security operations center

Establishing IT Infrastructure Through Security Operations Centers

How to improve client and employee trust, collaborate across departments and reduce costs through SOCs

Small companies face a harsh reality: As much as 60 percent of small and medium-sized businesses that are hacked fail within six months of the cyber attack. Organizations need to have a cybersecurity strategy in place to identify and mitigate any potential threats. While there are many strategies to secure your business, a Security Operations Centers (SOC) can truly expand your vulnerability detection capabilities. This article reviews the benefits and challenges of a modern SOC and the differences between a SOC and a Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) team.

What Is a SOC?

A security operations center is a team of people who are responsible for identifying security issues and incidents, monitoring systems and responding to events. SOC teams are also responsible for assessing and enforcing security policies. SOC teams monitor the entire organization, not just one system in a specific department.

 

SOCs must be customizable to the different security needs of each organization. There are several types of SOCs:

 

●      Internal—includes in-house security professionals

●      Managed—includes third-party professionals working remotely

●      Co-managed—a combination of internal and third-party professionals

●      Command—useful for large enterprises that manage and coordinate smaller SOCs

How Do Security Operations Centers Work?

Organizations have to define their security strategy first and then provide appropriate infrastructure for the SOC team. Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems are the main part of SOC activity. SIEM systems collect events and logs from multiple security tools and organizational systems. The SOC team then analyzes the data from SIEM and generates actionable security alerts.

 

The SOC team include the following roles:

 

●      Security analyst—in charge of detecting and handling potential security threats. Analysts also implement security measures and are involved in disaster recovery plans.

●      Security engineer—usually a software or hardware specialist that is responsible for updating and maintaining systems and tools. Security engineers are also responsible for documentation needed by other team members, like protocols.

●      SOC manager—responsible for the operation and management of the SOC team. SOC manager’s responsibilities include synching between engineers and analysts, hiring and training new team members, and planning a security strategy. In addition, they direct and orchestrate the response to major security issues.

●      Chief information security officer (CISO)—creates security-related policies, strategies, and operations. Works closely with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), informs and reports to management on security threats.

●      Director of incident response—responsible for managing incidents in large companies. Reports on security requirements to the organizational management in the case of a major breach.

 

SOC analysts are organized in four tiers:

 

●      Tier 1 analysts—monitor, prioritize and investigate SIEM alerts.

●      Tier 2 analysts—usually have deeper security experience. They analyze real threats and decide on a strategy for containment.

●      Tier 3 senior analysts—manage critical breaches and are responsible for threat hunting and vulnerability assessment.

●      Tier 4 analysts—SOC managers responsible for recruitment, security strategy, and reporting to management when major security incidents occur.

The Difference Between a SOC Team and a CSIRT?

A Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) is in charge of receiving, analyzing, and responding to security threats. CSIRTs can work as a standalone team operating under SOCs. Both SOC and CSIRT are responsible for minimizing the damage during security incidents.

 

The difference between detection and response is not always clear, and may even become irrelevant. As a result, organizations often prefer to have a unified team of SOC and CSIRT. For instance, threat hunting identifies threats and operates as a method of response.

 

Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) tools are another reason for merging SOC and CSIRT teams. Companies often cannot decide who owns SOAR tools and who is responsible for their evolution.

 

Threat intelligence activities can also support the efforts of a single team. A single threat intelligence dashboard can offer insights into more effective identification and response methods.

 

Tier 1 SOC analysts usually work weekends and night shifts. SOC management is struggling to keep them motivated. By merging SOC and CSIRT, you can enable more effective job rotation.

 

Some experts believe that keeping CSIRT and SOC teams separate enables them to concentrate on their core goals of detection and response. Organizations often prefer to keep incident response centralized in-house due to the sensitivity of investigation results even when there are multiple regional offices.

 

Strategic plans for outsourcing may also demand the separation of these two teams. Keeping CSIRT and SOC separate may help an organization clearly define the responsibilities of a partner.

