Every organization houses sensitive data. Whether it is employee data, internal operations information, financial data, economic information, intellectual property or international trade secrets, these are all hot commodities for today’s hackers. A cyber-attack can cause catastrophic results. But how do organizations reduce the massive volume of security information they collect and keep their data safe?
What is a Security Operations Center (SOC)?
A Security Operations Center (SOC) houses an information security team monitoring for threats and attacks and analyzing organization’s security posture on a continuous basis. This team of specialized security personnel protect an organization from threat vectors within their IT infrastructure, websites, databases and more. A SOC is a compilation of cyber professionals, infrastructures, guidelines and procedures that all work together to gather information from devices on the network, such as computers, servers, mobile phones, tablets and more. Simply put, a SOC is a security team that works to monitor and secure an organization’s digital environment.
Does my organization need a SOC?
A SOC can help organizations streamline their security operations and reduce the time and effort needed for detecting security breaches, root cause analysis and emergency response. As an example, let’s think about an employee who accidentally opens a phishing email or clicks on suspicious link. That employee’s computer is likely tied to the rest of an organization’s network and infrastructure and could be sending out large quantities of data to an outside server. However, all that person may notice is their laptop running slower than normal.
With a SOC in place, security professionals are continuously monitoring dashboards and network activity to notice abnormalities and suspicious activity. More importantly, they are communicating within their own team of security professionals but also with other asset owners and stakeholders to create a unified response to this information.
How is a SOC structured?
A SOC is often divided into two main segments of specialized security personnel including a CERT Team (Cyber Enterprise Response Team) or CIRT Teams (Cyber Incident Response Team). These teams are focused on more technical aspects of systems and are mainly responsible for the continuous monitoring of machines, routers, servers, networks and infrastructure. They watch for vulnerabilities or security breaches and can pinpoint where a breach or vulnerability has occurred.
Compliance teams are also instrumental in creating the policies around the day-to-day activities of a system’s network. They monitor the password requirements and refresh and renew access policies for logins. A compliance team consists of designated administrators that can remotely access machines and devices when potential threats have been identified. These professionals manage the maintenance of servers and ensure that the appropriate person is allocated to that task.
How can Electrosoft help?
At Electrosoft, we use SOCs to helps customers manage and reduce the massive volume of log information collected. We work with organizations to discuss their day-to-day environments and develop security solutions that fit within their unique infrastructure needs. Our cyber professionals are continuously monitoring and protecting customer data 24/7 and meeting with other team members and stakeholders on a regular basis to discuss current activity, new security threats, updated tools/systems and to communicate important information across the enterprise. We work to create a more well-rounded team that not only understands cybersecurity but has a better understanding of cyberspace and web traffic, ultimately allowing the customer to respond quickly to potential threats that are coming into an organization’s environment.
Centralizing security operations within a SOC can dramatically help organizations improve the management of their security operations, in addition to gaining a more thorough understanding of their data, services and practices. As security concerns and threat levels continue to increase and evolve over time, working with a security professional to establish a SOC can greatly improve an organization’s safety, efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Click HERE to learn more about how Electrosoft can help your organization stay safe.