Updated on 2025-11-07 GMT+08:00

File Integrity Monitoring Overview

What Is File Integrity Monitoring?

File integrity monitoring (FIM) monitors key files and directories on servers in real time; records file or directory creation, modification, deletion, and moving; and records and reports alarms on file or directory attribute modification, helping you detect suspicious changes in a timely manner.

File Integrity Monitoring Principles

HSS checks for suspicious changes by comparing the previous and current statuses of a file.

File Integrity Monitoring Scope

The monitored items and scope vary depending on the OS.

Linux file integrity monitoring checks:

  • Important file integrity

    Monitor and record important system files (such as ls, ps, login, and top) in real time, and generate alarms if these files are modified. For more information, see Table 1.

  • Important file directory change

    Monitor system files or directories; record file or directory creation, modification, deletion, and moving; and record and report file or directory attribute modification, helping you detect suspicious changes in a timely manner. For details about the default monitoring paths in conservative mode, see Table 2. For details about the default monitoring paths in sensitive mode, see Table 3.

To add or remove monitored files or directories, modify the settings of File Integrity and Important File Directory Change in the File Protection policy. For details, see Configuring Policies.

Table 1 Default paths for Linux file integrity checks

Type

File Path

bin

  • /bin/ls
  • /bin/ps
  • /bin/bash
  • /bin/login

usr

  • /usr/bin/ls
  • /usr/bin/ps
  • /usr/bin/bash
  • /usr/bin/login
  • /usr/bin/passwd
  • /usr/bin/top
  • /usr/bin/killall
  • /usr/bin/ssh
  • /usr/bin/wget
  • /usr/bin/curl
Table 2 Default Linux paths for key file and directory change monitoring (conservative mode)

