Log Management Retention Requirements
Many companies and organizations use log management as a post-incident analysis tool in the investigation of security breaches. However, major compliance regulations view event logs in a completely different way. Event…
Many companies and organizations use log management as a post-incident analysis tool in the investigation of security breaches. However, major compliance regulations view event logs in a completely different way. Event log data is a must have tool to analyze who exercised what privileges and accessed confidential information, at any given point in time, to ensure continuous compliance.
Automated Event Log Management Solutions are used to facilitate the most difficult job in any compliance process. Regular review and correlation of event data through merging and archiving of events from multiple systems and separation of the most critical 1% of activities from useless 99% of noise. From the compliance perspective, event log management is: Collection (Consolidation), Archiving (Retention), Audit Reporting, and Monitoring (Alerting).
On September 20th, 2016, Digital Edge released an article on Log Management Laws and Regulations. Below is a little "Cheat Sheet" on the Event Log Retention Requirements as mandated by major compliance regulations:
| Regulation | Retention Requirement |
|---|---|
| 7 years | |
| 1 year | |
| 7 years | |
| 3 years | |
| 3 years | |
| 3+ months | |
| 3 years | |
| 6 years | |
| 5 years | |
| 3 years |
Updated November 2026: the original post is kept above; the sections below add context for readers today.
Check the current rules before you set retention
Several requirements changed after this cheat sheet was written. PCI DSS 4.0 still asks for at least 12 months of audit logs, with the last three months immediately available. Federal agencies follow OMB M-21-31, which sets 12 months in active storage and 18 months in cold storage for most logs. HIPAA requires documentation to be kept for six years; many organizations keep audit logs for the same period.
Set retention per log source, write it in your policy and make sure the storage cost is planned. When in doubt, ask your auditor or counsel. LogIT keeps logs for as long as each source requires.
