What is Audit Trail
As per the definition of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an audit trail is: “A set of records that collectively provide documentary evidence of processing used to aid in tracing from original transactions forward to related records and reports, and/or backward from records and reports to their component source transactions.”
Therefore, the audit trail records:
- Who: User or the application program and a transaction number.
- When: Date and time
- Where: Location of user or terminal
- What: Data that is being worked upon or is modified.
Example: When checkout from the counter of a market after shopping, the receipt (bill) that we get is a type of audit trail, we (Who/customer) can find all the necessary information on it like the date and time (when) of checkout, location of the mall and counter number (Where), and the items purchased (What/data).
Audit Trail
Audit trail is a detailed record that tracks all changes and activities within a system, helping ensure transparency and accountability. It logs who did what and when, making it easier to detect and resolve issues. This is crucial for security, compliance, and troubleshooting. In this article, we’ll explore the importance and basics of audit trails in a straightforward way.
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