Microsoft Log Parser Toolkit

Written by Microsoft's Log Parser developer, this is the first book available on Microsoft's popular yet undocumented log parser tool. The book and accompanying Web site contain hundreds of customized, working scripts and templates that system administrators will find invaluable for analyzing the log files from Windows Server, Snort IDS, ISA Server, IIS Server, Exchange Server, and other products.

System administrators running Windows, Unix, and Linux networks manage anywhere from 1 to thousands of operating systems (Windows, Unix, etc.), Applications (Exchange, Snort, IIS, etc.), and hardware devices (firewalls, routers, etc.) that generate incredibly long and detailed log files of all activity on the particular application or device. This book will teach administrators how to use Microsoft's Log Parser to data mine all of the information available within these countless logs. The book teaches readers how all queries within Log Parser work (for example: a Log Parser query to an Exchange log may provide information on the origin of spam, viruses, etc.). Also, Log Parser is completely scriptable and customizable so the book will provide the reader with hundreds of original, working scripts that will automate these tasks and provide formatted charts and reports detailing the results of the queries.

Gabriele Giuseppini is a Software Design Engineer at Microsoft Corporation in the Security Business Unit, where he developed Microsoft Log Parser to analyze log files. Originally from Rome, Italy, after working for years in the digital signal processing field, he moved to the United States with his family in 1999, and joined Microsoft Corporation as a Software Design Engineer working on Microsoft Internet Information Services.

Mark Burnett (Technical Editor) is an independent researcher, consultant, and writer specializing in Windows security. Mark is author of Hacking the Code: ASP.NET Web Application Security (Syngress Publishing, ISBN: 1-932266-65-8), co-author of Maximum Windows 2000 Security (SAMS Publishing, ISBN: 0-672319-65-9), co-author of Stealing The Network: How to Own the Box (Syngress Publishing, ISBN: 1-931836-87-6), and is a contributor to Dr. Tom Shinder's ISA Server and Beyond: Real World Security Solutions for Microsoft Enterprise Networks (Syngress Publishing, ISBN: 1-931836-66-3). He is a contributor and technical editor for Syngress Publishing's Special Ops: Host and Network Security for Microsoft, UNIX, and Oracle (ISBN: 1-931836-69-8). Mark speaks at various security conferences and has published articles in Windows IT Pro Magazine (formerly Windows & .NET Magazine), Redmond Magazine, Information Security, Windows Web Solutions, Security Administrator, SecurityFocus.com, and various other print and online publications. Mark is a Microsoft Windows Server Most Valued Professional (MVP) for Internet Information Services (IIS).