Activity monitoring is a fundamental cybersecurity practice that involves the continuous observation, collection, and analysis of events and processes across an organization's IT infrastructure. This security control systematically tracks user actions, system resource utilization, network traffic patterns, application access attempts, and data flows across endpoints, servers, and network devices to identify deviations from normal operating patterns or potential security policy violations.

By leveraging specialized tools for log aggregation and behavioral analytics, activity monitoring provides organizations with deep visibility into their operational landscape. The intelligence gathered enables early threat detection, facilitates rapid incident response, supports forensic investigations, and ensures compliance with regulatory frameworks. This comprehensive oversight is essential for strengthening security posture, mitigating risks, and protecting critical assets against evolving cyber threats.