File or Directory Path

Alias

Monitored Objects/Operations

Subdirectory

Creation

Property Modification

Deletion

Moving

Modification

/etc/rc.d/rc.local

rx-local

×

×

/etc/crontab

crontab

×

×

/var/spool/cron/root

spool-cron

×

×

/var/spool/cron/crontabs/root

spool-cron

×

×

/etc/cron.allow

cron-allow

×

×

/etc/passwd

passwd

×

×

/etc/profile.d/zzz_euleros_history.sh

zzz_euleros_history_sh

×

×

/etc/profile

profile

×

×

/root/.bashrc

bashrc

×

×

/root/.bash_profile

bash_profile

×

×

/root/.cshrc

cshrc

×

×

/etc/ld.so.preload

so_preload

×

×

/etc/profile.d/sec_euleros_history.sh

sec_euleros_history_sh

×

×

/etc/shells

shells

×

×

/usr/sbin/adduser

usr_sbin_adduser

×

×

/usr/sbin/chkconfig

usr_sbin_chkconfig

×

×

/usr/sbin/chroot

usr_sbin_chroot

×

×

/usr/sbin/depmod

usr_sbin_depmod

×

×

/usr/sbin/fsck

usr_sbin_fsck

×

×

/usr/sbin/fuser

usr_sbin_fuser

×

×

/usr/sbin/groupadd

usr_sbin_groupadd

×

×

/usr/sbin/groupdel

usr_sbin_groupdel

×

×

/usr/sbin/groupmod

usr_sbin_groupmod

×

×

/usr/sbin/grpck

usr_sbin_grpck

×

×

/usr/sbin/ifconfig

usr_sbin_ifconfig

×

×

/usr/sbin/ifdown

usr_sbin_ifdown

×

×

/usr/sbin/ifup

usr_sbin_ifup

×

×

/usr/sbin/init

usr_sbin_init

×

×

/usr/sbin/insmod

usr_sbin_insmod

×

×

/usr/sbin/ip

usr_sbin_ip

×

×

/usr/sbin/lsmod

usr_sbin_lsmod

×

×

/usr/sbin/lsof

usr_sbin_lsof

×

×

/usr/sbin/modinfo

usr_sbin_modinfo

×

×

/usr/sbin/modprobe

usr_sbin_modprobe

×

×

/usr/sbin/nologin

usr_sbin_nologin

×

×

/usr/sbin/pwck

usr_sbin_pwck

×

×

/usr/sbin/rmmod

usr_sbin_rmmod

×

×

/usr/sbin/route

usr_sbin_route

×

×

/usr/sbin/rsyslogd

usr_sbin_rsyslogd

×

×

/usr/sbin/runlevel

usr_sbin_runlevel

×

×

/usr/sbin/sestatus

usr_sbin_sestatus

×

×

/usr/sbin/sshd

usr_sbin_sshd

×

×

/usr/sbin/sulogin

usr_sbin_sulogin

×

×

/usr/sbin/sysctl

usr_sbin_sysctl

×

×

/usr/sbin/useradd

usr_sbin_useradd

×

×

/usr/sbin/userdel

usr_sbin_userdel

×

×

/usr/sbin/usermod

usr_sbin_usermod

×

×

/usr/sbin/vipw

usr_sbin_vipw

×

×

/usr/bin/awk

usr_bin_awk

×

×

/usr/bin/basename

usr_bin_basename

×

×

/usr/bin/bash

usr_bin_bash

×

×

/usr/bin/cat

usr_bin_cat

×

×

/usr/bin/chattr

usr_bin_chattr

×

×

/usr/bin/chmod

usr_bin_chmod

×

×

/usr/bin/chown

usr_bin_chown

×

×

/usr/bin/cp

usr_bin_cp

×

×

/usr/bin/curl

usr_bin_curl

×

×

/usr/bin/cut

usr_bin_cut

×

×

/usr/bin/date

usr_bin_date

×

×

/usr/bin/df

usr_bin_df

×

×

/usr/bin/diff

usr_bin_diff

×

×

/usr/bin/dirname

usr_bin_dirname

×

×

/usr/bin/dmesg

usr_bin_dmesg

×

×

/usr/bin/du

usr_bin_du

×

×

/usr/bin/echo

usr_bin_echo

×

×

/usr/bin/ed

usr_bin_ed

×

×

/usr/bin/egrep

usr_bin_egrep

×

×

/usr/bin/env

usr_bin_env

×

×

/usr/bin/fgrep

usr_bin_fgrep

×

×

/usr/bin/file

usr_bin_file

×

×

/usr/bin/find

usr_bin_find

×

×

/usr/bin/grep

usr_bin_grep

×

×

/usr/bin/groups

usr_bin_groups

×

×

/usr/bin/head

usr_bin_head

×

×

/usr/bin/id

usr_bin_id

×

×

/usr/bin/ipcs

usr_bin_ipcs

×

×

/usr/bin/kill

usr_bin_kill

×

×

/usr/bin/killall

usr_bin_killall

×

×

/usr/bin/last

