Managed Security Operations Center

August 29, 2021 Posted by Patrick Uncategorized

What is Managed Security Operations Center?

A Security Operations Centre (SOC) is a facility that houses a dedicated team responsible for maintaining and improving an organisation’s cyber security. A SOC or CSOC is equipped with a range of security technologies which are used by the personnel that work within them to help prevent, detect and respond to cyber threats.

Developing a SOC capability should be a priority for any organisation seeking to elevate its cyber maturity. As threats evolve to bypass traditional signature-based defences, organisations must improve their ability to prevent, detect and respond to them. A Cyber Security Operations Centre provides the capability organisations need, 24/7.

The challenges of operating an in-house SOC

One of the main challenges businesses face when seeking to make improvements to cyber security is overcoming the vast expense associated with building and maintaining an in-house CSOC operation.

Implementing the latest technologies and monitoring them 24/7 is costly, compounded by the fact that the qualified security experts needed to carry out day-to-day operations are in short supply and therefore expensive to recruit and retain.

Why consider a Managed SOC service?

To reduce the strain on already stretched IT teams, many organisations are turning to managed SOC or co-managed SOC services to meet their security needs. Acting as a virtual extension of in-house resources, a managed CSOC relieves organisations of the responsibility of managing security day-to-day. Key functions a Managed SOC undertakes includes:

1. Technology deployment and management

2. Incident prevention

3. Security event monitoring

4. Alert analysis and investigation

5. Threat intelligence management

What does SOC stand for?

SOC in cyber security stands for Security Operations Centre – a specialist facility that includes the people, technology and threat intelligence organisations need to monitor and improve their cyber security posture. A SOC is sometimes referred to as a CSOC (Cyber Security Operations Centre) – the terms are largely synonymous.

What does a SOC do?

A SOC is made up of security analysts, engineers and responders tasked with preventing, detecting, responding to and remediating cyber threats around-the-clock. SOCs are typically responsible for activities such as system deployment and management, log management and monitoring, incident investigation and triage, vulnerability management and compliance reporting.

What is the difference between SOC and NOC?

A Network Operations Centre (NOC) is responsible for maintaining and monitoring IT systems and preventing network interruption and downtime. A NOC isn’t responsible for cyber security, which is the traditional remit of a Security Operations Centre (SOC).

What are the tools used in a SOC?

The tools used in a SOC or co-managed SOC will vary from one environment to another, but the one essential purpose they share is data collection. To identify threats, a SOC needs a vast amount of telemetry and event data to be collated, analysed, contextualised and enriched. SOC tools could include SIEM, IDS, EDR, UEBA, NTA, vulnerability scanning and behavioural monitoring technologies.

What should a SOC monitor?

A SOC should use a number of different technologies to help identify threats across an organisation’s complete IT environment. SOC tools should monitor network traffic, event logs and endpoint activity. Security experts can then collate and analyse this information and use it to identify threats and shut them down before they cause damage and disruption.

What is a managed SOC?

A managed SOC, sometimes referred to as SOC as-a-service, is an outsourced security service that provides organisations with a SOC capability for a cost-effective subscription. A managed SOC works as a virtual extension of in-house resources to deploy and manage security technologies, monitor and triage alerts, analyse and investigate threats and support incident response. SOC services take many different forms, including a fully Outsourced SOC, Virtual SOC or Co-managed SOC, where responsibilities are split between the buyer and service provider.

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