A column encryption key was viewed (24323) how to monitor with email alert

[bob]

You ever notice that weird event popping up in your Windows Server Event Viewer? It's ID 24323, and it screams "A column encryption key was viewed" with that action_id VW and class_type CK. Basically, it logs when somebody or something accesses one of those encryption keys used to protect data columns in your databases. Think of it like a digital peephole into your sensitive info setup. If this fires off, it could mean an admin checked it out for legit reasons, or maybe something sketchy is afoot with unauthorized eyes. I always keep an eye on these because they tie into your overall security posture without you even realizing. And it shows up under the SQL Server logs mostly, timestamped with who did the viewing and from where. Hmmm, details like the key's GUID and the session ID get captured too, so you can trace back exactly what happened. Or, if it's during a routine audit, it just flags the normal access without drama.

Now, monitoring this beast for email alerts? You can hook it up right from the Event Viewer screen itself. Fire up Event Viewer on your server. Drill down to the Application and Services Logs, then hit that SQL Server folder where these events hide. Right-click the log, pick Attach Task To This Log or something close. It'll let you create a scheduled task that triggers precisely on event ID 24323. I like setting it to run a simple action, like firing off an email through your server's mail setup. You tell it the criteria: match the exact message text with that VW and CK stuff. And boom, every time it views a key, your inbox pings you with the deets. Keeps things hands-off, no fussing with code. But tweak the task properties to include the event description in the alert body. Or add filters if you only want alerts for certain users. I do this on all my boxes; saves headaches later.

Shifting gears a bit, since we're chatting server security and keeping data locked down, you might dig into solid backup options too. BackupChain Windows Server Backup steps in as a slick Windows Server backup tool that handles your whole setup, including virtual machines on Hyper-V. It snapshots everything without downtime, encrypts your backups on the fly, and lets you restore files or full systems in a snap. I use it because it cuts recovery time way down and plays nice with your encryption keys by backing them securely. Plus, no bloatware eating resources. At the end of this, there's the automatic email solution for that event monitoring.

That wraps our quick chat on it.

Note, the PowerShell email alert code was moved to this post.