usr_bin_last

×

×

/usr/bin/lastlog

usr_bin_lastlog

×

×

/usr/bin/ldd

usr_bin_ldd

×

×

/usr/bin/less

usr_bin_less

×

×

/usr/bin/logger

usr_bin_logger

×

×

/usr/bin/login

usr_bin_login

×

×

/usr/bin/ls

usr_bin_ls

×

×

/usr/bin/lsattr

usr_bin_lsattr

×

×

/usr/bin/mail

usr_bin_mail

×

×

/usr/bin/md5sum

usr_bin_md5sum

×

×

/usr/bin/mktemp

usr_bin_mktemp

×

×

/usr/bin/more

usr_bin_more

×

×

/usr/bin/mount

usr_bin_mount

×

×

/usr/bin/mv

usr_bin_mv

×

×

/usr/bin/netstat

usr_bin_netstat

×

×

/usr/bin/newgrp

usr_bin_newgrp

×

×

/usr/bin/passwd

usr_bin_passwd

×

×

/usr/bin/perl

usr_bin_perl

×

×

/usr/bin/pgrep

usr_bin_pgrep

×

×

/usr/bin/ping

usr_bin_ping

×

×

/usr/bin/pkill

usr_bin_pkill

×

×

/usr/bin/ps

usr_bin_ps

×

×

/usr/bin/pstree

usr_bin_pstree

×

×

/usr/bin/pwd

usr_bin_pwd

×

×

/usr/bin/readlink

usr_bin_readlink

×

×

/usr/bin/rpm

usr_bin_rpm

×

×

/usr/bin/runcon

usr_bin_runcon

×

×

/usr/bin/sed

usr_bin_sed

×

×

/usr/bin/sh

usr_bin_sh

×

×

/usr/bin/sha1sum

usr_bin_sha1sum

×

×

/usr/bin/sha224sum

usr_bin_sha224sum

×

×

/usr/bin/sha256sum

usr_bin_sha256sum

×

×

/usr/bin/sha384sum

usr_bin_sha384sum

×

×

/usr/bin/sha512sum

usr_bin_sha512sum

×

×

/usr/bin/size

usr_bin_size

×

×

/usr/bin/sort

usr_bin_sort

×

×

/usr/bin/ssh

usr_bin_ssh

×

×

/usr/bin/stat

usr_bin_stat

×

×

/usr/bin/strace

usr_bin_strace

×

×

/usr/bin/strings

usr_bin_strings

×

×

/usr/bin/su

usr_bin_su

×

×

/usr/bin/sudo

usr_bin_sudo

×

×

/usr/bin/tail

usr_bin_tail

×

×

/usr/bin/test

usr_bin_test

×

×

/usr/bin/top

usr_bin_top

×

×

/usr/bin/touch

usr_bin_touch

×

×

/usr/bin/tr

usr_bin_tr

×

×

/usr/bin/uname

usr_bin_uname

×

×

/usr/bin/uniq

usr_bin_uniq

×

×

/usr/bin/users

usr_bin_users

×

×

/usr/bin/vmstat

usr_bin_vmstat

×

×

/usr/bin/w

usr_bin_w

×

×

/usr/bin/watch

usr_bin_watch

×

×

/usr/bin/wc

usr_bin_wc

×

×

/usr/bin/wget

usr_bin_wget

×

×

/usr/bin/whatis

usr_bin_whatis

×

×

/usr/bin/whereis

usr_bin_whereis

×

×

/usr/bin/which

usr_bin_which

×

×

/usr/bin/who

usr_bin_who

×

×

/usr/bin/whoami

usr_bin_whoami

×

×

/usr/bin/numfmt

usr_bin_numfmt

×

×

/usr/bin/kmod

usr_bin_kmod

×

×

/usr/bin/systemctl

usr_bin_systemctl

×

×

/usr/bin/gawk

usr_bin_gawk

×

×

/usr/bin/mailx

usr_bin_mailx

×

×

/usr/lib/systemd/systemd

usr_lib_systemd_systemd

×

×

/usr/bin/nmcli

usr_bin_nmcli

×

×

/usr/bin/scp

usr_bin_scp

×

×

/usr/bin/tar

usr_bin_tar

×

×

/usr/bin/chfn

usr_bin_chfn

×

×

/usr/bin/chsh

usr_bin_chsh

×

×

/usr/bin/crontab

usr_bin_crontab

×

×

/usr/sbin/pidof

usr_sbin_pidof

×

×

/usr/bin/slogin

usr_bin_slogin

×

×

/usr/sbin/sendmail

usr_sbin_sendmail

×

×

/usr/sbin/tcpdump

usr_sbin_tcpdump

×

×

/sbin/adduser

sbin_adduser

×

×

/sbin/chkconfig

sbin_chkconfig

×

×

/sbin/chroot

sbin_chroot

×

×

/sbin/depmod

sbin_depmod

×

×

/sbin/fsck

sbin_fsck

×

×

/sbin/fuser

sbin_fuser

×

×

/sbin/groupadd

sbin_groupadd

×

×

/sbin/groupdel

sbin_groupdel

×

×

/sbin/groupmod

sbin_groupmod

×

×

/sbin/grpck

sbin_grpck

×

×

/sbin/ifconfig

sbin_ifconfig

×

×

/sbin/ifdown

sbin_ifdown

×

×

/sbin/ifup

sbin_ifup

×

×

/sbin/init

sbin_init

×

×

/sbin/insmod

sbin_insmod

×

×

/sbin/ip

sbin_ip

×

×

/sbin/lsmod

sbin_lsmod

×

×

/sbin/lsof

sbin_lsof

×

×

/sbin/modinfo

sbin_modinfo

×

×

/sbin/modprobe

sbin_modprobe

×

×

/sbin/nologin

sbin_nologin

×

×

/sbin/pwck

sbin_pwck

×

×

/sbin/rmmod

sbin_rmmod

×

×

/sbin/route

sbin_route

×

×

/sbin/rsyslogd

sbin_rsyslogd

×

×

/sbin/runlevel

sbin_runlevel

×

×

/sbin/sestatus

sbin_sestatus

×

×

/sbin/sshd

sbin_sshd

×

×

/sbin/sulogin

sbin_sulogin

×

×

/sbin/sysctl

sbin_sysctl

×

×

/sbin/useradd

sbin_useradd

×

×

/sbin/userdel

sbin_userdel

×

×

/sbin/usermod

sbin_usermod

×

×

/sbin/vipw

sbin_vipw

×

×

/sbin/pidof

sbin_pidof

×

×

/sbin/sendmail

sbin_sendmail

×

×

/sbin/tcpdump

sbin_tcpdump

×

×

/usr/bin/vdir

usr_bin_vdir

×

×

/usr/bin/write

usr_bin_write

×

×

/bin/awk

bin_awk

×

×

/bin/basename

bin_basename

×

×

/bin/bash

bin_bash

×

×

/bin/cat

bin_cat

×

×

/bin/chattr

bin_chattr

×

×

/bin/chmod

bin_chmod

×

×

/bin/chown

bin_chown

×

×

/bin/cp

bin_cp

×

×

/bin/curl

bin_curl

×

×

/bin/cut

bin_cut

×

×

/bin/date

bin_date

×

×

/bin/df

bin_df

×

×

/bin/diff

bin_diff

×

×

/bin/dirname

bin_dirname

×

×

/bin/dmesg

bin_dmesg

×

×

/bin/du

bin_du

×

×

/bin/echo

bin_echo

×

×

/bin/ed

bin_ed

×

×

/bin/egrep

bin_egrep

×

×

/bin/env

bin_env

×

×

/bin/fgrep

bin_fgrep

×

×

/bin/file

bin_file

×

×

/bin/find

bin_find

×

×

/bin/grep

bin_grep

×

×

/bin/groups

bin_groups

×

×

/bin/head

bin_head

×

×

/bin/id

bin_id

×

×

/bin/ipcs

bin_ipcs

×

×

/bin/kill

bin_kill

×

×

/bin/killall

bin_killall

×

×

/bin/last

bin_last

×

×

/bin/lastlog

bin_lastlog

×

×

/bin/ldd

bin_ldd

×

×

/bin/less

bin_less

×

×

/bin/logger

bin_logger

×

×

/bin/login

bin_login

×

×

/bin/ls

bin_ls

×

×

/bin/lsattr

bin_lsattr

×

×

/bin/mail

bin_mail

×

×

/bin/md5sum

bin_md5sum

×

×

/bin/mktemp

bin_mktemp

×

×

/bin/more

bin_more

×

×

/bin/mount

bin_mount

×

×

/bin/mv

bin_mv

×

×

/bin/netstat

bin_netstat

×

×

/bin/newgrp

bin_newgrp

×

×

/bin/passwd

bin_passwd

×

×

/bin/perl

bin_perl

×

×

/bin/pgrep

bin_pgrep

×

×

/bin/ping

bin_ping

×

×

/bin/pkill

bin_pkill

×

×

/bin/ps

bin_ps

×

×

/bin/pstree

bin_pstree

×

×

/bin/pwd

bin_pwd

×

×

/bin/readlink

bin_readlink

×

×

/bin/rpm

bin_rpm

×

×

/bin/runcon

bin_runcon

×

×

/bin/sed

bin_sed

×

×

/bin/sh

bin_sh

×

×

/bin/sha1sum

bin_sha1sum

×

×

/bin/sha224sum

bin_sha224sum

×

×

/bin/sha256sum

bin_sha256sum

×

×

/bin/sha384sum

bin_sha384sum

×

×

/bin/sha512sum

bin_sha512sum

×

×

/bin/size

bin_size

×

×

/bin/sort

bin_sort

×

×

/bin/ssh

bin_ssh

×

×

/bin/stat

bin_stat

×

×

/bin/strace

bin_strace

×

×

/bin/strings

bin_strings

×

×

/bin/su

bin_su

×

×

/bin/sudo

bin_sudo

×

×

/bin/tail

bin_tail

×

×

/bin/test

bin_test

×

×

/bin/top

bin_top

×

×

/bin/touch

bin_touch

×

×

/bin/tr

bin_tr

×

×

/bin/uname

bin_uname

×

×

/bin/uniq

bin_uniq

