Audit Trail Glossary Definition

Audit Trail is a record of actions, changes, approvals, or access events that shows what happened, when, and by whom in knowledge management and organizational learning contexts.

In security and compliance work, this term helps teams describe controls, risks, identity practices, standards, audits, or protective technologies. It is relevant when managing access, reducing exposure, documenting safeguards, or demonstrating accountability.

Security, audit, and architecture teams use this concept to protect applications and data while satisfying access, compliance, and risk requirements.

Related concepts include Enterprise Architecture, Application Portfolio, Business Capability and Data Governance.

Additional Resource: NIST Computer Security Resource Center Glossary.