One of the most important tasks for any admin or manager is to be able to monitor the activity intraday, intraweek, or even in real time for any database or environment. This feature plays a crucial role in achieving any external and internal auditing, compliance, security, and governance policies that are common to many enterprises.
Power Platform Environments are not the exception. Dataverse auditing fetches all changes made to records in an environment with a Dataverse database and stores user access.
Having an audit log in Power Platform is crucial for several reasons, including enhancing transparency, accountability and security, making it an essential component of any database management system.
Dataverse auditing, as mentioned before, will catch any change done in any table of the environment. Dataverse auditing is supported on all customs and default tables and columns.
Audit logs are stored in Dataverse and consume log storage capacity. They can be viewed in the Audit History tab for a single record and in the Audit Summary view for all audited operations in a single environment.
Audit logs help administrators and other users to get the following insights:
- Who created or updated a record and when?
- Which fields in a record were updated?
- What was the previous field value before the update?
- Who was accessing the system and when?
- Who deleted a record?
While the above can be extremely beneficial, the real question is how to generate a report in a user-friendly way to consume this data for multiple tables or even multiple environments.
To achieve this, Stretch365 built a flow to fetch and parse the necessary data from the Audit Log table to generate the adequate format to build any type of dashboard or file. This allows any admin user to quickly visualize any changes made in diverse key Dataverse tables.
How to implement auditing in Power Platform:
Working with Audit logs is not always an easy task. Generally, this type of data is masked, hidden or can only be retrieved in an unstructured format, making it difficult to consume.
Any database has its own way to achieve this result. In the case of Dataverse, the Audit Log setting does not come enable by default in each Power Apps environment
By enabling it using the Admin Portal, you can select the level of auditing you want to manage in each environment. There are three levels of auditing: environment, table, and column.
For table auditing to take place, auditing must be enabled at the environment level. For column auditing to take place, auditing must be enabled at the environment level and the table level.
After choosing the level of auditing that your company requires, you can proceed to layering your desired automation over the top to get and visualize the data in a way that makes sense to the team.
Stretch365 Audit Log built using Power Automate:
Utilizing Power BI as the reporting interface or Power Automate as the file generation tool empowers any organization to construct and realize diverse audit insights.
Drawing from our recent project experience, we engineered a comprehensive solution wherein, daily, Power Automate seamlessly retrieves all newly added, updated, or removed records from multiple Dataverse tables.
Within this streamlined process, after compiling the list of records and required audit parameters specified by stakeholders, an Excel file is dynamically generated. This file is dispatched to the administrative team, containing a detailed log of all records exhibiting changes within the preceding 24 hours.
Furthermore, to ensure the historical log data keeping requirements are met and to facilitate the right level of retrospective analysis, all generated files are archived in a SharePoint Library, preserving the historical record of all changes made within the monitored Dataverse Tables.
Audit File Example:
Implementation Guidelines:
- Define Audit Requirements: Start by defining the specific audit requirements for your organization. Determine what data and activities need to be audited, including user logins, data access, modifications, and deletions.
- Enable Audit Logging: In Dataverse, audit logging can be enabled at the environment level. Navigate to the Power Platform admin center, select the desired environment, and enable audit logging from the settings. Ensure that the appropriate audit settings are configured based on your requirements.
- Configure Audit Policies: Define audit policies to specify which actions and entities should be audited. Dataverse allows you to configure audit policies at the entity level, enabling granular control over the auditing process. Consider enabling auditing for critical entities and actions to capture relevant data.
- Customize Audit Settings: Customize audit settings to tailor the audit logs according to your organization’s needs. You can configure settings such as retention period, storage location, and audit log format. Ensure that the audit settings comply with any regulatory requirements applicable to your organization.
- Monitor Audit Logs: Regularly monitor audit logs to track user activities and system events. Use built-in reporting features or third-party tools to analyze audit data and identify any anomalies or suspicious activities. Establish proactive monitoring processes to detect and respond to security incidents promptly.
- Review and Analyze Audit Data: Conduct regular reviews and analysis of audit data to identify trends, patterns, and potential security risks. Look for unauthorized access attempts, data breaches, or compliance violations. Use audit data to improve security controls, enforce policies, and enhance overall data governance.
- Implement Access Controls: Use audit logs to enforce access controls and permissions within the Dataverse environment. Restrict access to sensitive data and limit user privileges based on the principle of least privilege. Monitor user access patterns and revoke access rights as needed to mitigate security risks.
- Educate Users: Educate users about the importance of audit logs and their role in maintaining data security and compliance. Provide training on how to interpret audit data, report security incidents, and adhere to organizational policies and procedures.
By following these implementation guidelines, you can effectively set up and manage audit logs in a Dataverse environment to enhance security, ensure compliance, and maintain the integrity of your data assets.
Benefits and Impact:
Using an audit log in a Dataverse environment provides several benefits and has a significant impact on data management, security, and compliance. Here are some key benefits and impacts:
- Enhanced Security: Audit logs track all user activities within the Dataverse environment, including data access, modifications, and deletions. This visibility helps in identifying any unauthorized access attempts or suspicious activities, thereby enhancing security.
- Data Integrity: By keeping a record of all changes made to the data, audit logs ensure data integrity. In case of any discrepancies or data errors, administrators can refer to the audit logs to trace back the changes and identify the cause.
- Compliance and Regulations: Many industries and regions have strict compliance requirements regarding data management and privacy. Audit logs help organizations meet these compliance requirements by providing evidence of data access and usage, ensuring transparency and accountability.
- Risk Management: Audit logs act as a risk management tool by enabling organizations to identify potential risks and vulnerabilities in their data environment. By monitoring user activities and system events, organizations can proactively address security threats and mitigate risks.
- Investigative Purposes: In the event of a security breach or data incident, audit logs serve as valuable forensic evidence for investigations. Administrators can analyze the audit trail to determine the cause of the incident, identify the parties involved, and take appropriate remedial actions.
- Performance Monitoring: Audit logs can also be used for performance monitoring and optimization purposes. By analyzing user activities and system events, organizations can identify bottlenecks, optimize processes, and improve the overall efficiency of their data environment.
- User Accountability: Knowing that their activities are being monitored and recorded, users are more likely to adhere to organizational policies and best practices. This promotes a culture of accountability and responsibility among employees, reducing the likelihood of data breaches or misuse.
Overall, the use of audit logs in a Dataverse environment has a positive impact on data governance, security, compliance, and risk management, helping organizations maintain the integrity and confidentiality of their data assets.
Conclusion:
In summary, audit logs play a crucial role in ensuring the security, integrity, and compliance of data in a Dataverse environment. By tracking user activities, modifications, and system events, audit logs provide transparency, accountability, and actionable insights for risk management and regulatory compliance. Their indispensable role in identifying unauthorized access, maintaining data integrity, and facilitating investigations makes audit logs an essential component of effective data governance and security strategies.
The method of visualizing or processing this data varies according to specific business needs. It could involve generating files or notifications through a structured workflow or leveraging visualization tools such as Power BI to craft dynamic, real-time reports.
