Security Operations Centre: the first line of defence against cyber attacks

2023-09-04

As businesses continue to embrace and rely on technologies to operate, the scale and complexity of cyber attacks continues to grow. Investment in PREVENTION measures continue to be a fundamental requirement for every business, but increasingly businesses are realising that they need to do more, leading to an increased focus on THREAT DETECTION, (finding and stopping threats before they can attempt to breach your security) and the rise of SOC services.

Historically the levels of technical sophistication, cost of cutting-edge analysis tools, and expert skillsets required to operate a top tier SOC were only financially viable for enterprise customers, however that is changing. We are beginning to see SOC providers offering more flexible, bespoke offerings, with service offerings designed in partnership with individual business needs and affordability, allowing both Enterprise and SME’s to find the right SOC and relevant services for their needs.

The primary benefit of using a SOC is that it uses intelligent tooling, more extensive monitoring, massive data crunching and a dedicated technical team which proactively finds threats and stops attacks.

Other benefits include;

• 24/7/365 Protection – attacks are not restricted to working hours.
• Speed of Response – pro-actively detected, investigated and dealt with earlier.
• Reduced Costs – it is significantly more cost effective to protect and deter cyber threats, than to react and deal with the consequences of a successful breach.
• Proactive Rather Than Reactive Model – use of intelligent Threat Hunting prevents attacks happening in the first place.
• Skilled Security Focused Staff – dedicated and experienced staff fully focused on specialised security roles.
• Improved Business Reputation – indicates to internal and external stakeholders that the business takes data security, privacy, and regulatory compliance seriously.

SOC providers offer a comprehensive range of services. In order to secure the best SOC and services for your business, some areas you should consider in your assessment;

• Does the SOC use top tier technology partners which have the capacity to grow with your business needs – what tools are being used, is there an over reliance on one technology or provider.
• What Security Incident and Event Management (SIEM) is the SOC relying on, how does the market rate its performance, can it perform real-time and historical cross correlation at speed?
• How does the SOC log events and deal with data – event log and network flow data consolidation is about raw information and storage, required for auditing and compliance purposes.
• Threat Detection – what tools are used and what sources are covered in terms of geography and sectors. How many intelligence feeds are typically analysed and is the analysis static or continuously learning.
• You are paying for expertise, not incidents, so consider the expertise and experiences of the team operating the SOC, are they dedicated SOC staff.
• Can the SOC integrate with the way your business functions and convert that intelligence into action, any benefit will not be fully realised.
• Are Consultancy Services available to undertake security assessments, generate implementation plans and provide holistic security advice.

Outsource Group deliver a wide range of SOC services, with a focus on working with customers to both understand their business requirements but also to design the right suite of SOC services to satisfy their needs.

If you are considering SOC services or want to find out more get in touch.