Log audits, CASB, endpoint agents, browser extensions and surveys all claim the same job. They see different worlds. This page maps what each method genuinely covers, where it wins, and where it quietly fails.
Try the log-audit method freeNine properties that decide real-world usefulness. Bookmark this table for the meeting where someone proposes buying something.
| Property | Log audit | CASB / SSE | Endpoint agent | Browser extension | Survey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deployment effort | None, uses existing logs | High | High | Medium | Low |
| Sees history before install | Yes, full log window | Partial | No | No | Memory only |
| Covers BYOD on the network | Yes | Partial | No | No | If they answer |
| Covers native apps and API use | Yes, hostnames | Sanctioned apps best | Yes | Browser only | Rarely recalled |
| Catches embedded AI features | Via subdomains | Catalog-dependent | Process-level blur | Some | Users unaware |
| Long-tail tool coverage | Register updated daily | Catalog lags | Catalog lags | Catalog lags | Poor |
| Sees prompt content | No, by design | With inspection | Possible | Possible | No |
| Privacy intrusion level | Low, hostnames only | Medium | High | High | Low |
| Cost to first result | Free preview | Procurement cycle | Procurement cycle | Pilot rollout | Meeting time |
No column sweeps the board. The honest claim: log audits dominate on effort, history and breadth; agents and extensions dominate on content depth; CASB dominates on inline enforcement for sanctioned SaaS.
Mature programs combine two or three methods with distinct jobs. Three proven pairings:
The lean stack: quarterly log audits for inventory and trend, your DNS filter or firewall for enforcement of the verdicts. Zero new procurement, covers most mid-market needs.
The enterprise stack: CASB governs the sanctioned SaaS estate; the audit sweeps the long tail the catalog has not classified and provides dated training verdicts for vendor reviews.
The change-management stack: the audit finds the what, a short survey of the affected teams finds the why, and the sanctioned list that results actually gets adopted.
Sequencing rule: inventory before instrumentation. Knowing your actual tool list from logs makes every subsequent purchase, CASB included, better scoped and cheaper.
Method selection gets easy when you name the question first.
Method-neutral privacy note: hostname-level auditing is the least intrusive technical option. Uploads here are read once and discarded, and reports are deletable before their 90-day expiry.
The sample evidence pack is the method's closing argument: tiles, dated verdicts, per-user rows, from one log export. Compare it with any vendor's demo deck.
Whatever method you buy, these four claims deserve a "show me" in the demo.
Ask for the catalog size and its update cadence. Our register tracks 20,399 AI domains with ~300,000 new domains screened daily; anything static is already stale.
Ask what it sees for the month before deployment. Only log-based methods answer with anything but silence.
Ask about BYOD, native apps and the vendor's own bypass modes. Every method has a blind spot; distrust the ones that claim none.
Ask where training-terms data comes from and when it was last checked. A score without a dated source is an opinion with a number attached.
A log-based audit of exports you already have. First totals arrive in minutes via the free preview, with no deployment.
For sanctioned SaaS governance, it is strong. For the AI long tail and pre-deployment history, pair it with a log audit; the two cover each other's gaps.
No. Agents only see managed devices from install day forward. Audits see every device on the logged network, including the months before.
Not worthless, just miscast as inventory. Use them after an audit to understand motivations and design a sanctioned list people accept.
Hostname-level log auditing: it reads which tools were reached, never what was typed. Extensions and agents sit at the other end of that spectrum.
Hostnames from your export are matched against a daily-maintained register with subdomain walk-up. The full mechanics are on the methodology page.
Constraints, not preferences, decide most method choices. Defaults that respect them:
Log audit alone, monthly free previews, one paid report when a client or insurer asks. Anything heavier outruns the risk and the budget.
Quarterly log audits plus enforcement in the existing DNS filter or firewall. Add a survey when building the first sanctioned list.
Monthly audits feeding a formal review, CASB where sanctioned-SaaS governance justifies it, DLP only for regulated content teams.
All of the above exist already somewhere in the estate. The audit's job becomes reconciliation: one inventory across silos, one trend line for the board.
Programs fail from over-buying in Q1. The sequence that survives contact with budgets:
Run the log audit's free preview today. Whatever you buy later will be better scoped for knowing your actual inventory first.
Run the free audit