Security Operations Center Tools Every Business Needs

Security operations centers have become the go-to resource to prevent debilitating data breaches. In recent years, the direct financial losses and fallout from getting hacked have left companies ailing. Organizations are losing hundreds of thousands, if not millions, due to network intrusions. Although everyday people see splashy news headlines about criminal gangs holding large corporations for ransom, few news articles convey the harsh reality many are soldiering through on a regular basis.

According to reports, upwards of 78 percent of organizations that suffer a data breach require more than 100 days to recover. The hardest hit 35 percent spend more than 150 days putting the pieces of their digital footprint back together. Those rank among the many discouraging statistics that reflect the crushing impact hackers have on businesses and the people who own and operate them. To stop hackers from running roughshod over cloud-based and in-house systems, industry leaders are turning to managed security operations centers (SOCs).

What business professionals outside the managed IT and cybersecurity industries may not realize is that security operations center tools have a significant impact on their effectiveness. At Red River, we work with leadership teams to ensure their organizations are supported by the security operations center tools that deter, detect and expel threat actors. If you are considering adopting SOC as a Service (SOCaaS), these are things to consider.

How Do Security Operations Center Tools Protect Data?

Partnering with a managed security operations center service provider continues to trend high because the data protection they provide is nothing short of exceptional. With the right security operations center tools in play, these managed services stonewall cybercriminals in ways thieves haven’t experienced in the past. Backed by highly skilled SOC analysts, hackers and their malicious software and schemes are quickly identified in real time. While some security programs fail to detect anomalies and suspicious activity for months, a SOCaaS provider uses next-gen tools and technology to identify threats and take action. These rank among the primary benefits that come with partnering with a SOCaaS provider.

• Ongoing Monitoring: Hackers don’t follow the 9-to-5 work schedule. In fact, many wait until IT staff members leave for the day before attempting data breaches. A SOCaaS provider uses AI, machine learning and automation to continuously monitor networks for unusual activity.
• Threat Detection: Threats are identified anytime activities deviate from the norm. A cybersecurity firm using the right security operations center tools can drill down to a point where alerts are issued if a seemingly legitimate user attempts to access files or applications that are inconsistent with task completion. To put it succinctly, SOCaaS delivers enhanced threat detection.
• Rapid Responses: Threats are detected quickly, and the ensuing responses are expedited. A properly customized and implemented SOCaaS program can handle low-level disturbances through automation. Using top-tier security operations center tools, greater threats trigger alerts directly to SOC analysts, who process them and respond immediately. Nothing is left to fester for months.
• Threat Hunting: It wasn’t that long ago that the cybersecurity industry lacked the tools and technology to do anything more than follow a so-called “break-and-fix” model. Essentially, managed IT staff members did their level best to keep backups safe and restore systems after hackers finished burglarizing them. Today’s model involves taking the fight to the cybercriminals. A SOCaaS provider can engage in threat hunting when properly equipped to turn the tables on criminals.

These and other benefits that come with a SOCaaS partnership greatly reduce the risk exposure that makes leadership teams and stakeholders uncomfortable. Having proactive measures in place, such as enhanced threat detection, quick responses and containment proficiency, helps organizations maintain regulatory compliance and streamline reporting. But like any fine automobile, what’s under the hood matters more than the shiny new paint job. A SOC is only as good as the experts running it and the tools at their disposal.

Essential Security Operations Center Tools

The fact that an increased number of organizations are opting into SOC as a service programs is largely driven by cybercriminals upping the ante. Over the years, ethical cybersecurity professionals have developed robust data protections, only to have hackers figure out a workaround. As the chess match between hard-working business professionals and online thieves plays out, cybersecurity experts continue to develop new and innovative ways for organizations to achieve goals without cybercriminals disrupting those honest efforts. These are essential security operations center tools that are necessary to keep digital assets safe and secure, and hackers at bay.

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

Considered the focal point of a SOC, a security information and event management system utilizes specialized software to gather and assess wide-reaching data from across an entire network. A SIEM offers SOC analysts a panoramic view of the cybersecurity landscape, including activity from in-house computer networks, endpoint devices and cloud-based assets. By collecting wide-reaching data, analyzing, grouping, coordinating alerts and providing actionable intelligence, SIEM tools are the foundation on which a SOC is built. These are ways SIEM technology improves a SOC’s ability to harden a company’s cybersecurity posture.

• Centralized Data Collection
• Streamlines Data Analysis
• Identifies Patterns that Point to Potential Threats
• Real-Time Assessment and Truncated Response Times
• Simplifies Regulatory Compliance and Reporting

It’s reasonable to say a suitable SIEM system can greatly improve a cybersecurity posture and mitigate a business’s risk exposure.

Endpoint/Extended Detection & Response (EDR/XDR)

These security operations center tools are good examples of how cybersecurity professionals develop new and innovative ways to combat data breaches and business network disturbances. Endpoint detection response tools were initially designed to provide continuous monitoring across modern networks. As a cybersecurity tool, EDRs allow professionals to detect suspicious activity initiated at endpoints, such as smartphones, laptops, tablets and even desktops used by remote workforces. The basic idea was that it gave SOCaaS providers and other security professionals a way to detect and expel threats across the digital landscape.

