It’s no secret that cybersecurity threats have become more sophisticated and dangerous. Hackers now use bots to carry out constant attacks and have become master manipulators, using convincing language and realistic graphics to fool people into clicking malicious links.
To make matters worse, there’s a serious shortage of skilled security personnel. According to the (ISC)² 2020 Cybersecurity Workforce Study, 3.1 million more cybersecurity professionals are needed worldwide just to meet current demand. Almost two-thirds (64 percent) of organizations lack the cybersecurity staff they need.
Many IT teams also rely heavily on manual processes, which limits their efficiency and effectiveness. Security data is scattered among multiple systems, network devices and appliances, all of which generate high volumes of alerts. Overstretched staff don’t have the resources to correlate the data, weed out redundant alerts and false positives, and prioritize threats for investigation. Worse, security is reactive rather than proactive, putting organizations in the position of responding to incidents that could have been prevented.
The Benefits of SIEM
Security information and event management (SIEM) can help organizations overcome these challenges. SIEM platforms collect and aggregate data from a variety of sources for the purpose of monitoring, detecting, investigating and responding to security threats. This data typically includes but is not limited to network traffic, user and device activity, cloud services, business applications, and threat intelligence. SIEM systems also correlate events and alerts from across the IT environment to identify sophisticated, multipronged attacks.
These tools are also extremely valuable for conducting forensics investigations and reconstructing incidents. Insights into the origin of an attack, how and why a breach occurred, what systems were compromised, and a detailed timeline can help organizations prevent similar incidents from happening again. Regulatory compliance has also been a top driver in the adoption of SIEM, which provides a single, holistic view of all monitored activity and security logs.
The Need for SOC
SIEM is valuable but it doesn’t eliminate the need for human analysts. A security operations center (SOC) serves as the focal point for the people, processes and technologies needed to continuously monitor the organization’s security posture and analyze security incidents.
SOCs are often designed in a hub-and-spoke architecture with SIEM at the hub. The spokes can include a variety of systems, such as intrusion prevention systems, endpoint detection and response systems and threat intelligence platforms. These components should monitor the IT environment around-the-clock and immediately notify the SOC team. Human analysts then triage the threats and respond to the most urgent issues first.
The reliable detection of security threats and a systematic approach to managing those threats are the most important success criteria for a mature SOC. This requires well-defined yet flexible cyber defense capabilities, with activities that are consistent, repeatable, documented, tracked, measured and continually improved upon.
SIEM and SOC Solutions from Perch
SIEM solutions are traditionally difficult to implement, and SOC capabilities are beyond the reach of many small to midsize businesses (SMBs). However, Verteks has partnered with Perch to deliver a cloud-based SIEM backed by Perch’s world-class SOC capabilities.
Perch’s SIEM solution provides single-pane-of-glass visibility into security and non-security data, creating context to enhance investigations. The Perchybana tool analyzes network traffic to spot indicators of compromise and facilitate alert triage, threat hunting and incident investigation. Perch’s in-house SOC team monitors the platform 24x7, and responds to security incidents.
The only way to stay ahead of sophisticated threats and overcome the security skills gap is to implement a solution that gathers, correlates and analyzes security data. Verteks can help you take advantage of the Perch SIEM platform backed by its SOC capabilities to reduce risk, increase efficiency and create a proactive security posture.
