions.