Security patches must be applied on a timely and ongoing basis. Knowledge that logs are kept acts as a deterrent to abuse. Logs are also essential in investigating incidents after the fact. Logs are typically created both by the operating system as well as by applications like web servers, mail servers, etc. To ensure integrity, logs should be written to another computer whenever possible.
Logs often contain sensitive information such as dates and times of user access.
Logs containing sensitive information should only be accessible to authorized staff and should not be publicly accessible. These scripts often contain security holes, and make a very attractive target to potential intruders. All un-needed sample or example scripts must be removed from production servers. Inadvertent copies of sensitive data Web developers should check their systems and their web development tools to be sure that copies of sensitive data files are not created without their knowledge. In some cases, sensitive information has been inadvertently disclosed when web development tools place a copy in temporary directories or in web access logs.