Two terms that can sometimes be confused when it comes to enterprise IT security management are SIEM and SOC. Both are important for securing business data and operations, and one actually supports the other.

A vital element of any business operation today is cybersecurity. Just one data breach can devastate a company and it can take years for it to recover. The average cost of a data breach in 2021 is $4.24 million, which is a 10% increase from 2020.

SOC and SIEM both factor into threat protection and mitigating risks from cyberattacks.

We’ll first go through what a SOC is and then discuss how a SIEM can support it.

What is a SOC?

SOC is the acronym for a Security Operations Center. This is a facility dedicated to monitoring enterprise systems and defending against data breaches.

The SOC takes a proactive approach to IT security, which includes:

• 24/7 network monitoring
• Investigation of any security threats
• Remediation of any cyberattacks

While a Security Operations Center used to only be associated with larger companies, new cloud-based tools are putting SOCs more in reach of smaller organizations that are also security conscious. Virtual SOCs don’t require a company to run its own dedicated facility and they leverage part-time staff from different security, operations, and development groups.

There are many ways to implement a lower-priced SOC, including through a managed SOC approach with a managed services provider or through a hybrid approach with a company’s in-house IT team being supported by the MSP.

There are generally three main focus areas of a SOC. These include:

• Control and Compliance: This includes ensuring an organization complies with any required data security standards (HIPAA, PCI, etc.), as well as doing vulnerability and penetration testing regularly.
• Monitoring and Risk Management: Capturing event logs, detecting anomalies, identifying and responding to IT security indicators are all included in this focus area.
• Network and System Administration: This area involves taking care of security systems and processes, managing identity and access to systems, firewall administration, endpoint management, and more.

What is a SIEM?

SIEM is an acronym for security information and event management. This is a solution that provides next-gen capabilities for threat detection, analysis, and response. This software combines several security jobs in one, jobs that are the focus of a SOC.

A SIEM can enable:

• Real-time security alert analysis
• Connection to applications and network hardware to receive event reports
• Events matching against security rules to identify anomalies
• Detection and analysis of advanced threats

The biggest advantage of a SIEM is that it can gather security data from multiple systems and bring it into one place. This makes the work of the SOC easier because the SOC team can manage a single dashboard to keep an eye on the entire network and its endpoints.

Advantages of a SIEM for a SOC Team

Consolidation of Many Data Points

Trying to watch all systems at once without a centralized place to do it would make the work of the SOC team much more difficult. The SIEM software aggregates multiple data points and consolidates that information in a single place. This makes it easier to monitor multiple systems at once.

Logs from endpoints, firewall solutions, and other security apparatus are collected and translated into a single format for the SOC analysts to read.

Integration With Other Products

SIEM software is designed to integrate with other security systems, allowing it to act as a central hub for information. This keeps security data from getting siloed which can cause problems and missed threat identification.

Better Context for Threat Indicators

When multiple data points are consolidated from several areas of the network, it provides SOC analysts with more valuable information. It’s easier to identify sophisticated attacks against an organization when you have the full picture of systems the attack is impacting and the timing of those impacts across the infrastructure.

Automated Threat Detection

SIEM apps use built-in rules that can automate the detection of suspicious activity. When one of these activities happens, alerts can be set up to immediately notify the SOC team. This automation improves threat detection and reduces the risk of missed suspicious events.

For example, the SOC team can set up a rule that locks a user account and provides an alert should a user have too many failed login attempts, which could be an indicator of an attack. Trying to watch this type of event for all users manually, would be incredibly time-consuming, but with a SIEM application, it’s fast and efficient.

Does Your Business Have Enough Network Security?

SIEM and other next-gen security tools are becoming the norm to prevent devastating ransomware attacks. AhelioTech can help your Columbus area business find an affordable solution to keep you ahead of the hackers.

Contact us today for a free quote. Call 614-333-0000 or reach out online.