What is a Security Operations Center (SOC)?
A Security Operation Center (SOC) is a consolidated operation inside a company that monitors, analyses and responds to network threats using human resources and state-of-the-art technology. A Security Operations Center can spot a possible attack by figuring out how it works and which parts of the IT system it will affect. It analyzes, forecasts, and identifies remedies for cyber problems and gives automated alerts frequently. It strengthens the company’s security governance using its robust platform and technological capabilities. Using advanced technology, SOC can utilize threat intelligence to give 360-degree protection to clients, making the IT world a well-protected one.
Security operation center also gives the scope to develop the network in-house or in cloud platforms as per the need of the client.
What is the importance of SOC?
As mentioned earlier, SOC is no more an option but a necessity and here’s why it is:
Forecasting cyber threats and giving alerts
Prevention is better than cure- is the mantra in the cyber world. It’s important to monitor and prevent any kind of network breaches even before it’s happening. A SOC service provider will deliver instant notification of any kind of threats and alert an organization to be proactive.
Continuous monitoring of the IT infrastructure of an organization to prevent the breach
Just like an over-the-counter medication, a SOC team will provide monitoring and suggest a remedial mechanism at the fastest turnaround time. This will eliminate all the loopholes and vulnerabilities in the network of an organization. An SOC service provider will monitor the network round the clock for complete protection and sustainability.
Giving alerts on network breaches or the possibility of a breach
Once they find any breaches, it’s essential to make the organization and its stakeholders aware of the possibility and impact of any breach. They give instant alerts on every possible breach even before it happens. This will help the organization to identify and resolve any data breaches before it takes place which reduces the cost and efforts required from the organizational front.
Support and maintenance
Once an SOC team implements and initiates a protective sphere around your network, their job isn’t over. They stay with the organization until the end. They maintain and support their network so that the stakeholders don’t need to worry about cyber threats. They monitor the health of the organizational network and data breaches to ensure that they are not leaving a possibility for a breach.
Remedial actions for any cyber threats
Cyber threats are evolving and sometimes even after filling all the gaps, a threat can eventually attack the network. When this happens, a SOC team will become proactive and deliver the most appropriate remedial actions to reduce the impact of that threat and regain the health of the organizational network. A SOC team has cyber experts who can tap any kind of breaches at the right time to regain the confidence of the stakeholders.
Top 9 SOC Benefits that You Need to Know
A security operations center provides numerous benefits to its clients which makes it a favorable option for optimal security.
1. Round the clock security
Cyber security cannot be offered through 9-5 monitoring. It can only be promised through 24/7/365 monitoring. Building an ecosystem for this intense monitoring can be challenging for an organization as it requires both human resources and technical expertise. SOC will help organizations with round-the-clock monitoring and data security. It ensures that no hidden data breach is happening in the background at the same time looking out for past cyber threats to study the pattern. An SOC forecasts any data breach through a thorough analysis of past data and analytics solutions. An SOC also updates its technology with the most latest technology which is available in the market. This frequent update enables organizations to trust the alerts put forward by the SOC team.
2. Centralized security
With digitization and the data overload, organizations now lack the visibility to ponder through all the departments and its data points. This lack of visibility causes human induced business errors and flawed business decisions. In enterprises with multiple departments, having a centralized security operation enables more visibility and accessibility to all the stakeholders. It also enables the team to work independently without the interference of all the other departments to ensure maximum protection. Consolidating security tasks into a SOC may save money, efforts and optimization of resources. Integrating SOC into your business operation also enables improved communication between the departments. An SOC works with both the stakeholders and regular employees, which enables a proper communication channel for all the insights generated by the SOC team. The SOC team and its ability to communicate its ideas to the team should be one of the qualities that you seek while choosing an SOC partner.
3. Intrusion detection
A well-designed monitoring system enables SOC providers to develop a spontaneous responsive mechanism that can detect any kind of intrusion at the fastest turnaround time. One of the primary goals of the new generation SOC is to reduce the time it takes to detect and prevent threats. As time rules the cyber realm, it’s essential to detect it in the buffer time itself. This process gives less time in the hands of cyber attackers to threaten the data security ensuring protection with no loopholes. This solution is suitable for enterprises where the IT infrastructure is huge and the data generated is high. SOC will give that additional confidence an enterprise needs in operating their existing network and flawless transfer of their valuable data across the organization.
