AFICK (Another File Integrity Checker) vs Tripwire: Which One is Better for Your Security Needs?

To meet the PCI requirements mentioned above, security teams use file integrity monitoring software or other security software with built-in FIM capability. FIM tools track all file changes, including new files created, modifications, and deletions, and alert specified personnel when unauthorized changes occur to files and directories.

We tried to include both types of FIM tools in our list. After all, file integrity monitoring is part of managing IT security, which often includes other functions. This list includes both open-source and commercial File Integrity Monitoring Tools.

AFICK (Another File Integrity Checker) , Tripwire

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While monitoring file integrity, SolarWinds Security Event Manager can show which users are responsible for specific file changes. It also allows you to create different alerts and reports by monitoring additional user activities. When something looks suspicious, and you want to dig deeper, you have the option to filter events by keyword.

When it comes to file integrity monitoring, OSSEC has a dedicated feature called Syscheck. By default, the tool runs every six hours and looks for changes in the master file checksum. Because the module is designed to minimize CPU consumption, it is potentially the right choice for organizations that need a space-saving solution for file integrity management.

Trustwave Endpoint Protection provides adequate public visibility across multiple data sources so that businesses can find this a useful option. If you want to have file integrity monitoring features, this sophisticated tool might not suit you.

AIDE (Advanced Intrusion Detection Environment) is a checker for the integrity of files and directories. It works by creating a database from its config file according to the regular expression conventions it finds. It uses the database to test the integrity of files.

Samhain is a free host intrusion detection system that provides file integrity checks and monitoring and analysis of log files. Additionally, Samhain can detect File Integrity, rootkit identification, port monitoring, rogue SUID executable identification, and hidden processes. Samhain is designed to monitor multiple systems with central logging and maintenance of different operating systems.

For companies managing a large number of sensitive data files, it is essential to choose the best and most useful file integrity monitoring software. Thus, the file integrity monitoring solution; provides a vital layer of protection for information, data, and applications while also improving incident response.

File integrity monitoring (FIM) is an internal control or process that performs the act of validating the integrity of operating system and application software files using a verification method between the current file state and a known, good baseline. This comparison method often involves calculating a known cryptographic checksum of the file's original baseline and comparing with the calculated checksum of the current state of the file.[1] Other file attributes can also be used to monitor integrity.[2]

Generally, the act of performing file integrity monitoring is automated using internal controls such as an application or process. Such monitoring can be performed randomly, at a defined polling interval, or in real-time.

Changes to configurations, files and file attributes across the IT infrastructure are common, but hidden within a large volume of daily changes can be the few that impact file or configuration integrity. These changes can also reduce security posture and in some cases may be leading indicators of a breach in progress. Values monitored for unexpected changes to files or configuration items include:

At its core, file integrity monitoring is a key element of an IT security management process. The main concept behind it is to ensure that any modification to a file system is accounted for and that any unexpected modification is quickly identified.

While some systems offer file integrity monitoring in real-time, it tends to have a higher impact on performance, For that reason, a snapshot-based system is often preferred. It works by taking a snapshot of a file system at regular intervals and comparing it to the previous one or to a previously established baseline. No matter how the detection functions (real-time or not), any detected change that suggests some sort of unauthorized access or malicious activity (such as a sudden change in file size or access by a specific user or group of users) and alert is raised and/or some form or remediation process is launched. It could range from popping an alert window to restoring the original file from a backup or blocking the access to the endangered file.

While SolarWinds does not make a dedicated file integrity monitoring tool, its Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) tool, the SolarWinds Security Event Manager, includes a very good file integrity monitoring module. This product is definitely one of the best entry-level SIEM systems on the market. The tool has almost everything one would expect from a SIEM tool. This includes excellent log management and correlation features as well as an impressive reporting engine and, of course, file integrity monitoring.

OSSEC, which stands for Open Source Security, one of the best known open-source host-based intrusion detection system. The product is owned by Trend Micro, one of the leading names in IT security and maker of one of the best virus protection suites. And if the product is on this list, rest assured that it also has a very decent file integrity monitoring functionality.

When it comes to file integrity monitoring, OSSEC has a specific functionality called Syscheck. The tool runs every six hours by default and it checks for changes to the checksums of key files. The module is designed to reduce CPU usage, making it a potentially good option for organizations requiring a file integrity management solution with a small footprint.

Samhain is a free host intrusion detection system which provides file integrity checking and log file monitoring/analysis. In addition, the product also performs rootkit detection, port monitoring, detection of rogue SUID executables, and hidden processes. This tool has been designed to monitor multiple systems with various operating systems with centralized logging and maintenance. However, Samhain can also be used as a stand-alone application on a single computer. The tool can run on POSIX systems like Unix, Linux or Mac OS. It can also run on Windows under Cygwin although only the monitoring agent and not the server has been tested in that configuration.

Next is a solution from Tripwire, a company that enjoys a solid reputation in IT security. And when it comes to file integrity monitoring, Tripwire File Integrity Manager (FIM) has a unique capability to reduce noise by providing multiple ways of weeding out low-risk changes from high-risk ones while assessing, prioritizing and reconciling detected changes. By automatically promoting numerous business-as-usual changes the tool reduces the noise so you have more time to investigate changes that may truly impact security and introduce risk. Tripwire FIM uses agents to continuously capture complete who, what, and when details in real-time. This helps ensure that you detect all change, capture details about each one, and use those details to determine the security risk or non-compliance.

Despite a rather misleading name, AIDE (Advanced Intrusion Detection Environment) is actually a file and directory integrity checker. It works by creating a database from the regular expression rules that it finds from its configuration file. Once the database is initialized it uses it to verify the integrity of files. The tool uses several message digest algorithms which can be used to check the integrity of the files. Furthermore, all of the usual file attributes can be checked for inconsistencies. It can also read databases from older or newer versions.

In simple words, File Integrity Monitoring means a service that can monitor and provide you alerts when any kind of changes made to your files. The File integrity monitoring (FIM) service ensures the integrity of files and makes sure there should not be any kind of manipulation or damaged happened to files over time. And if there are such things happened, it will provide an alert.

Open Source Tripwire software is a contribution to the Opensource community by Tripwire. Tripwire also provides the premium File Integrity Monitoring solution with some extra and premium features as compared to the free one. Open Source Tripwire File Integrity Monitoring tool provides security and data integrity tool useful for monitoring and alerting on specific file change on a range of systems.

OSSEC is another fully open source and free to use file integrity monitoring software. You can customize the OSSEC according to your security needs via its extensive configuration options. In response to security alerts, you can add custom alert rules and scripts. As it completely open-sources anyone can modify its source code to add new capabilities. OSSEC provides both serverless and server-agent mode

This files integrity monitoring tool provides real-time analytics, log monitoring, process monitoring, root check, and lets you know about any attacks through alert logs, and email alerts sent to you so that you can take instant actions. The problem is that whenever you get the upgrades for this files integrity monitoring tool it will overwrite all your existing rules with out-of-the-box rules.

Afick is a similar File Integrity tool like tripwire and very close to it. Afick can detect the intrusions and also monitor any changes in the files systems. It also supports multiple platforms such as Linux ( SUSE, Redhat, Debian and more), Windows, HP Tru64 Unix 5.1B, HP-UX 11, AIX 5.2.0. It is designed to be quick and portable and can work any on any computer with Perl and its standard modules. 2ff7e9595c