Making sense of your logs

August 1, 2013

As organizations continue to embrace cloud, mobility and agility-driven business models, formerly well-defined network boundaries evolve into virtual bridge and termination points. So, is it sufficient to continue with the traditional log-aggregation model that drives security information and event management (SIEM)?

It's clear that efficient solutions are required that are not only agile and easy to implement, but act as a compelling ROI barometer for security leaders who tend to operate with shoestring budgets.

While some pros are still mired in a reactive approach that always has the security teams playing catch-up, it's a more stealthy approach to be proactive so as to catch the likelihood of a threat that's around the corner. In other words, you want a strategy that provides intelligence.

Organizations today have a master data model to drive efficiencies in system design. How about a similar approach for the enterprise security program? Let's consider a security model that has tools in place for infrastructure and network security, incident management, identity and access management, application and data security, and compliance. The associated tools produce a plethora of valuable logs during normal and active threat activity. With the assumption that we have our high-value targets identified by the security master data model, we can start visualizing the one-dimensional logs and – with enriching analytics – observe as they take shape into multidimensional security intelligence.

Leveraging a distributed computer platform, like Hadoop, and an analytics platform, like IKANOW, the data sources from different tools can be enriched to produce compelling intelligence that can easily become a decision platform for security leaders. Further, integration with an existing or other open source business intelligence platform can produce visually powerful and actionable security intelligence. This is not only practical for organizations of all sizes, but it encourages security professionals to evolve into critical business leaders. The entire setup can be built in the cloud to gradually scale the platform to do more as the business continues to push the boundaries.

So, can an approach combining log management and Big Data yield significant results? Absolutely. In fact, most organizations could evolve in this manner. These organizations may find it beneficial to look at developing a security intelligence platform as a multi-generation initiative. A good baseline to demonstrate the maturity of one's security program is to revisit the enterprise security roadmap and introduce a security intelligence platform as a possible top-level milestone. This drives focus when evolving each of the security services resulting in a comprehensive view of things that matter the most.

Photo by Chris Volpe/zuma

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Vijay Viswanathan

Vijay Viswanathan is a product and technology executive focused on translating complex, emerging technologies into scalable, enterprise-ready platforms. As Vice President of Product at ISARA, he leads the strategy and execution behind quantum-safe security solutions, helping organizations operationalize post-quantum cryptography and modernize their cryptographic infrastructure with minimal disruption.

At ISARA, Vijay is driving the shift from theoretical quantum risk to practical implementation — building products that enable enterprises to discover, prioritize, and remediate cryptographic vulnerabilities across their environments. His work centers on making cryptographic agility achievable in real-world systems, ensuring organizations can continuously evolve their security posture as threats and standards change.
Vijay is an experienced entrepreneur with a track record of building and scaling technology companies, particularly in data-driven platforms and AI-powered systems. He specializes in reducing the gap between data and decision-making — enabling organizations to move from fragmented insights to clear, actionable intelligence.

Prior to ISARA, Vijay held senior product leadership roles across both high-growth startups and established technology companies, including Vice President of Product at Civil Maps, where he helped advance mapping and localization technologies for autonomous systems. He has also led product organizations at Telenav and multiple early-stage ventures, bringing products from concept through to market adoption.

Vijay combines deep technical fluency with a strong commercial lens, building high-performing product organizations and delivering platforms that turn emerging technologies — including AI and machine learning — into practical, revenue-generating solutions. His perspective sits at the intersection of AI, data, and security, with a focus on enabling faster, more informed decision-making in complex enterprise environments.