Audit Trail
A chronological record of all system activities, data changes, and user actions that provides documentary evidence of compliance. Audit trails are required by DORA, ISO 27001, and SOC 2 to demonstrate accountability, detect anomalies, and support forensic investigations.
An audit trail is a sequential record that captures who did what, when, and why within an information system. It serves as the backbone of compliance evidence, providing regulators and auditors with verifiable proof that controls are operating effectively.
In the context of financial services compliance, audit trails must capture user authentication events, data access and modifications, system configuration changes, administrative actions, failed access attempts, and policy changes. DORA specifically requires financial entities to maintain detailed logs of ICT-related incidents and near-misses.
Modern compliance platforms like Matproof automate audit trail collection across cloud infrastructure, SaaS applications, and internal systems. This continuous evidence collection replaces manual screenshot-based evidence gathering and ensures that audit trails are tamper-proof, complete, and readily available for regulators.
Related Terms
Evidence Collection
The process of gathering, organizing, and maintaining documentation that demonstrates compliance with specific controls and requirements. Automated evidence collection integrates with IT systems to continuously capture proof of control effectiveness.
Continuous Monitoring
An ongoing process of observing, evaluating, and maintaining awareness of information security controls, vulnerabilities, and threats. Continuous monitoring ensures that compliance status is maintained between formal audits and enables rapid detection of control failures.
Compliance Automation
The use of technology to streamline and automate compliance processes including evidence collection, control monitoring, risk assessment, policy management, and audit preparation. Compliance automation significantly reduces manual effort and improves accuracy.
Audit Readiness
The state of being prepared for a compliance audit at any time, with all necessary documentation, evidence, and controls in place. Continuous audit readiness replaces the traditional 'audit scramble' approach with always-on compliance monitoring and evidence collection.
Related Articles
Audit Trail Compliance: Requirements for Financial Services
In a volatile financial market where trust is paramount, the stakes are high. Consider the case of a mid-sized bank in Germany that faced a crippling audit failure in Q2 2025
Cyber Insurance Claims: Documentation and Compliance Evidence
In the realm of European financial services, the Directive (EU) 2016/934 on insurance distribution (IDD) has been a cornerstone for the regulation of insurance claims
Automating ISO 27001 Evidence Collection: Save 80% of Audit Prep Time
In the world of compliance, there's a common misconception that the most tedious tasks are also the most crucial
SOC 2 Continuous Monitoring: From Annual Pain to Daily Confidence
Step 1: Open your SOC 2 compliance log. Assess whether it is up to date and if it records regular monitoring activities
Automate compliance with Matproof
DORA, SOC 2, ISO 27001 — get audit-ready in weeks, not months.
Request a demo