The Importance of Identifying Critical Findings

B.

Of the given options, the finding that should be of GREATEST concern to an IS auditor conducting a forensic analysis following incidents of suspicious activities on a server is option B: "Audit logs are not enabled on the server."

The purpose of forensic analysis is to investigate suspicious activities and collect evidence to determine what happened and who was responsible for it. Audit logs are essential sources of evidence in such investigations, as they provide a record of system activities, including user logins, file accesses, system configuration changes, and other events that can be used to reconstruct the sequence of events leading up to an incident.

If audit logs are not enabled on the server, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to determine what happened on the server during the time period in question. Without audit logs, it would be challenging to determine who accessed the server, what activities were performed, and whether any unauthorized or malicious activities occurred.

In contrast, the other options are also important findings, but they do not have the same level of significance as the lack of audit logs.

Option A: "Most suspicious activities were created by system IDs" indicates that the system IDs themselves are being used for suspicious activities. While this is a concerning finding, it is still possible to investigate this using other evidence sources, such as system configuration files, user account logs, and other data.

Option C: "The server's operating system is outdated" indicates that the server may be vulnerable to known security vulnerabilities, which can increase the risk of unauthorized access or malicious activities. However, this finding does not directly affect the availability of audit logs, which are essential for forensic investigations.

Option D: "The server is outside the domain" indicates that the server may not be subject to the same security policies and controls as other systems within the organization. While this may be a concern, it does not directly affect the availability of audit logs, which are essential for forensic investigations.

In summary, while all the options are important findings, the lack of audit logs is the most concerning finding for an IS auditor conducting a forensic analysis following incidents of suspicious activities on a server.