Identifying Web Attacks Through Logs

An Akamai Report from 2018 described SQLi (SQL Injection), LFI (Local File Injection) and XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) as the most common web attacks. (https://blogs.akamai.com/2018/06/summer-soti---web-attacks.html)

There are multiple types of web attacks. This course will review these attacks and teach you how to use the web application logs to identify them. To do this, the student will need to learn how to read a log and how to extract some of the key information from the log.

Subsequently, this first analysis of real world web server log examples will be used to get a better understanding of the attack. We will also use some scripts to find the information faster.

Following the log analysis of the web attacks, students will learn about some of the networks that can affect the web application like DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) and other types of flooding. Upon completion of the course, the student should be able to read a web application log thatoriginated from the web server and identify some of the most common web attacks.

Prerequisites:

• Basic Computer Network knowledge - OSI and TCP/IP Model
• Basic knowledge in common application and technology - Firewalls,DNS,IPS/IDS - HTTP/HTTPS

Course Goals

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Identify key information on web server logs
• Identify malicious actions by analyzing logs
• Identify web attacks after analyzing logs

In the Log Analysis training course, students will participate in a lab where they will learn to review different log files related to the Windows operating system. Students will learn to configure systems to log events, as well as to analyze system events.

What is Log Analysis?

All networks, computers, and other IT systems generate a record of system activities. The document that shows those activities is called an audit trail record or log. Log analysis is the process of reviewing and evaluating the records of system activities to help organizations mitigate certain risks and stay in compliance with regulations.

How Does Log Analysis Work?

Logs are typically created by operating systems, network devices, applications, and smart devices. They consist of several messages that are arranged chronologically and then stored in a file, on a disk, or in an application. Once the log information is collected, it can be analyzed to identify patterns and anomalies, like network intrusions. Log analysis components work together to identify the root causes for the anomalies or other unstructured data. Regular log analysis helps reduce and avoid various risks that are associated with the enterprise. The analysis provides evidence of what happened, the factors that determined the cause, and the impact of what occurred. This allows IT professionals to build countermeasures and models to mitigate risks.

Log analysis is usually performed due to security or audit compliance, security incident responses, forensics, or system troubleshooting.

Why is Log Analysis Important?

There are many reasons that log analysis is important. It can serve various different purposes including:

• Maintaining compliance with internal cybersecurity policies and external regulations and audits
• To understand and mitigate data breaches and other types of security incidents
• To understand user behavior
• To conduct forensics for investigations
• To troubleshoot computers, systems, or networks

For some types of organizations, conduction of log analysis is mandatory if they are to be certified as compliant with certain regulations. However, log analysis can be very useful to all types of organizations as it saves time when attempting to diagnose a problem, resolve an issue, or manage infrastructure or applications.

What is Involved in This Log Analysis Training Course?

In this log analysis training, students will gain a foundational understanding of log analysis. They will be introduced to the tools that are needed to help identify network intrusion. The students will participate in lab activities that cover processing logs with the Windows operating system and applying learned analytical skills to configure systems to log events, as well as to analyze system events.

The course will explain log analysis methodology, how to evaluate and analyze log files, how to extract information from the log files, and how to arrange log file data.

Upon completion of the course, students will receive a Certificate of Completion.

If you are interested in learning more about log analysis, our Log Analysis training course including lab activities is a great place to start. It’s easy to enroll, just click on the Register button in the top right corner of this screen to begin.

• Introduction and Review
• Course Introduction
• Web Applications Architecture Review Part 1
• Web Applications Architecture Review Part 2
• Web Server Logs Review Part 1
• Web Server Logs Review Part 2
• Tips and Common Issues Part 1
• Tips and Common Issues Part 2
• Identifying Web Attacks Through Logs
• Web Application Attacks Review
• Vulnerability Scans
• Brute Force Attacks
• SQL Injection
• File Inclusion
• XSS: Cross-Site Scripting
• CSRF: Cross Site Request Forgery
• Other Log Sources Part 1
• Other Log Sources Part 2
• Course Summary