Which technology is best for centralizing logs to create a security baseline?

The choice of security information and event management (SIEM) as the best technology for centralizing logs to create a security baseline is well-founded. SIEM systems are specifically designed to collect, analyze, and manage log data from various sources across an organization's network. By aggregating logs from different systems, devices, and applications, SIEM enables security teams to have a comprehensive view of activities within the environment.

Centralizing logs is crucial for establishing a security baseline because it helps in identifying normal patterns of behavior within the network, pinpointing anomalies, and detecting potential security incidents. SIEM tools take this a step further by providing real-time analysis through correlation rules, alerting on suspicious behavior, and facilitating compliance with regulations by ensuring logs are collected and retained in an organized manner.

Other technologies listed, such as web application firewalls, vulnerability scanners, and next-generation firewalls, serve different purposes. While they do play a role in improving security posture, they do not focus on log centralization or baseline creation in the same way that SIEM does. A web application firewall primarily protects web applications from attacks, a vulnerability scanner identifies weaknesses in systems, and a next-generation firewall offers advanced threats prevention but does not centralize log data for analysis and baseline establishment.