Audit Trail: Security Investigation

Answer common security investigation questions using pup audit-logs.

Prerequisites

pup auth login   # OAuth2 (recommended)
# or set DD_API_KEY + DD_APP_KEY with audit_logs_read scope

Command Execution Order

1. Clarify the investigation scope: who, what resource type, what time window.
2. Run the most specific query first; broaden only if results are empty.
3. If results are large, pipe to jq to group or summarize.
4. Highlight anomalies: bulk operations, unusual geo, off-hours activity, support user actions.

Common Investigation Queries

Who deleted resources in a time window?

pup audit-logs search --query "@action:deleted" --from 24h -o json \
  | jq '[.data[] | {
      timestamp: .attributes.timestamp,
      user: .attributes.attributes.usr.email,
      actor_type: .attributes.attributes.evt.actor.type,
      resource_type: .attributes.attributes.asset.type,
      resource_id: .attributes.attributes.asset.id,
      country: .attributes.attributes.network.client.geoip.country.name
    }]'

Who modified a specific resource (by ID)?

pup audit-logs search --query "@asset.id:RESOURCE_ID" --from 7d -o json \
  | jq '[.data[] | {
      timestamp: .attributes.timestamp,
      user: .attributes.attributes.usr.email,
      action: .attributes.attributes.action,
      event: .attributes.attributes.evt.name
    }]'

What did a specific user do?

pup audit-logs search --query "@usr.email:[email protected]" --from 7d --limit 200 -o json \
  | jq '[.data[] | {
      timestamp: .attributes.timestamp,
      action: .attributes.attributes.action,
      event: .attributes.attributes.evt.name,
      resource_type: .attributes.attributes.asset.type,
      resource_id: .attributes.attributes.asset.id,
      ip: .attributes.attributes.network.client.ip,
      country: .attributes.attributes.network.client.geoip.country.name
    }]'

Login activity — all logins with geo

pup audit-logs search --query "@evt.name:Authentication @action:login" --from 7d --limit 200 -o json \
  | jq '[.data[] | {
      timestamp: .attributes.timestamp,
      user: .attributes.attributes.usr.email,
      status: .attributes.attributes.status,
      ip: .attributes.attributes.network.client.ip,
      city: .attributes.attributes.network.client.geoip.city.name,
      country: .attributes.attributes.network.client.geoip.country.name,
      asn: .attributes.attributes.network.client.geoip.as.name
    }]'

Failed logins only

pup audit-logs search --query "@evt.name:Authentication @action:login @status:error" --from 7d --limit 200 -o json \
  | jq '[.data[] | {
      timestamp: .attributes.timestamp,
      user: .attributes.attributes.usr.email,
      ip: .attributes.attributes.network.client.ip,
      country: .attributes.attributes.network.client.geoip.country.name
    }]'

Who changed roles or permissions?

pup audit-logs search --query "@evt.name:\"Access Management\"" --from 30d --limit 200 -o json \
  | jq '[.data[] | {
      timestamp: .attributes.timestamp,
      user: .attributes.attributes.usr.email,
      action: .attributes.attributes.action,
      resource_type: .attributes.attributes.asset.type,
      resource_id: .attributes.attributes.asset.id
    }]'

What actions came from a specific IP?

pup audit-logs search --query "@network.client.ip:1.2.3.4" --from 30d --limit 200 -o json \
  | jq '[.data[] | {
      timestamp: .attributes.timestamp,
      user: .attributes.attributes.usr.email,
      actor_type: .attributes.attributes.evt.actor.type,
      action: .attributes.attributes.action,
      event: .attributes.attributes.evt.name,
      resource_type: .attributes.attributes.asset.type
    }]'

Who created or deleted API keys?

pup audit-logs search --query "@evt.name:Authentication @asset.type:api_key" --from 90d --limit 200 -o json \
  | jq '[.data[] | {
      timestamp: .attributes.timestamp,
      user: .attributes.attributes.usr.email,
      action: .attributes.attributes.action,
      key_id: .attributes.attributes.asset.id,
      ip: .attributes.attributes.network.client.ip,
      country: .attributes.attributes.network.client.geoip.country.name
    }]'

Event Category Reference

Category (@evt.name)	What it covers
Authentication	Logins, API key create/delete/modify
Access Management	Roles, user add/remove, restriction policies
Dashboard	Create, modify, delete, share
Monitor	Create, modify, delete, resolve
Log Management	Pipelines, indexes, archives, exclusion filters
Integration	Add/modify/delete integrations
Metrics	Custom metric create/modify/delete
Organization Management	Child org creation, org settings
Notebook	Create, modify, delete
APM	Retention filters, sampling config
Cloud Security Platform	CWS rules, security signal state changes
Bits AI SRE	MCP tool calls, AI investigations

Anomaly Flags to Surface

When presenting investigation results, call out:

• Actor type SUPPORT_USER — Datadog support accessed the org
• Bulk deletions — same user, same action, many resources in a short window
• Unexpected geography — country not seen in prior logins for this user
• Off-hours activity — actions at unusual times for the user's typical timezone
• First-time ASN — action from a cloud provider or VPN not seen before (@network.client.geoip.as.name)

References

• Audit Trail API
• Audit Trail event categories