Monitor file attributes in SCM

In addition to monitoring file metadata such as last modification time, size, and file owner, Server Configuration Monitor (SCM) now monitors even more file attributes. For file elements only, on both Windows and Linux, SCM can now capture permissions, user access read and write information, and various other attributes that tell you about the files.

Tracking these attributes is useful in a number of ways, including improving your ability to detect intrusion attempts. For instance, a bad actor could make a change to a file's permissions so that you cannot easily see the changes they make to a file. By viewing the file attribute changes, you can see that file permissions were changed, and you can take action to stop unwanted changes to your files.

When file attributes change, a new version is created, and the version is timestamped as the 'Last change detected' in the Configuration details resource. The following are examples of file attribute changes on both Windows and Linux machines that can be viewed on the Content Comparison page: