Depending on your Google Workspace edition, you might have access to the security investigation tool, which has more advanced features. For example, super admins can identify, triage, and take action on security and privacy issues. Learn more
As your organization's administrator, you can run searches and take action on security issues related to Chrome log events. For example, you can view a record of actions to track events related to managed Chrome browsers and ChromeOS devices. You can also see when there has been an unsafe site visit.
Before you begin
To see all Chrome events:
- The browser must be managed by Chrome Browser Cloud Management, a ChromeOS device that’s enrolled with your organization, or a user profile managed in Chrome browser.
- You must set up reporting for Chrome security events. For details, go to Manage Chrome Enterprise reporting connectors .
- To review Chrome data-protection events, you must set up Chrome Enterprise Premium . For details, go to Protect Chrome users with Chrome Enterprise Premium threat and data protection .
Run a search for Chrome log events
Your ability to run a search depends on your Google edition, your administrative privileges, and the data source. You can run a search on all users, regardless of their Google Workspace edition.
To run a search for log events, first choose a data source. Then choose one or more filters for your search.
- Sign in with an administrator account to the Google Admin console.
If you aren’t using an administrator account, you can’t access the Admin console.
- Go to Menu Reporting > Audit and investigation > Chrome log events .
Requires having the Audit & Investigation administrator privilege.
-
To filter events that occurred before or after a specific date, for Date, select Beforeor After. By default, events from the last 7 days are shown. You can select a different date range or clickto remove the date filter.
- Click the Filtertab.
- Click Add a filterselect an attribute.
- Select an operatorselect a valueclick Apply.
- (Optional) To create multiple filters for your search, repeat steps 3-5.
- Click Search.
Note:Using the Filter tab, you can include simple parameter and value pairs to filter the search results. You can also use the Condition builder tab, where the filters are represented as conditions with AND/OR operators.
To run a search in the security investigation tool, first choose a data source. Then, choose one or more conditions for your search. For each condition, choose an attribute , an operator , and a value .
- Sign in with an administrator account to the Google Admin console.
If you aren’t using an administrator account, you can’t access the Admin console.
- Go to Menu Security > Security center > Investigation tool .
Requires having the Security center administrator privilege.
- Click Data sourceand select Chrome log events.
-
To filter events that occurred before or after a specific date, for Date, select Beforeor After. By default, events from the last 7 days are shown. You can select a different date range or clickto remove the date filter.
- Click Add Condition.
Tip: You can include one or more conditions in your search or customize your search with nested queries . For details, go to Customize your search with nested queries . - Click Attributeselect an option.
For a complete list of attributes, go to the Attribute descriptions section. - Select an operator.
- Enter a value or select a value from the list.
- (Optional) To add more search conditions, repeat steps 4–7.
- Click Search.
You can review the search results from the investigation tool in a table at the bottom of the page. - (Optional) To save your investigation, click Save enter a title and descriptionclick Save.
Notes
- In the Condition builder tab, filters are represented as conditions with AND/OR operators. You can also use the Filter tab to include simple parameter and value pairs to filter the search results.
- If you give a user a new name, you will not see query results with the user's old name. For example, if you rename OldName@example.com to NewName@example.com , you will not see results for events related to OldName@example.com .
Attribute descriptions
For this data source, you can use the following attributes when searching log event data:
The group name of the actor. For more information, go to Filtering results by Google Group .
To add a group to your filtering groups allowlist:
- Select Actor group name.
- Click Filtering groups.
The Filtering groups page appears. - Click Add Groups.
- Search for a group by entering the first few characters of its name or email address. When you see the group you want, select it.
- (Optional) To add another group, search for and select the group.
- When you finish selecting groups, click Add.
- (Optional) To remove a group, click Remove group.
- Click Save.
Managed Chrome surface where the event happened.
- Unknown—Client type is unknown.
- Chrome browser—Browser is managed with Chrome Browser Cloud Management .
- Chrome profile—Profile is managed with Chrome browser user-level management .
- ChromeOS device—Device is managed with Chrome Browser Cloud Management .
The source relating to the event:
- File transfer events—The source file system.
- Data control events—The source URL for file uploads or copy and paste actions.
- Web content upload events—The source from where the data was copied. It can be a URL or a source type, such as Incognito mode, a different Chrome profile, or a computer's clipboard.
The URL that the tab redirects to when downloading a file.
