Navigating the audit landscape with Log360: A case study on Farmers Trust & Savings Bank

The need for comprehensive log management

Farmers Trust & Savings Bank, like many financial institutions, operates under stringent regulatory and audit requirements. A significant turning point for the bank was when auditors identified gaps in the bank’s existing systems, pointing towards a need for a more robust and comprehensive solution to manage logs, especially from servers, and to monitor administrator account activities.

The existing management system did not provide a consolidated, easily navigable view of logs, making it cumbersome to extract meaningful insights. This lack of streamlined log management obstructed the bank’s ability to respond to audit requirements promptly, hindering its operational efficiency and compliance.

Picking the right solution

The bank's IT team undertook a meticulous evaluation process in collaboration with RSM, an IT consulting company, for a solution that could meet their specific needs. RSM played a pivotal role by offering expertise and suggesting potential solutions, including ManageEngine Log360.

Log360 was not an unfamiliar name for the bank, which was already utilizing other ManageEngine products, including Endpoint Central (formerly Desktop Central) for patch management and internal ticketing. This existing relationship and satisfaction with ManageEngine products naturally positioned Log360 as a strong contender in the selection process.

The bank ultimately chose Log360 as its SIEM solution. The comprehensive capabilities of Log360 aligned with the bank’s primary requirements, such as effective log management and administrator account auditing.

Features and benefits of Log360

1. Graphical dashboard and event correlation

The team at Farmers Trust & Savings Bank highly valued the graphical dashboard, which offered a quick, intuitive snapshot of activities, enhancing visibility of the network's status. Moreover, event correlation simplified the process of analyzing and interpreting log data, making it easier to identify and respond to significant events and patterns.

2. Audit preparation

Log360 has helped the bank prepare for audits. It has streamlined the management of logs and administrator accounts, ensuring that the bank can meet auditor expectations with improved efficiency and precision.

3. Improved log management

The solution has enhanced log management capabilities, allowing for a more organized and accessible way to manage and analyze logs. This improvement has optimized the overall log management process, contributing to better operational efficiency and security oversight.

Security and threat management

Farmers Trust & Savings Bank primarily encounters basic security threats, such as failed logins and authentication issues. Bradley Frerichs, the network administrator, said that the bank's employees are generally diligent, and severe threats like ransomware and phishing have been avoided.

The role of Log360

Log360 plays a role in enhancing visibility into potential security threats for the bank. It assists in identifying unusual activities by providing a graphical dashboard that allows for immediate recognition of irregularities or security breaches.

With the implementation of Log360, the bank anticipates an improvement in the detection and management of security threats. Log360’s features, such as real-time alerts and event correlation, will benefit the bank’s security posture by providing enhanced tools to identify and respond to potential threats swiftly.

Integration with existing software

Frerichs availed the ManageEngine onboarding service to integrate Log360 into the bank's systems seamlessly, ensuring a smooth, disruption-free transition.

The service provided expert guidance, including tailored assistance and strategic advice, ensuring that Frerichs and his team could unlock and leverage the full potential of Log360 right from the start.

The bank's scoreboard for Log360

Final thoughts

With Log360, Farmers Trust & Saving Bank has streamlined its log management, addressed audit recommendations, and enhanced its overall efficiency. Log360 received high recommendations from the bank's network security team, reflecting their satisfaction with the product’s capabilities, ease of use, and overall positive impact on the bank’s operations.

About ManageEngine Onboarding

Onboarding is a ManageEngine service that provides solution implementation to clients upon request. This service includes the installation and customized configuration of ManageEngine solutions. It enables clients to seamlessly begin work without worrying about the complexities of installation, deployment, and product use. Every client environment is unique and requires additional support beyond the basic installation and standard features. With custom onboarding, clients have the option to engage a team of product experts to manage the installation, implementation, customization, and training based on the business needs.

About Log360

Log360 is a unified SIEM solution with integrated DLP and CASB capabilities that detects, prioritizes, investigates, and responds to security threats. Vigil IQ, the solution's TDIR module, combines threat intelligence, ML-based anomaly detection and rule-based attack detection techniques to detect sophisticated attacks, and offers an incident management console for effectively remediating detected threats. Log360 provides holistic security visibility across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid networks with its intuitive and advanced security analytics and monitoring capabilities.