What does SOC mean in cyber security?

The Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain, migration to the cloud… The integration of these technologies in the company will provide value to the company and its customers. However, digital transformation increases the need to protect IT infrastructure, and companies should consider creating or contracting a Security Operations Center (SOC) or modernizing one if they already have one. Because attacks by cybercriminals are increasing and becoming more sophisticated every year, and not only in the business world, but also in public administration. But what exactly is a SOC in cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity SOCs are technology platforms with a team of highly skilled security professionals to continuously monitor, detect, analyze, defend against, and diagnose a company’s IT systems to prevent, respond to, and simulate cyberattacks. Security is addressed in a comprehensive and coordinated manner through response plans, corrective actions and other measures to protect all data originating on the Company’s networks, databases, servers, applications and related devices.

To fulfill this vigilance and prevention role, SOCs use various cybersecurity tools, such as firewalls, vulnerability assessment and management, SIEM and SOAR solutions, block lists or real-time network scanning to monitor and analyze the network with 24-hour daily coverage. The week.

When the SOC receives the alert, it is classified according to its severity so that it can be prioritized and managed in order to respond quickly to the threat and prevent cyber attackers from causing damage or accessing the environment. After a disaster, the relevant team restores systems and restores damaged or deleted data. It also looks for the cause and origin of the accident to make appropriate improvements to the equipment to prevent the accident from happening in the future.

The SOC should monitor the latest attack trends of cybercriminals. This is essential to continuously implement improvements and prepare for new threats. In addition, he must follow security standards and regulatory requirements, and therefore regularly inspect systems to ensure compliance.

SOCs can be in-house (physically located), outsourced (all or part of the service is outsourced), hybrid (combining in-house security teams with external support teams), and virtual (hosted in the cloud). and managed by in-house staff or overseas SOC).

SOC devices: Arranged to ensure protection

Cybersecurity SOC teams are made up of cybersecurity professionals with different profiles, some defensive and some offensive. These include SOC analyzers organized into three levels:

• Level 1 SOC analysts: Monitor the network for threats. They are the first to respond to an attack by determining its severity. When you collect data and need more research, you move to step 2.
• Level 2 SOC analystsInvestigate, investigate, and respond to security issues that Phase 1 fails to resolve. They determine the cause, how much has penetrated the infrastructure, and create a prevention and recovery strategy.
• Level 3 SOC Analyzers: Those with more experience than those mentioned above, respond to critical events. They are known as threat hunters because they are constantly actively looking for new security holes and vulnerabilities in systems. Penetration testing equipment is used for this purpose.

SOC manager Responsible for the team and leads security operations, SOC engineers and architects analyze security requirements and develop and implement security tools to control and protect the company’s assets.

SOC benefits in cyber security

Large companies often have their own cybersecurity SOSs, but SMEs with less resources often turn to outsourcing for customized security services, with benefits that include:

• Faster (and more expert) response to disastersContinuous monitoring of the network for security issues makes it easier to detect and resolve incidents quickly and proactively. Different security teams respond and work according to protocols, approaching the event in a comprehensive way.
• Reduces the impact of attacks: Protection allows you to catch attacks and even prevent them from affecting systems. Proactive support minimizes risks.
• Reduces business time: This is a quick response and a team of experts covering all security issues to restore systems, normalize the situation as soon as possible and prevent the website or service from being interrupted for a long time and allow it to be restarted as soon as possible.
• Making better decisions: With the information collected in the SOC, reports are prepared daily and this information allows to develop more accurate strategies based on this information.
• Reduce costs: If a company outsources to a SOC, it saves on employee salaries and other costs (direct and indirect) related to cyber security risk management.

Some challenges for SOCs in cyber security

Security operations centers are effective and a strong bet to protect organizations, but they face a problem (widespread around the world), which is the lack of talent in qualified profiles, as seen in other areas of technology. of Latest report The (ISC) Cyber ​​Security Workforce Survey estimates a global shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals at 3.4 million (and the gap has increased by 26 percent in one year).

The sophistication and sophistication of techniques employed by cybercriminals is another major challenge for SOCs, who must continually integrate tools to address new threats. Additionally, with the large amount of data generated, the traffic volume multiplies, making it difficult for SOCs to analyze the network in real-time, as well as triggering false alarms. This means they need to implement automated tools and other necessary screening solutions. But not to introduce too many tools, but very few and really effective ones.