Building on that concept, Extended Detection and Response technologies collect and assess data from a variety of endpoints, including the cloud, applications and IT infrastructure. Along with the comprehensive insights, XDR tools take cybersecurity a step further. This tool can be used to investigate suspicious activity and go threat hunting. These are benefits that come with deploying EDR/XDR tools.

• Real-Time Threat Detection
• Prompt Alerts and Response Times
• Threat Hunting Capabilities
• Enhanced Endpoint Visibility

Given that approximately 56 percent of U.S. companies allow employees to work remotely part of the time and 16 percent are considered fully remote outfits, managed SOC services providers must use endpoint cybersecurity tools and technologies. Without this facet, the SOCaaS subscription may not be worth the monthly cost.

Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR)

This digital security platform brings wide-reaching elements together in an effort to streamline threat response times and augment a business’s overall defensive posture. A SOAR is essentially the security operations center tool that helps integrate and better automate other aspects of the SOC system. This breakdown of the key terms, “security” aside, highlights why it’s an essential SOC element.

• Orchestration: By bringing security tools under one umbrella, it allows SOC analysts to coordinate cybersecurity activities across the network landscape.
• Automation: Rather than requiring humans to perform repetitive tasks, it can be used to automate select assignments. These can include low-level incident response and workflow activities, among others. As a security operations tool, it frees up cybersecurity and managed IT professionals to handle more pressing matters.
• Response: Thanks to automation and centralized information, SOC analysts are able to respond to critical threats in real time. The tool can utilize pre-determined responses to purge specific threats.

At the end of the day, having the latest SOAR tools in place quickens the speed at which a SOCaaS provider can deter, detect, contain and expel threats. The faster a managed SOC as a service provider can act on an organization’s behalf, the less chance a hacker can pilfer off sensitive and confidential information.

Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIPs)

Known for gathering, assessing and handling threat intelligence data culled from a variety of digital points, TIPs help SOC as a service providers identify and eradicate emerging threats. These security operations tools have the bandwidth to block hacking schemes, probe unusual activity and some offer threat hunting capabilities. Producing a centralized and highly organized setting, they drive targeted and effective responses. These are key reasons they support improved cybersecurity outcomes.

• Identify Digital Patterns and Subtle Trends
• Prioritize Critical Threats
• Serve as Proactive Alert Trigger

One of the reasons these security operations center tools are darlings among cybersecurity professionals stems from the fact they are easily integrated into SIEM systems, endpoint security measures and enterprise-grade firewalls, among others.

Vulnerability Management Tools

While some security operations center tools are exciting next-gen technologies, others lean more toward common sense. Vulnerability management tools fall into the latter category. This class of software solution tools helps companies analyze their systems and cure weaknesses that give hackers a pathway to their digital assets. By scanning for inherent vulnerabilities, they provide managed IT and cybersecurity experts with vital information. These are benefits of having the right vulnerability management tools.

• Risk Assessment and Management
• Ranking Vulnerabilities Based on Threat Levels
• Remediation Intelligence

Vulnerability management tools also help produce highly detailed reports. They provide information about trends, progress and whether cybersecurity measures support comprehensive regulatory compliance.

Ticketing & Collaboration Systems

This class of software solutions centralizes and streamlines customer support requests and advances communications between key stakeholders. Based on a ticketing system, SOC analysts and others use the information to track and cure hiccups and threats in an orderly fashion. Many provide options such as internal record-keeping, workforce assignment transparency and workflow collaboration. As a knowledge-based security operations center tool, they bring the following benefits to the table.

• Centralized Communication
• Orderly Ticketing Management
• Collaboration Opportunities
• Automated Workflow Solution
• Improved Analytics

Although ticketing and collaboration systems are ideal customer support tools, they also enhance efficiency on the cybersecurity side of the business equation. Better insights support better outcomes and fewer disruptions.

Optional SOC tools

There are crucial tools that a SOC cannot function adequately without. By that same token, a SOCaaS provider may decide to diversify its technologies to offer more customized data security measures. These rank among the optional, but valuable tools.

• User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA): This technology uses machine learning and other cutting-edge innovations to analyze the behavior of network users, as well as periphery items such as routers, and frequently overlooked IoT devices.
• Network Detection and Response (NDR): Another jumping-off point from endpoint detection and response, NDR utilizes machine learning and AI to ferret out new and emerging threats. It’s an important next step in early detection because it seeks out unfamiliar dangers that do not yet have a known digital footprint.

Working with a SOC as a service provider can be a powerful professional relationship that hardens an organization’s cybersecurity posture. Firms that offer this data security solution must have the expertise, infrastructure, determination and security operations center tools available at all times. If you are considering signing on with a third-party cybersecurity and managed IT provider, take a long look at the tech stack and tools.

Red River Offers Scalable SOC as a Service Solutions

At Red River, we provide determined managed SOC services at a scalable rate. We have the expertise, SOC infrastructure and next-gen tools to meet your digital security and regulatory compliance needs. If you’d like to learn more about our SOCaaS solutions, contact us today. Let’s get the process started.