Security logging and monitoring failures: OWASP Top 10

Security logging and monitoring failures are one of the most commonly overlooked risks in application security. Ranked in the OWASP Top 10, these failures can leave teams unaware of breaches until long after the damage is done. Without strong logging and monitoring practices, it’s difficult to detect threats early, investigate incidents thoroughly, or demonstrate compliance with regulatory requirements.

What are security logging and monitoring failures?

Security logging and monitoring failures occur when critical security events are not properly recorded, monitored, or reviewed. This includes:

• Logs missing key details (e.g., timestamps, IP addresses, user actions)
• Lack of real-time monitoring to detect threats as they happen
• Logs stored insecurely or not retained long enough
• Systems failing to alert teams to genuinely suspicious behavior
• Inconsistent logging practices across applications or environments
• Insufficient protections against log tampering

These gaps reduce visibility into application activity and increase the likelihood that attacks will go unnoticed.

What are the risks of improper security logging and monitoring?

Security incidents are not just about the attack itself—they’re about what happens after. When logs are missing or incomplete, teams can’t determine what was accessed or compromised. That makes incident response slower and less effective, increasing recovery costs and business downtime.

Many regulations—including PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, and SOC 2—require that access to systems and sensitive data is logged and monitored. Inadequate logging may lead to compliance failures, lost customer trust, and legal exposure. But even when compliance isn’t the primary concern, logging failures often translate to operational risk and uncertainty.

Security logging and monitoring failure example

In July 2024, a single content update from cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike cascaded into a global crisis, causing over 8.5 million systems to crash worldwide. This incident, widely known as the CrowdStrike “glitch,” inflicted losses exceeding $5 billion according to Harvard Business Review. 

What transformed this incident from a mere technical mishap into a profound security logging and monitoring failure was its multilayered blindness. Not only did CrowdStrike’s internal monitoring systems fail to detect the critical flaw before deployment, but customer organizations also lacked the visibility to identify the issue as it unfolded in real-time.

This case study powerfully demonstrates how even sophisticated, well-intentioned automated security processes can become devastating points of failure when logging and monitoring mechanisms aren’t designed to detect errors within the security tools themselves. Organizations without sufficient observability capabilities found themselves vulnerable to extensive disruption and shouldered substantial financial consequences.

Improving security logging and monitoring

Proactive measures can help teams gain clarity and control over their environments:

• Log key security events like logins, privilege changes, and access to sensitive data.
• Centralize log collection for better visibility across systems.
• Set up real-time monitoring to detect threats quickly.
• Apply access controls and backups to prevent log tampering or loss.
• Regularly test logging workflows to ensure alerts and data are working as expected.

Importantly, effective logging should be built into both development and operational workflows. Security teams, developers, and IT operations must collaborate to define what gets logged, how it’s monitored, and who can access those records.

How DAST can also help with security logging and monitoring

Dynamic application security testing (DAST) tools simulate real-world attack scenarios in production-like environments. This approach helps validate whether:

• Logging systems capture relevant attack data
• Alerts are triggered appropriately
• Logs contain actionable context
• Detection workflows are tuned to real-world behavior rather than theoretical vulnerabilities

DAST can reveal blind spots and streamline the tuning of detection systems to focus on practical threats—especially helpful for teams with limited time or resources.

Final thoughts on preventing security logging and monitoring failures

Security logging and monitoring should not be an afterthought—they are essential components of any effective security strategy. Combining proactive detection strategies with a DAST-first mindset enables organizations to embed visibility into every layer of the application lifecycle, and by focusing on meaningful alerts and data, organizations can detect threats faster, recover with confidence, and demonstrate control over their security posture.