SOC teams use various security tools to monitor systems, devices, and data. They must examine each alert, eliminate false positives, and determine how serious any actual threats are and what they’re targeting.
When a threat is confirmed, the modern SOC responds quickly by performing containment actions like shutting down or isolating endpoints, terminating processes, deleting files, and more—all while minimizing user activity disruption.
Detection
The primary functions of the SOC is to give an organization’s network total visibility. Log data from every company system is directly fed into it.
Tools like a SIEM and EDR should be able to detect abnormal activities with as few false alerts as possible so security analysts can focus on responding quickly to actual threats. It is crucial when protecting sensitive data, such as consumer or business information. Taking preventative measures like this reduces the impact of cyberattacks on organizational business continuity. Additionally, it fosters consumer trust.
Monitoring
An effective SOC requires complete visibility of the entire network landscape. That includes internal components, endpoint devices, and systems that clients or partners use to interface with the organization for meetings or professional collaboration.
Monitoring also involves ensuring system back-ups are in place and ready to be rolled out quickly if there is a data breach or other incident. The SOC may create policies and procedures for this purpose.
Finally, the SOC must develop systems that sort signals from noise, actual threats, and hacker activity from false positives. It requires tools like SIEMs that combine and correlate security data with artificial intelligence to help them “learn” over time.
Response
The SOC must constantly stay on top of security innovations and new cybercrime trends. It prepares the team to handle better current threats and create disaster recovery plans that can guide the organization in the event of a breach.
Effective SOC teams must also have complete visibility into the assets they protect. Ir includes everything from enterprise software and servers to Internet-of-Things devices, such as kitchen microwaves or warehouse scanners. This visibility helps reduce blind spots that attackers could exploit.
Investigation
The SOC’s primary role is to gain complete visibility into enterprise systems. It includes direct software, hardware, and endpoint device feeds, enabling the SOC to collect real-time log data.
These security alerts are analyzed by analysts, discarding false positives and assessing the level of threat (how aggressive, where it could be targeting). They then respond to the incident appropriately while trying to minimize business disruption. It includes shutting down or isolating affected endpoints, terminating harmful processes, deleting files, and more. It also feeds into post-mortem and refinement, as the SOC seeks to prevent the recurrence of incidents.
Deterrence
A vital aspect of the SOC’s job is preventing future threats. It can include reducing vulnerability, updating processes and policies, or choosing new cybersecurity tools.
It also includes ensuring that all aspects of the network are visible to the SOC team, including those outside endpoints and software. It enables the SOC to respond quickly to a threat without disrupting user activity.
It is vital because deterrence depends on demonstrating that the cost-benefit calculus of an attack would not be worthwhile. It requires a clear and credible signal of the strength of your forces.
Training
Training helps the SOC staff understand how to use critical tools for preventing and responding to threats. It includes understanding how the ML/ AI tools work and how to reduce false positives so they can be used to the best effect.
Once a threat is identified, the SOC acts as a first responder, such as shutting down or isolating endpoints, terminating harmful processes, deleting files, etc. The SOC also investigates the incident to learn more about it to prevent future similar attacks.
The SOC team ensures that applications, systems, and tools abide by data privacy regulations. It includes protecting the organization’s Internet-of-Things devices (think kitchen microwaves and warehouse scanners).
Once processes, tools, and staffing are in place, it’s time to start monitoring for incidents and attacks. The SOC should be able to respond quickly, with minimal disruption to the business. It requires complete visibility across the network. That means avoiding blind spots, including those created by integrating the SOC with your NOC.
Reporting
While automated systems are excellent at analyzing patterns and following scripts, the human element of the SOC is vital to sorting out genuine threats from false positives. It allows the SOC team to prioritize alerts, ensuring that any emerging issues are addressed quickly.
Creating precise processes is necessary to guarantee that investigation leads are handled in a critical order while maintaining enough flexibility to allow for appropriate analysis. These processes can also help to identify gaps in security posture.
Remediation
Once a threat has been identified, the SOC acts as a first responder, performing actions like isolating or shutting down endpoints, terminating harmful processes, and preventing them from executing and deleting files. They also figure out exactly what happened, when, how, and why so they can prevent it from happening again.
SOC teams carefully look at each alert and indicator of attack, discard false positives, and determine the criticality of threats – so they can respond quickly to mitigate an incident with minimal impact on business continuity. This process involves using tools such as SIEM to collect, analyze, and correlate data.
Compliance
A SOC ensures all applications, systems, and security tools comply with data privacy regulations like GDPR, CCPA, PCI DSS, and HIPAA. They also create system back-ups if necessary and plan how to handle cybersecurity incidents under regulatory standards.
SOC teams triage incoming threats by determining severity, scope, and impact and may also work to mitigate hazards by shutting down or isolating endpoints, terminating harmful processes, and deleting files. To do this, they must have complete visibility into the network they’re protecting.
