Log user activities on their PCs
Centralize logs for internal audit purposes
Trigger notifications for abnormal user behaviors
Configure log events for different user groups
Overview
Security Challenges
In the daily work environment, companies often need to authorize their employees to access and use sensitive company data. However, most companies lack visibility into how their employees are actually utilizing this data, and whether any misuse is occurring. At the same time, companies have to meet internal audit requirements and comply with various data security regulations and policies. This creates a need for the IT department to find ways to effectively monitor and record how employees are accessing and using the company’s data resources. Additionally, management is seeking proactive security alerts that can detect abnormal user behavior, allowing them to take immediate action to minimize potential risks and damages to the organization.
While Windows does have built-in logging capabilities, these logs can be difficult to read and interpret. Furthermore, the logs are stored locally on individual user machines, making it challenging for administrators to centrally review and analyze user activity records. There are enterprise-grade solutions like SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) systems that provide comprehensive user activity monitoring and reporting. However, these sophisticated tools can be cost-prohibitive, especially for small to medium-sized businesses.
The key security challenge lies in finding a simple, user-friendly and cost-effective logging solution that can satisfy the company’s requirements for visibility into employee file activities, compliance reporting, and proactive security monitoring – all within a centralized platform accessible to IT and management.
The Solution
Curtain LogTrace – File Activity Transparency at Your Fingertips!
Curtain LogTrace provides administrators with the ability to log various user file activities, such as file creation, copying, moving, renaming, deletion, printing, and even saving files within specific applications. Additionally, it can track the insertion and ejection of USB devices and differentiate between different file copying operations to USB devices. This comprehensive logging capability allows administrators to have a detailed record of user actions related to files and USB devices. By capturing these activities, companies can enhance their understanding of how sensitive information is being accessed and shared within their network. It also enables them to identify any unauthorized or suspicious activities that may pose a security risk. With Curtain LogTrace, administrators can more effectively monitor and manage file-related actions, ensuring compliance with internal audit requirements and data security guidelines. Additionally, the ability to track abnormal user behaviors and file-related activities can help in the early detection and mitigation of potential security incidents, allowing management to take prompt action to protect the company’s assets.
The Policy server maintains a central audit log that records users’ file activities. Notably, for events such as file copying and moving, the log goes a step further by capturing the destination type as well. This enhanced level of detail enables administrators to generate reports that specifically focus on file copying to USB devices. Administrators have the capability to configure the logging of specific events for different user groups. This means that they can customize the audit log settings to record only the desired events for each user group. By doing so, administrators can ensure that the log provides relevant and targeted information based on the specific needs and requirements of different user groups.
Curtain LogTrace has Free version and Paid version. The paid version provides excellent basic functionality, able to record the majority of user file operations, such as printing documents and deleting files. The price of the paid version is also very reasonable, possibly only a tenth of a SIEM solution, but it can provide excellent logging, and the installation and maintenance are also very simple.
Features of Curtain LogTrace
- File log (create & delete file)
- File log (copy & move file)
- File log (print & rename file)
- App log (save, open & close file)
- Support MySQL & MS SQL
- Watermark for printout
- Central administration
- Integration with Active Directory
- Uninstall password for client
- Password management
- Admin delegation
- Self protection for the software
Resources
System Requirements
- CPU: 1.6 GHz or faster, 2-core; 2 GHz or greater recommended
- WinXP/Vista/Win7/Win8/Win10/Win11/ Server 2003/2008/2012/2016/2019/2022
- 2GB RAM
- 2GB Hard Disk (in NTFS) for installation
- TCP/IP network