This URL can trigger the File downloadeddata loss prevention (DLP) rule. For example, when a user downloads a file from Google Drive, the tab URL (drive.google.com) or the download URL (googleusercontent.com) can trigger the rule.
Note: Tab URLand URLare identical, except for downloads.
- Password reuse—The username that the password belongs to
- Password reset—The username that the password is reset for
Filter data by Threat or Data Protection events
- Open the log events as described earlier in Audit and investigation tool .
- Click the Filtertab.
- Click Add a filter Event.
- In the pop-up window, select an operatorselect an eventclick Apply.
- (Optional) To create multiple filters, repeat steps 2-4.
Chrome Threat event descriptions
| Event value | Description | Reporting connector support |
|---|---|---|
|
Crash events
|
A crash, for either a tab or the browser, is detected. | Supported on Chrome browser version 112 and later |
|
Extension install
|
A browser extension was installed, either by user action or by the administrator. | Supported on Chrome browser version 110 and later |
|
Malware transfer
|
The content uploaded or downloaded by the user is considered to be malicious, dangerous, or unwanted. | Supported on Chrome browser version 104 and later |
|
Login events
|
Note: For this event to be reported, Password Manager must be enabled. A successful user sign-in to a domain with the URL specified in the Reporting Connector settings. You can see the event in the Google Security Center . Unsuccessful sign-ins are not reported. |
Supported on Chrome browser version 105 and later |
|
Password breach
|
Note: For this event to be reported, Password Manager must be enabled. When a user types their username and password into a website, Chrome warns them if they have been compromised in a data breach on some site or app. For more details, see Change unsafe passwords in your Google Account . Chrome also suggests that the user changes the passwords everywhere they were used. For the specified URLs in the Admin console, the breach also is displayed in the Google Security Center window if the password was saved in Password Manager. Each URL is displayed as a separate record. |
Supported on Chrome browser version 105 and later |
|
Password changed
|
The user resets their password for the first-signed-in user account. |
Supported on Chrome browser version 104 and later |
|
Password reuse
|
The user entered a password into a URL that’s outside of the list of allowed enterprise login URLs. | Supported on Chrome browser version 104 and later |
|
Unsafe site visit
|
The URL visited by the user is considered to be deceptive or malicious. | Supported on Chrome browser version 104 and later |
Chrome Data Protection event descriptions
Chrome Data Protection events are available only for Chrome Enterprise Premium customers.
For more information about Chrome Enterprise Premium and how to set it up, go to Protect Chrome users with Chrome Enterprise Premium threat and data protection .
Supported on Chrome browser version 104 and later
Requires Chrome Enterprise Premium
- File is password protected
- File is too large
- DLP scan was unsuccessful
- Malware scan was unsuccessful
- Malware scan unsupported file type
- Service unavailable
Supported on Chrome browser version 104 and later
Requires Chrome Enterprise Premium
Supported on Chrome browser version 104 and later
Requires Chrome Enterprise Premium
Supported on Chrome browser version 113 and later
Requires Chrome Enterprise Premium
ChromeOS Security event descriptions
- For managed guest, kiosk, or unaffiliated user sessions, user email addresses are not collected. For more details on user affiliation, see Understand user affiliation .
- To collect data for these events, you must enable all reporting or the specific options as detailed later on this page. For details, see Set ChromeOS device policies > Report device telemetry , Set ChromeOS device policies > Report device OS information , and Set Chrome policies for users or browsers > Data controls reporting .
A ChromeOS device’s boot state has been switched to either Developer or Verified mode.
- Devices must be enrolled in a managed domain both before and after switching boot state to generate a boot state change event.
A USB device was added to a ChromeOS device. This event is reported only for affiliated users.
A user connected to the Chrome Report Desktop (CRD) session.
Manage log event data
You can control which data columns appear in your search results.
- At the top-right of the search results table, click Manage columns .
- (Optional) To remove current columns, click Remove .
- (Optional) To add columns, next to Add new column, click the Down arrow and select the data column.
Repeat as needed. - (Optional) To change the order of the columns, drag the data column names.
- Click Save.
You can export search results to Sheets or to a CSV file.
- At the top of the search results table, click Export all.
- Enter a name click Export.
The export displays below the search results table under Export action results. - To view the data, click the name of your export.
The export opens in Sheets.
Export limits vary:
- The total results of the export are limited to 100,000 rows.
- Supported editions for this feature: Frontline Standard
and Frontline Plus
; Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus
; Education Standard and Education Plus; Enterprise Essentials Plus; Cloud Identity Premium. Compare your edition
If you have the security investigation tool, the total results of the export are limited to 30 million rows.
For more information, go to Export search results .
Take action based on search results
- You can set up alerts based on log event data using reporting rules. For instructions, go to Create and manage reporting rules .
- Supported editions for this feature: Frontline Standard
and Frontline Plus
; Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus
; Education Standard and Education Plus; Enterprise Essentials Plus; Cloud Identity Premium. Compare your edition
To help prevent, detect, and remediate security issues efficiently, you can automate actions in the security investigation tool and set up alerts by creating activity rules . To set up a rule, set up conditions for the rule, and then specify the actions to perform when the conditions are met. For more details, go to Create and manage activity rules .
Supported editions for this feature: Frontline Standard and Frontline Plus ; Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus ; Education Standard and Education Plus; Enterprise Essentials Plus; Cloud Identity Premium. Compare your edition
After you run a search in the security investigation tool, you can act on your search results. For example, you can run a search based on Gmail log events, and then use the tool to delete specific messages, send messages to quarantine, or send messages to users' inboxes. For more details, go to Take action based on search results .
Manage your investigations
Supported editions for this feature: Frontline Standard and Frontline Plus ; Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus ; Education Standard and Education Plus; Enterprise Essentials Plus; Cloud Identity Premium. Compare your edition
View your list of investigationsTo view a list of the investigations that you own and that were shared with you, click View investigations . The investigation list includes the names, descriptions, and owners of the investigations, and the date last modified.
From this list, you can take action on any investigations that you own, for example, to delete an investigation. Check the box for an investigation and then click Actions.
Note: You can view your saved investigations under Quick access, directly above your list of investigations.
As a super administrator , click Settings to:
- Change the time zone for your investigations. The time zone applies to search conditions and results.
- Turn on or off Require reviewer. For more details, go to Require reviewers for bulk actions .
- Turn on or off View content. This setting allows admins with the appropriate privileges to view content.
- Turn on or off Enable action justification.
For more details, go to Configure settings for your investigations .
To save your search criteria or share it with others, you can create and save an investigation, and then share, duplicate, or delete it.
For details, go to Save, share, delete, and duplicate investigations .
Chrome extension telemetry data
Available only for customers who have purchased a Google Security Operations license .
You can capture Chrome extension telemetry data in Google Security Operations. Collect extension telemetry data from within Chrome, and send it to Google Security Operations to provide instant analysis and context on risky activity.
- Sign in with an administrator account to the Google Admin console.
If you aren’t using an administrator account, you can’t access the Admin console.
- Go to Menu Chrome browser > Settings . The User & browser settingspage opens by default.
Requires having the Mobile Device Management administrator privilege.
- Go to Browser reporting.
- Click Event reportingand select Enable event reporting.
- Click Additional settingsand check the Extension telemetry reportsbox.
- Click Save.
-
- Open a Google Security Operationsconfiguration click Details Edit.
- Go to User & browser events, and for Optional event typescheck the Extension telemetry reportsbox. Alternatively, click New provider configurationto create a new configuration where you want to receive extension telemetry events.
- Click Save.
For more information about Google Security Operations and how to set it up, contact Google Cloud Security .
Chrome browser extension telemetry data
For all extension values in the following table:
- The API call is supported on Chrome browser version 129 and later.
- A Google Security Operations license is required to view the telemetry data.
| Chrome browser extension value
|
Description
|
|---|---|
| chrome.cookies.get | Retrieves information about a single cookie. API that allows for manipulation of cookies. The telemetry service tracks API calls and arguments to expose cookie theft. |
| chrome.cookies.get(All) | A Chrome extension telemetry signal. Retrieves all cookies from a single cookie store that match the given information. API that allows for manipulation of cookies. The telemetry service tracks API calls and arguments to expose cookie theft. |
| chrome.tabs | A Chrome extension telemetry signal. This API provides controls over tabs. The telemetry service tracks usage of the API methods of create, update, and remove to expose search or browser hijacking. |
| Remote hosts contacted | A Chrome extension telemetry signal. The telemetry service records a list of any remote hosts that are contacted using http(s) and websocket(s). |
| Off-store extensions | A Chrome extension telemetry signal. The telemetry service tracks file names and hashes from extensions that are not installed from the Chrome Web Store. |
