Windows Event Log Analysis.

The DFIR practice of parsing, correlating, and interpreting Windows Event Log (EVTX) records — Security, System, Application, and PowerShell logs — to reconstruct user activity, authentication events, and adversary techniques. It belongs to the Forensics & IR category of cybersecurity.

The DFIR practice of parsing, correlating, and interpreting Windows Event Log (EVTX) records — Security, System, Application, and PowerShell logs — to reconstruct user activity, authentication events, and adversary techniques.

Windows Event Log analysis is one of the foundational DFIR skills on Windows endpoints and Active Directory servers. The Windows Event Log subsystem stores records in the binary EVTX format under `%SystemRoot%\System32\winevt\Logs\`, with each provider writing into channels such as `Security`, `System`, `Application`, `Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational`, `Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational`, and dozens more. High-value event IDs include 4624 (logon), 4625 (failed logon), 4672 (special privileges assigned), 4688 (process creation), 4698 (scheduled task created), 4720 (account created), 4768/4769 (Kerberos TGT/TGS), 4776 (NTLM auth), 7045 (service install), 1102 (audit log cleared), and Sysmon 1/3/7/8/10/11/22. Practical analysis tools include Event Viewer, `wevtutil`, EZ Tools' EvtxECmd (Eric Zimmerman), Chainsaw, Hayabusa, Velociraptor, plus SIEM ingestion (Splunk, Elastic, Sentinel). Hardening prerequisites — increasing log size, enabling Process Creation auditing with command-line, deploying Sysmon, and enabling PowerShell Script Block Logging (4104) — are essential because Windows ships with most useful audits off by default.

Defences for Windows Event Log Analysis typically combine technical controls and operational practices, as detailed in the full definition above.

Common alternative names include: EVTX analysis, Security log analysis.