Logging and Monitoring Policy - SME

The Logging and Monitoring Policy (P22S) establishes a robust framework for securing, retaining, and auditing system activity within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This policy is specifically tailored to organizations that do not have dedicated IT or security teams, supporting simplified operational roles such as General Manager, IT Support Provider, and Privacy Coordinator. Despite this streamlined approach, the policy ensures strict compliance with international standards including ISO/IEC 27001:2022, ISO/IEC 27002:2022, NIST SP 800-53 Rev.5, EU GDPR, EU NIS2, EU DORA, and COBIT 2019. The purpose of the policy is to mandate logging and monitoring controls that uphold both the security and operational integrity of the organization’s IT systems. It defines what events must be logged (covering authentication, configuration, access to sensitive data, and security alerts), how logs are securely stored and protected, and the responsibilities for review and incident escalation. Log management under this policy directly supports regulatory compliance, forensic investigations, and ongoing audit-readiness, addressing customer trust and mandatory breach response. A clear scope is articulated: every system (from servers and network devices to cloud services and BYOD environments) and user (employees, contractors, MSPs) falls within its coverage. Logs generated by managed services or third-party platforms must be included where administrative rights or audit access are contractually provided. The policy requires weekly and monthly reviews of critical logs, immediate attention to high-severity alerts, and mandates retention periods of at least 12 months, extended to 3 years for incident logs. Log protection measures include write-protection, restricted access, encrypted backups, and audit trails for any critical system changes. Roles and responsibilities are explicitly defined for SMEs: the General Manager oversees policy approval, responds to critical alerts, and authorizes exceptions where technical or operational constraints exist. IT Support Providers are responsible for log setup, regular review, maintaining backup and alerting systems, while the Privacy Coordinator ensures personal data logs comply with GDPR and supports breach analysis and regulatory notifications. Staff and contractors must never tamper with or disable logging systems, and are obliged to report anomalies. Governance and compliance mechanisms encompass log governance schedules, retention requirements, and protection controls. Policies for cloud services, time synchronization (NTP), alert configuration, BYOD coverage, backup, and legal hold procedures are included to ensure forensic readiness and legal defensibility. Exceptions must be documented, reviewed biannually, and mitigated appropriately. Enforcement is supported by sanctions for tampering, non-compliance, or failure to escalate critical alerts, ensuring audit and regulatory requirements are always met. The policy mandates annual reviews and offers triggers for unscheduled updates based on audit findings, incidents, or changes in infrastructure or regulatory landscape. This policy directly supports and is supported by related SME policies including Data Protection and Privacy, Network Security, Secure Development, Incident Response, and Time Synchronization. These linkages build a comprehensive foundation for traceability, breach management, and compliance, tailored for small organizations but robust enough to meet leading international standards.