While organisations with internal IT departments may have not considered the integration of external services into their operations, there are valid reasons to take such a course of action.
An example of an external service designed to compliment your pre-existing IT security processes by greatly increasing the breadth and scope of any defense measures already in place is the use of a Security Operations Center (SOC).
Although an SOC can be set up by the organisation itself as another internal and integrated component of its IT infrastructure, the vast majority of cases involve the introduction of an SOC through an external provider due to the organisation lacking the knowledge and expertise to properly implement an SOC themselves.
What is a Security Operations Center and what are its benefits?
An SOC involves the creation of a centralized space intended to accommodate a specialized information security team with the aim of continuously monitoring and analyzing all network traffic, all users and all endpoint devices with the ability to diagnose and identify all cybersecurity incidents and any potential threats, and react accordingly in order to nullify any threats through advanced technology solutions and robust predetermined processes.
An SOC can help an organisation centralize and combine all network traffic log data from the entirety of its network, including every user, device and cloud-based storage facility within its network.
This facilitates the better organisation and orchestration of the analysis resulting from the dissection of this data, including any potential alerts that may have resulted from it.
In turn, any actions taken by the information security team are more coordinated and have a view of the entire cybersecurity picture without any cross-departmental bottlenecks.
Moreover, a Security Operations Center reduces the response time in the event of an active or potential threat since an attack can be detected early on and any steps can be taken immediately to shut it down.
Also, since the SOC involves the meticulous auditing and cataloguing of the organisation’s IT systems, it simplifies the process of being able to detect an attack since all devices, users and other IT assets are being monitored in real time.
Furthermore, an SOC allows for the organisation to keep their data on site, since the center can be implemented as an additional service on top of the existing infrastructure. Finally, an SOC does not force the organisation to hire additional full-time workers since it is being managed by third-party experts, including the SOC manager, analyst, investigator, responder and auditor, although some roles may overlap since they can be performed by the same person in certain instances.
Are there any downsides to an SOC?
There is virtually no technical disadvantage to implementing a Security Operations Center.
However, the luxury of not only being able to be aware of network activity through constant monitoring, but to also have the capacity to detect and react to any cybersecurity incident, comes at a price, since an SOC solution cannot be properly undertaken with a cost-conscious approach.
That being said, as mentioned above, this is very much a case of the investment paying for itself through the peace of mind a Security Operations Center can instill in an organisation.
How Boltonshield can help
Boltonshield’s Security Operations Center (SOC) services can incorporate all organisation-owned devices, including laptops. This allows us to detect, analyze, and respond to cybersecurity incidents on all endpoint devices regardless of the current network they are connected with, enabling you to safeguard employee devices even when they are being used remotely.
Boltonshield provides a fundamentally unique approach to cyber defence which is backed up by Artificial Intelligence. Rather than the traditional log collection and consolidation, Boltonshield’s Security Operations Center monitors network traffic, has visibility of every single device and user, and automatically learns the complex relationships between them.
Machine learning technology enables us to detect emerging threats, in real time, mapped in a way that provides total network visibility. This boosts our ability to quickly diagnose potential issues and act accordingly.
You can get in touch with us to find out exactly how Boltonshield can help you by clicking here.
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