SOC - Security Journey

SIEM tool is the heart of the modern SOC. For most of the security processes SIEM tool lays the foundation and saves the effort of all security analysts. SIEM brings in a huge amount of log data from many different assets which belongs to the organization. SIEM Security is nothing but the integration of all security tools, monitoring tools, servers, cloud workloads and endpoints to SIEM solution. A SIEM tool collects log data and event data from all the systems, analyze and generate alerts when there are any suspicious activities identified which can lead to a security incident. All SIEM solutions have three main stages: 1. Data Collection - Collecting log and event data from all the assets of organization - systems, devices, endpoints, apps, security tools, network devices, etc. 2. Data Consolidation - Normalizing and categorizing the collected raw data which can be used by soc analysts to perform analysis. Categorizing data can be done by using origin of the user, systems accessed,...

SIEM - Security Information and Event Management, a security solution to address security threats and vulnerabilities which can interfere with organization's business operations. SIEM tool helps the organization's security team to detect any anomalies in its network and alerts the SOC team. Most recent SIEM tools have incorporated artificial intelligence (AI) which can help in automating most of the manual processes related to threat detection and incident response increasing productivity. SIEM = SIM + SEM SIM - Security Information Management SEM - Security Event Management SIEM is the combination of SIM and SEM, enabling the real-time monitoring and analysis of security events along with tracking and logging of security data for compliance / auditing.  SIEM has evolved over the years and embedded UEBA - User & Entity Behavior Analytics along with many other security analytics and features like AI and machine learning to identify any abnormal or anomalous user behaviors wh...

 What is SOC? - Go to Introduction to SOC SOC L1 Analyst Responsibilities: Monitoring SIEM tool and detecting incidents. Monitoring resources and assets, analyzing log data to identify any anomalies. Identifying true positives and false positives. Report incident to SOC and any other relevant teams. Escalating the incidents when SLA's are not met. Assisting SOC L2 & L3 Analysts in incident detection, workflow, remediations and resolutions. Communicate with the external teams for proper incident resolution. Monitoring SIEM health status. Follow up on escalated incidents. SOC L2 Analyst Responsibilities: Validating the incidents escalated by L1 Analysts. In depth investigation on the incidents. Recommending mitigation strategies to resolve the incident. Manage SIEM tool and updating the log baselines. Generating and delivering daily, weekly, and monthly reports on time. Incident knowledge base. Communicating with external entities to resolve any queries on the raised incidents. O...

Fundamentals of SOC Introduction to SOC - Click Here SOC Types and Roles - Click Here SOC Analyst Responsibilities - Click Here What is SIEM? - Overview - Click Here Evolution of SIEM - Click Here This post will be continuously updating with every new relevant post.

  Types of SOC Models Each organization has its own requirements and budget allocated to SOC. So, there are several types of SOC based on those requirements and budget: In-House SOC – Organization builds their own cybersecurity team. But such organization should have a budget to support the survival of the SOC team. Virtual SOC – SOC team does not have their own facility and works often from remote locations. Co-Managed SOC – Organization’s internal SOC team works with an external Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP). In this model, communication and coordination between internal and external teams is important. Command SOC – Senior and experienced SOC team overseeing the smaller SOCs in a large region. Major telecom providers and defense agencies operate on this model. SOC – People, Processes, and Technology A strong coordination between people, processes, and technologies is required to build a strong, capable and successful SOC. People – SOC needs highly trained employees...

What is SOC? SOC is an abbreviation for Security Operations Center, a SOC improves any organization’s threat detection, incident response, threat prevention by unifying and coordinating all cybersecurity technologies and operations. A SOC is a team of IT security professionals who monitors 24×7 organization’s IT infrastructure to detect cybersecurity events in real time and respond to them effectively within a shortest period of time possible. SOC Activities and Responsibilities Preparation, planning and prevention Monitoring, detection and response Recovery, refinement and compliance 1. Preparation, planning and prevention Asset Inventory – SOC has a responsibility to maintain an inventory of the assets to identify which of them needs to be protected, assets can be inside or outside of datacenter. They can be databases, cloud services, applications, endpoints, servers or they can be tools used to protect the assets like firewalls, antivirus, antimalware, monitoring applications etc. ...