What is the primary purpose of logs in a system?

The primary purpose of logs in a system is to document events and activities of the system. Logs serve as a historical record that captures a wide range of information regarding system operations, user activities, and security events. This documentation plays a critical role in monitoring system health, diagnosing issues, and investigating incidents when they arise.

By maintaining detailed logs, organizations can track which actions were taken by users or systems at specific times, providing valuable insights for audits, compliance reporting, and incident response efforts. These logs help security professionals to identify unauthorized access attempts, system failures, and other events that could impact the integrity and availability of the system.

While performance metrics, user data security, and user documentation are important aspects of system management, the fundamental role of logging is to create a comprehensive record of system activities which facilitates better management and security oversight.