Benefits of Security Operations Centers

There are many benefits a business can gain from using a SOC in their security strategy. Discussed below are the main four benefits:

 

●      Centralized display of assets—centralized and continuous SOC monitoring helps companies maintain smooth operations by visualizing and detecting issues as they occur.

●      Establishing client and employee trust—employees and consumers need to know that their information is safe. Data loss prevention measures in a SOC help organizations improve and maintain brand integrity in the long run.

●      Collaborating across departments and functions—SOCs encourage other departments to work together towards a common goal when dealing with incidents. As a result, the coordination and communication between different teams improve and they can resolve the issue collectively.

●      Reduce costs—SOCs help maintain the integrity of sensitive information, save money in the long run and help in avoiding the cost of significant recoveries from data loss.

Challenges of Security Operation Centers

SOCs also have many challenges they need to tackle in order to continue being a vital part of security:

 

●      Security alerts—the growing number of security alerts may affect the efficiency of security analysts. Analysts may attend to routine tasks instead of the urgent ones when determining the accuracy of alerts. As a result, they can miss important alerts.

●      Multiple security tools—SOCs and CSIRTs use many different security tools. As a result, organizations cannot efficiently monitor all the data generated by these tools. A Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) platform can help SOCs in collecting and analyzing data from multiple sources.

●      Resource allocation—organizations sometimes decide to outsource SOCs when there is a lack of qualified professionals. However, remote working conditions can lead to greater vulnerabilities.

 

IT infrastructure is an integral part of any company. Therefore, organizations need to ensure that their IT infrastructure and valuable information is well protected. SOC teams provide deep insights into an organization's security posture and recommend required measures to ensure the security of IT infrastructure. SOCs prevent costly data losses in case of a cyber-attack by proactively detecting incidents and ensuring optimum safety.

Featured

  • Cloud Adoption Gives Way to Hybrid Deployments

    Cloud adoption is growing at an astonishing rate, with Gartner forecasting that worldwide public cloud end-user spending will approach $600 billion by the end of this year—an increase of more than 21% over 2022. McKinsey believes that number could eclipse $1 trillion by the end of the decade, further underscoring the industry’s exponential growth. Read Now

  • AI on the Edge

    Discussions about the merits (or misgivings) around AI (artificial intelligence) are everywhere. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find an article or product literature without mention of it in our industry. If you’re not using AI by now in some capacity, congratulations may be in order since most people are using it in some form daily even without realizing it. Read Now

  • Securing the Future

    In an increasingly turbulent world, chief security officers (CSOs) are facing a multitude of challenges that threaten the stability of businesses worldwide. Read Now

    • Guard Services
  • Security Entrances Move to Center Stage

    Most organizations want to show a friendly face to the public. In today’s world, however, the need to keep people safe and secure has become a prime directive when designing and building facilities of all kinds. Fortunately, there is no need to construct a fortress-like entry that provides that high level of security. Today’s secured entry solutions make it possible to create a welcoming, attractive look and feel at the entry without compromising security. It is for this reason that security entrances have moved to the mainstream. Read Now

Featured Cybersecurity

New Products

  • AC Nio

    AC Nio

    Aiphone, a leading international manufacturer of intercom, access control, and emergency communication products, has introduced the AC Nio, its access control management software, an important addition to its new line of access control solutions. 3

  • HD2055 Modular Barricade

    Delta Scientific’s electric HD2055 modular shallow foundation barricade is tested to ASTM M50/P1 with negative penetration from the vehicle upon impact. With a shallow foundation of only 24 inches, the HD2055 can be installed without worrying about buried power lines and other below grade obstructions. The modular make-up of the barrier also allows you to cover wider roadways by adding additional modules to the system. The HD2055 boasts an Emergency Fast Operation of 1.5 seconds giving the guard ample time to deploy under a high threat situation. 3

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.” 3