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Audit Logging

Comprehensive audit trails for compliance and security monitoring.

Overview

NornicDB provides immutable audit logging required by major regulatory frameworks:

  • GDPR Art.30 - Records of processing activities
  • HIPAA §164.312(b) - Audit controls
  • SOC2 CC7.2 - System monitoring
  • FISMA AU-2 - Audit events

Features

  • ✅ Immutable append-only logs
  • ✅ Structured JSON format
  • ✅ Real-time security alerting
  • ✅ Compliance reporting
  • ✅ Configurable retention (7+ years)
  • ✅ User activity tracking
  • ✅ Data access logging

Configuration

Enable Audit Logging

# nornicdb.yaml
audit:
  enabled: true
  log_path: /var/log/nornicdb/audit.log

  # Retention (SOC2 requires 7 years)
  retention_days: 2555  # ~7 years

  # What to log
  log_queries: true
  log_auth: true
  log_data_access: true
  log_config_changes: true

  # Alerting
  alert_on_failures: true
  alert_threshold: 5  # Alert after 5 failed logins

Code Example

// Initialize audit logger
config := audit.DefaultConfig()
config.LogPath = "/var/log/nornicdb/audit.log"
config.RetentionDays = 2555

logger, err := audit.NewLogger(config)
if err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
}
defer logger.Close()

// Set up security alerting
logger.SetAlertCallback(func(event audit.Event) {
    if event.Type == audit.EventSecurityAlert {
        sendSecurityAlert(event)
    }
})

// Attach to server
server.SetAuditLogger(logger)

Event Types

Authentication Events

Event Type Description
LOGIN Successful login
LOGIN_FAILED Failed login attempt
LOGOUT User logout
PASSWORD_CHANGE Password changed
ACCESS_DENIED Authorization failure

Data Events (GDPR Art.15)

Event Type Description
DATA_READ Data accessed
DATA_CREATE Data created
DATA_UPDATE Data modified
DATA_DELETE Data deleted
DATA_EXPORT Data exported

GDPR Rights Events

Event Type Description
ERASURE_REQUEST Right to be forgotten request
ERASURE_COMPLETE Erasure completed
EXPORT_REQUEST Data portability request
CONSENT_GIVEN Consent recorded
CONSENT_REVOKED Consent withdrawn

System Events

Event Type Description
CONFIG_CHANGE Configuration modified
BACKUP Backup created
RESTORE Backup restored
SECURITY_ALERT Security event detected

Log Format

JSON Structure

{
  "id": "evt_abc123xyz",
  "timestamp": "2024-12-01T10:30:00.123Z",
  "type": "DATA_READ",
  "user_id": "usr_123",
  "username": "alice",
  "ip_address": "192.168.1.100",
  "user_agent": "Mozilla/5.0...",
  "resource": "node",
  "resource_id": "patient-456",
  "action": "READ",
  "success": true,
  "details": "PHI access",
  "session_id": "sess_789"
}

Fields

Field Description Required
id Unique event ID Yes
timestamp ISO 8601 timestamp Yes
type Event type Yes
user_id User identifier Yes
username Human-readable name No
ip_address Client IP Yes
resource Object type accessed For data events
resource_id Object identifier For data events
action Operation performed For data events
success Operation result Yes
details Additional context No

Compliance Reporting

Generate Reports

// Create audit reader
reader := audit.NewReader(config.LogPath)

// Generate compliance report
report, err := reader.GenerateComplianceReport(
    time.Now().AddDate(0, -1, 0), // Start: 1 month ago
    time.Now(),                    // End: now
    "Monthly Compliance Report",
)

fmt.Printf("Total events: %d\n", report.TotalEvents)
fmt.Printf("Failed logins: %d\n", report.FailedLogins)
fmt.Printf("Data accesses: %d\n", report.DataAccesses)
fmt.Printf("GDPR requests: %d\n", report.GDPRRequests)

CLI Reports

# Generate compliance report
nornicdb audit report --from "2024-11-01" --to "2024-12-01"

# Export for external analysis
nornicdb audit export --format csv --output audit-november.csv

# Search for specific events
nornicdb audit search --user alice --type LOGIN_FAILED

Security Alerting

Configure Alerts

logger.SetAlertCallback(func(event audit.Event) {
    switch event.Type {
    case audit.EventLoginFailed:
        if getFailedLoginCount(event.IPAddress) >= 5 {
            sendSlackAlert("Multiple failed logins from " + event.IPAddress)
        }
    case audit.EventSecurityAlert:
        sendPagerDutyAlert(event)
    case audit.EventErasureRequest:
        notifyDPO(event) // Notify Data Protection Officer
    }
})

Alert Conditions

Condition Default Threshold Action
Failed logins 5 in 15 minutes Alert + lockout
Unusual data access N/A Alert
Config changes Any Alert
GDPR requests Any Notify DPO

Log Rotation

Automatic Rotation

audit:
  rotation:
    max_size: 100MB
    max_age: 7d
    max_backups: 90
    compress: true

Manual Rotation

# Rotate logs
nornicdb audit rotate

# Archive old logs
nornicdb audit archive --before "2024-01-01" --output archive-2023.tar.gz

Retention Management

GDPR Requirements

  • Keep logs as long as necessary for purpose
  • Delete when no longer needed

HIPAA Requirements

  • Minimum 6 years retention
  • Recommend 7+ years

SOC2 Requirements

  • 7 years recommended
# Configure retention
audit:
  retention_days: 2555  # 7 years
  auto_purge: true      # Delete expired logs

Integration

Syslog

audit:
  syslog:
    enabled: true
    address: "syslog.example.com:514"
    facility: local0

Elasticsearch

audit:
  elasticsearch:
    enabled: true
    urls: ["https://es.example.com:9200"]
    index: "nornicdb-audit"

Splunk

audit:
  splunk:
    enabled: true
    hec_url: "https://splunk.example.com:8088"
    token: "${SPLUNK_HEC_TOKEN}"

Best Practices

DO:

  • Enable audit logging in production
  • Set up alerting for security events
  • Regularly review audit logs
  • Keep logs for compliance period
  • Encrypt log files at rest

DON'T:

  • Disable audit logging
  • Delete logs before retention period
  • Log sensitive data in details field
  • Ignore security alerts

See Also