Certified Incident Handler (CIH) Practice Ecam

What does an audit trail policy primarily help organizations with?

1. Logging employee attendance

2. Calculating annual revenues

3. Monitoring compliance and security

4. Tracking software licenses

The correct answer is: Monitoring compliance and security

An audit trail policy primarily assists organizations in monitoring compliance and security by systematically recording and retaining the details of user activities, transactions, and system changes. This means that any access to sensitive data, changes to records, and critical system events are logged in a structured manner. By having this information readily available, organizations can conduct thorough investigations in case of incidents, ensuring accountability and traceability. Moreover, audit trails are a fundamental component of many regulatory requirements, helping organizations demonstrate compliance with various laws and standards, such as GDPR or HIPAA. They provide an essential layer of security by allowing audits to reveal patterns of unauthorized access or anomalies in system performance. This capability to monitor and review activities is crucial in identifying potential security breaches, mitigating risks, and ensuring that organizational policies are followed effectively. While logging employee attendance, calculating annual revenues, and tracking software licenses are important organizational tasks, they do not inherently focus on the broader aspects of compliance and security that an audit trail policy aims to support.