An IT audit solves the security and infrastructure problems every business encounters as it grows. Audits are designed to catch gaps within your organization, such as tasks that are incomplete or roadblocks preventing progress. To conduct them, administrators and users granted Audit Log privileges need easy access to changes made to an account. These logs also help to verify the details, like the strings in a check, or whether someone has proper contact information.
A Transaction Check Audit Log Example
The Audit Log from Uptime.com is designed to provide this data in a single screen. You can verify changes throughout the history of your account in one place for a fast and simple auditing solution. There are two methods used to access the Audit Log:
- Settings > Audit Log will access the entire Log, including details for every action
- From the Monitoring > Checks screen, click Actions and then Audit Log for a log of only that Check
Audit Log Types
There are six potential Audit Log Types that you can study from the Audit Log:
- Contact
- User
- Checks
- Check Tag
- Alerts
- Integration
Users can also utilize the search bar to quickly locate entries (especially those that have Tags), or to search for a series of entries related to a single Check or Tag. The search bar works best when you know the event or entry you are looking for, and you want to review a history of changes and/or relevant details related to it.
Here are the details for the Audit Log types that users can review.
Contact
Contact will display every instance that a user’s contact information was added or updated within your Uptime.com account. The Contact screen will detail changes made to an individual’s contact information.
User
User provides similar information to the Contact type about each instance that created a new user.
Checks/Check Tag
All historic changes to checks currently running on your Uptime.com account are available for your review on the Check log. This screen is useful when you want a quick survey of which checks have been recently updated, created, or otherwise changed.
Check Tag will display all checks that you have tagged. You can set tags for any check from the Monitoring>Checks screen. You can tick the box for the check you want to tag and create or manage tags by clicking More>Set Tags.
The Check audit is useful for locating a particular Check’s Object ID, which you can search to see a history of all changes made to that specific check. Check Tags function similarly, so you can use either Object ID or a Tag as a method to identify your checks.
Alerts
The Alert log details the instances where an alert has been ignored or un-ignored. Use this screen when your uptime percentage is dramatically different from what you expect. Alerts are time stamped based on your account's preferred timezone as well, so every incident can be tracked down to the minute.
Test alerts to learn how quickly emails are sent (hint: we prioritize speed), and how quickly your team receives the alert.
Integration
Integration audit logs provide timestamped entries of all integrations your Uptime.com account is using. This screen is used to review changes made to every integration, with details on when the changes occurred and if the integration is currently paused.
Reviewing Details
The Audit Log provides the following details:
- Date
- User
- Object Type
- Object
- Object ID
- Comment
The Date time stamps an entry, while User defines the user who made the change. Object Type tells you what the change was made to, such as contact information or an individual check. You can check the Object itself to determine the check/object in question, based on the URL/user that is listed. Every Object is given an Object ID number for reference purposes. In all cases, the Object will list the Object ID beside the URL, and it’s useful when you need to distinguish between more than one Check of the same check type.
Please Note: In order for View & Modify and View user roles to have access to view the Audit Log, please contact the support team at support@uptime.com.
Final Thoughts
The Audit Log is meant to provide account administrators and users granted Audit Log privileges with an at-a-glance overview of recent changes. It also has features like Object ID and Tags that streamline the process of finding historic changes done to a specific check. While you cannot make changes within the Audit Log, it’s a useful tool when you need to hold teams accountable or review work for accuracy.
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