7 Key Features of a File Integrity Monitoring Software

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By AMSAT Dec 31,2020

7 Key Features of a File Integrity Monitoring Software

The growing occurrence of data breaches over the last few years has led to the creation of a number of regulatory standards such as the PCI-DSS. These standards get companies to embrace security best practices, including the need to supervise all types of changes made to server configurations. Although some of these configuration changes have no considerable effect on systems, a few unforeseen changes could put companies at risk, which may also lead to non-compliance.

The File Integrity Monitoring Solution

To help secure your critical data and maintain compliance, you need to spot changes down to the smallest detail in real time. This is achieved by creating a baseline state and supervising for file changes relative to the baseline.

The problem is that it’s unrealistic to oversee every application or device in your network all the time. Moreover, today’s networks are far too multifaceted to be checked physically, and this reality holds true even in small to mid-sized organizations. Therefore, you need a solution that helps you take over all these changes without the risks of manual editing. And this results in the need for File Integrity Monitoring (FIM).

Here are the features you should be looking for when assessing any file integrity monitoring solution.

1. Multiple Platform Support

A typical organization today commonly runs on Windows, Linux, Solaris, AIX or even HP-UX. So, it’s important to try to find an effective solution than can supervise numerous platforms without incompatibility issues.

2. Easy Integration

The FIM of your choice should be able to impeccably work with other data security solutions such as associating change data with event and log data. This lets your team swiftly recognize, trace, and relate problem-creating changes with each other.

3. Prolonged Perimeter Protection

You should opt for an FIM solution that goes beyond change discovery in files and its characteristics. Network devices such as firewalls, routers, switches, and VPN concentrators should also be taken into account by your solution.

4. Smarter Change Detection

Spotting a change at a minimum means recognizing if a hash of the file has altered. A sturdier FIM solution can look at numerous traits pertaining to a file besides the hash. All of this supplementary metadata offers superior insight of the true nature of the change. For instance, changing the owner of a file does not change its contents, which implies that the hash would remain the same. Nevertheless, a more sophisticated FIM lets you comprehend if the file’s owner has been changed.

5. Multi-Level Logging and Simplified Reporting

Conventional file integrity monitoring solutions generally operate on each individual machine, with contemporary tools providing a cohesive view of all changes across the network. This lets you manage all of the servers in a single view. Another aspect to look for in an FIM solution is advanced reporting of rollup information. Preferably, your FIM tool should have a sophisticated dashboard that lets you assess the state of your infrastructure at an unconventional level and subsequently drill down volumes of change data into actionable information.

6. Simplified Rule Configuration

Your file integrity monitoring solution ought to have a system to easily define monitoring guidelines for a server or device. It should also have a mechanism to duplicate those rules to many devices across your infrastructure.

7. Real-Time Monitoring

This feature protects the integrity of your IT infrastructure by comparing misconfigurations in real time against your internal standards or outside policies for compliance and security best practices.

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