4. Threat intelligence
Threat intelligence is information gathered, processed, and analyzed to learn about the reasons for a threat, its target audience, and possibility of a future attack. Threat intelligence helps us to make more educated, data-driven security choices and shift from a responsive to a defensive posture in the battle against cyber threats.If you are looking to prevent cyber threats, then you need to stay ahead of all the malicious hackers and attackers across the world. More than a reactive activity, SOC now focuses on prediction using data analytics to prevent it from happening. Your organization is protected against any danger at any time because your SOC team monitors your IT infrastructure and network round the clock. In an extremely challenging and technologically evolving area like cyber security, it is essentially to give prominence to TIME, because even a few seconds can cause a potential data breach. Here SOC will help an organization to be proactive in all the domains related to its IT infrastructure and data protection to detect and prevent threats through the right resources and technology.
5. Cyber threat awareness
Every organization and its employees need awareness about cyber security at the deepest level. Even a minor ignorance can affect the health of the whole IT infrastructure. So it’s essential to give importance to employee-level awareness regarding cyber security. SOC will deliver that awareness to everyone across the organization for maximum threat protection. With growing complexities in the cyber landscape, it is challenging for an organization to create awareness about the cyber threats hidden behind a click. Here SOC will help the organization and the workforce to be updated with the most advanced cyber protection rules and regulations. This will help an organization to develop a well-protected IT infrastructure with no loopholes for a breach. A security operations center also aids you in meeting regulatory obligations through thorough monitoring and threat detection.
6. Reduce the impact
In the cyber world, it’s all about the cyber threat or breach impact that the stakeholders are worried about. Because confidentiality takes the front seat in every organization and any breach can result in leaking sensitive data that can affect the shape of every organization. A focused SOC provider can predict the outcome of a breach and design resolution mechanism that can reduce the impact of the breach. Reducing the impact enables the organization to build a more powerful threat prevention ecosystem that can prevent any kind of advanced cyber threats. SOC service provider evaluates the threat at the quickest time possible and builds remedies based on their technical expertise. This is one of the fundamental roles and responsibilities SOC service provider holds in an organization.
7. Technological backup
Technology plays a huge role in the cyber ecosystem. Any threat that enters an organization’s network can only be tackled with powerful technology that can surpass the threat itself. Organizations frequently have to build on new technologies as the threat landscape evolves.And when that’s the case, the cost that is required to build an in-house SOC team can be expensive and takes a lot of effort because a lot of training and other requisites are involved. An outsourced SOC team comes with out of the box services. It can provide you with the most advanced technology and human expertise that is required to tackle any kind of complicated situation. They equip themselves with the most advanced technological solutions to ensure 360 degree protection to the network and data to give error free protection to its clients. The threats are always changing, therefore employees must stay up to date, and technologies must be reviewed and updated on a regular basis.
8. Human expertise
Threat prevention and data protection not only requires advanced technology but also an expert human brain that can operate the technology. The SOC team will be a well-trained group of people who can deliver the brain required to develop and maintain a network realm with utmost protection and efficiency.
Hiring and training the data scientists in-house is not a cost effective solution and it takes a lot more to maintain such a team. An outsourced SOC team can deliver the expertise it requires to protect your network without any loopholes. It also ensures that your network is healthy and productive which makes SOC a cost effective solution in the long run. Maintaining a SOC team requires a team of the best brains in the industry and the most recent technology to work efficiently.
9. Vulnerability detection
Even before developing a robust preventive mechanism, it is essential to evaluate the health of the organizational network and data storage. Detecting the vulnerability that lies in the network is fundamental for threat prevention and network protection. Because systems on the Internet are continually inspected and attacked, vulnerability scanning is essential. A risk evaluation informs businesses about the flaws in their environment and gives them advice on how to mitigate the risk. AN SOC service provider detects any kind of vulnerabilities at the earliest possible and identifies threats before it occurs.
Organizations of any size can benefit from a well-designed SOC. It can revolutionize your security initiatives and the way you perceive cyber security. SOC services give firms detailed insights into their cybersecurity status and offer solutions and improvements to guarantee a safe IT network. Organizations can evaluate the performance of the SOC team on a frequent basis to avoid any kind of resource loss.