What evidence do auditors commonly ask for on LT-6 Configure log storage retention?

Retention requirement analysis per log type citing the obligation; Retention policy configured at each logging service; Archive tier configuration and its access procedure; Evidence logs older than the retention floor are still retrievable.

What is the most common gap auditors find on LT-6?

default retention accepted without checking the obligation

Azure Security Benchmark v3 (renamed Microsoft cloud security benchmark) · Logging and Threat Detection

`LT-6` Configure log storage retention

Plan and configure log retention at each logging service according to compliance, regulatory and business requirements so logs are archived for the required period.

Source: Azure Security Benchmark v3 (renamed Microsoft cloud security benchmark), LT-6. The statement above is our statement of the clause, read from the published text and cited so you can check it against the official text, not the instrument verbatim. Open Azure Security Benchmark v3 (renamed Microsoft cloud security benchmark) in the compliance library.

artefacts

held by a system

at each review

easy

to go live

SIEM / log platform

where the evidence lives

teal = a system already holds it · olive = produced at each review. To go live: easy when half or more of the artefacts are already held by a system, moderate from a quarter to a half, hard below a quarter.

These are the artefacts auditors commonly ask for on this requirement, our guidance rather than text from the standard. Your assessor decides what is sufficient in your context, and asks for samples across the period when a report covers one.

system holds itEvidence a system already holds

Archive tier configuration and its access procedure · SIEM / log platform
Evidence logs older than the retention floor are still retrievable · SIEM / log platform

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

Retention requirement analysis per log type citing the obligation · SIEM / log platform

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

Retention policy configured at each logging service · Policy repository / GRC workspace

First move

Automate the pull from your SIEM / log platform. Retention and alert rules exported from the SIEM; review evidence is the closed-alert record with reviewer and time.

Common gaps auditors find

default retention accepted without checking the obligation
retention set on the central workspace but not on individual services
archived logs retained but no tested retrieval path

Do this for your whole sheet

Paste the rows you run your controls from and get this mapping for every control at once, with the periodic-review ones flagged and a first move per row. No account for the first run.

Build my evidence sheet

LT-5 Centralize security log management and analysis · LT-7 Use approved time synchronization sources