×

×

/bin/users

bin_users

×

×

/bin/vmstat

bin_vmstat

×

×

/bin/w

bin_w

×

×

/bin/watch

bin_watch

×

×

/bin/wc

bin_wc

×

×

/bin/wget

bin_wget

×

×

/bin/whatis

bin_whatis

×

×

/bin/whereis

bin_whereis

×

×

/bin/which

bin_which

×

×

/bin/who

bin_who

×

×

/bin/whoami

bin_whoami

×

×

/bin/numfmt

bin_numfmt

×

×

/bin/kmod

bin_kmod

×

×

/bin/systemctl

bin_systemctl

×

×

/bin/gawk

bin_gawk

×

×

/bin/mailx

bin_mailx

×

×

/bin/nmcli

bin_nmcli

×

×

/bin/scp

bin_scp

×

×

/bin/tar

bin_tar

×

×

/bin/chfn

bin_chfn

×

×

/bin/chsh

bin_chsh

×

×

/bin/crontab

bin_crontab

×

×

/bin/slogin

bin_slogin

×

×

/bin/vdir

bin_vdir

×

×

/bin/write

bin_write

×

×

Table 3 Default Linux paths for key file and directory change monitoring (sensitive mode)

File or Directory Path

Alias

Monitored Objects/Operations

Subdirectory

Creation

Property Modification

Deletion

Moving

Modification

/etc/init.d

startup

/etc/rc.d/init.d

rc-startup

/etc/rc.d/rc.local

rx-local

×

/etc/systemd/system

system

/etc/systemd/user

user

/etc/crontab

crontab

×

/var/spool/cron

spool-cron

×

/etc/cron.daily

cron-daily

/etc/cron.hourly

cron-hourly

/etc/cron.monthly

cron.monthly

/etc/cron.weekly

cron.weekly

/etc/cron.allow

cron.allow

×

/etc/passwd

passwd

×

/etc/profile.d/zzz_euleros_history.sh

zzz_euleros_history.sh

×

/etc/profile

profile

×

/root/.bashrc

bashrc

×

/root/.bash_profile

bash_profile

×

/root/.cshrc

cshrc

×

/etc/ld.so.preload

so.preload

×

/etc/profile.d/sec_euleros_history.sh

sec_euleros_history_sh

×

/etc/shells

shells

×

/usr/bin

bin

×

/bin

bin

×

/usr/sbin

sbin

×

/sbin

sbin

×

/usr/lib

lib

×

/lib

lib

×

/usr/lib64

lib64

×

/lib64

lib64

×

Windows file integrity monitoring checks system files and directories; records file or directory creation, modification, deletion, and moving; and records and reports file or directory attribute changes, helping you detect suspicious changes in a timely manner. For more information, see Table 4.

You can modify the File Protection policy to add or delete monitored files or directories. For details, see Configuring Policies.

Table 4 Default Windows paths for key file and directory change monitoring

File or Directory Path

Alias

Monitored Objects/Operations

Subdirectory

File Name Extension

Creation

Deletion

Moving

Modification

c:\Windows

windows

×

exe, dll, ocx, sys, cmd, com, vbs, bat

C:\Windows\System32

system32

×

exe, dll, ocx, sys, cmd, com, vbs, bat

C:\Windows\SysWOW64

SysWOW64

×

exe, dll, ocx, sys, cmd, com, vbs, bat

C:\Windows\System32\drivers

drivers

×

sys

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc

etc

×

None

Notes and Constraints

File integrity management is available in HSS professional, enterprise, premium, WTP, and container editions. For details about how to purchase and upgrade HSS, see Purchasing an HSS Quota and Upgrading a Protection Quota.

References

After the file integrity monitoring scope is set, you can periodically check whether file change events are reported. For details, see Checking File Change Events.