What it means
Analysts compare timestamps, identities, hosts, processes, addresses, actions, and expected patterns across sources. Normalization helps, but source-specific meaning still matters.
Why it matters
Careful analysis converts raw events into evidence and helps separate a noisy alert from a meaningful security condition.
Practical focus
- Begin with a precise question or hypothesis
- Normalize time zones and correlate stable identifiers
- Compare multiple independent sources
- Document gaps, assumptions, and confidence
Common mistakes
- Searching one log source in isolation
- Assuming absence of a record proves absence of activity
- Ignoring clock drift and collection delay
Certification relevance
This subject appears in or supports the following certification bodies of knowledge: