Ingestion is the process of bringing telemetry-such as event logs, network records, and endpoint alerts-into a logging platform for processing and later analysis. It may include collecting data from sources, parsing fields, and routing or filtering records before storage.
In security, ingestion determines what evidence is available for detection and investigation. Gaps can leave defenders without useful records, while collecting excessive or irrelevant data can increase costs and make analysis harder. Attackers may try to disrupt or evade logging, so teams monitor collection pipelines and verify that important sources are reporting. Defenders can use filtering and routing to balance coverage, searchability, retention, and cost.