As cyber threats grow in complexity and frequency, organisations are ingesting more data than ever to fuel their Threat Detection & Response (TDR) capabilities. While this approach strengthens security, it also drives up costs – especially in cloud-based SIEM and XDR platforms, where pricing is typically tied to the volume of log data ingested and retained.
For many security teams, the challenge lies in balancing comprehensive visibility with financial sustainability. How do you reduce log ingestion costs without compromising your ability to detect and respond to real threats?
In this blog, we explore proven strategies to minimise log ingestion costs, such as filtering, sampling, and retention optimisation, while ensuring high-fidelity detection remains intact. We also provide real-world cost-saving examples and share guidance on how to strike the right balance between operational efficiency and security effectiveness.
Strategies to Minimise Log Ingestion Costs
Some commonly recommended approaches to reign in log ingestion charges include the following:
- Data Sampling: Collect logs at defined intervals rather than continuously to reduce volume.
- Event Filtering: Exclude non-essential events and focus on logs indicative of potential threats.
- Compression and Aggregation: Compress logs and aggregate similar events to decrease storage requirements.
- Optimise Retention Policies: Store critical logs for longer durations and set shorter retention for less important data.
A simplified example of the costs of cloud log ingestion and the impact of some of the cost optimisation strategies for a business ingesting 100GB of logs per day is illustrated in the table below:
| Cost optimisation approach | Monthly Ingestion Cost | Total Retention Cost | Total Cost | Saving vs Baseline |
| Baseline (no optimisation) | £5,451 | £1,422 | £6,873 | £0 |
| Data Filtering (30% reduction) | £3,816 | £995 | £4,811 | £2,062 |
| Data Sampling (Additional 15% reduction) | £3,243 | £846 | £4,089 | £2,784 |
| Retention Optimisation (Reduced from 6 to 3 months) | £3,243 | £423 | £3,666 | £3,207 |
At first glance, the nearly 60% savings achieved by seemingly straightforward optimisation approaches appear to be an easy win, however the knowledge and skills required to consistently achieve this without putting the business at significant risk of a cyber breach also come with a cost.
Not cutting the signal with the noise – balancing optimisation with high-fidelity detection.
One major challenge in reducing log ingestion costs is avoiding the loss of essential threat intelligence. Filtering and sampling logs can help manage volume, but they also risk excluding important data.
Security teams must regularly review the latest threat intelligence. This helps them understand how new attack techniques and indicators of compromise (IOCs) apply to their environment.
Threat actors constantly adapt their methods. Logs once seen as low-priority can become key to identifying advanced persistent threats (APTs) or zero-day exploits.
The challenge lies in striking a balance—cutting costs while keeping strong threat visibility. This requires a clear understanding of both the evolving threat landscape and the organisation’s attack surface.
A Real-World Scenario…
Imagine a business filters out certain failed login attempts to lower ingestion volume. Later, intelligence shows a new attacker is using “low and slow” credential stuffing. These logins are spaced out to avoid triggering alerts. If filtered, these signals would be missed entirely.
Or take a cloud-based company that heavily samples network traffic to save on storage. They might overlook small but important signs of DNS tunnelling—an increasingly common data exfiltration method used by advanced attackers.
These examples show why security teams must regularly revisit their data filtering strategy. Optimisations should always be guided by up-to-date threat intelligence. Without this, they risk creating blind spots that attackers can exploit.
Addressing These Challenges
To address these challenges, organisations can explore hybrid logging strategies that optimise data ingestion costs while preserving critical security visibility. A hybrid approach involves storing high-fidelity threat signals in the cloud SIEM/XDR platform while retaining lower-priority logs in cost-effective on-premises or cold storage solutions. This allows businesses to reduce consumption-based charges without sacrificing access to valuable security data. For instance, frequently accessed logs, such as authentication events, firewall denies, and endpoint detections, can be ingested into the cloud platform for real-time analysis, while less time-sensitive or high-volume data, such as DNS query logs or full packet captures, can be stored in lower-cost storage and retrieved only when needed for deep investigations.
Additionally, working with an experienced security partner or Managed Detection & Response (MDR) provider can help architect a logging solution tailored to the organisation’s risk profile and operational needs. These partners bring expertise in log normalisation, intelligent filtering, and storage tiering—ensuring that essential indicators of compromise (IOCs) and anomalous behaviours are still detected, while reducing overall ingestion and retention costs. With the right logging strategy in place, organisations can retain the signal while minimising the noise, striking a balance between cost efficiency and security effectiveness.
Striking the Right Balance: Affordable cyber risk reduction
Optimising log ingestion for Threat Detection & Response doesn’t have to mean sacrificing security. Businesses can cut costs without cutting visibility by applying smart filtering, hybrid logging strategies, and tailored retention policies. The key is ensuring that high-fidelity signals reach your detection platform while reducing unnecessary noise and storage expenses.
At e2e-assure, we help our customers architect intelligent logging solutions that align with their risk profile, regulatory needs, and budget constraints. Whether you’re looking to:
- Reduce cloud SIEM costs,
- Enhance detection capabilities, or
- Refine your logging strategy,We are ready to assist.
Get in touch with us today to discuss how we can help you optimise your security operations without compromising protection.
