January 05, 2023

Why you need a security operation center (SOC)

Companies have more cybersecurity options at their disposal than ever before. Find out how to increase your security posture

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What is a Security Operation Center (SOC)?

A Security Operations Center (SOC) is a centralized unit that provides security oversight for the organization. The SOC is responsible for continuously monitoring and improving the organization's security posture, as well as responding to threat incidents. SOC can be an in-house team of experts or an outsourced team. Anyway, the job of the SOC is the same: it will work to respond to cybersecurity incident, increasing the company protection and provide a fast way to respond to incoming threats. There are many benefits to working with a Security Operations Center, but the primary is that it puts you in touch with expertise that might otherwise be difficult or impossible to cultivate internally.

How a security operations center works

A SOC uses a combination of people, processes, and technology to carry out its functions. The SOC team may be made up of security analysts, engineers, and incident response personnel. The team works together to monitor the company organization's networks and systems for signs of intrusion or other suspicious activity. When an incident is detected, the SOC team will work to contain and remediate the issue. The key activities that a SOC engages in are planning and preparation, detection and response, and recovery and compliance. By Relying on a SOC the organization will be prepared for incoming threats, responding quickly, and compliant with regional regulations.

SOC Activities

There are several activities within a Security Operations Center, including managers, analysts, investigators, responders, and auditors.

  • Analysts and investigators are continuously looking for incoming threats, checking interactions and incidents for malice.

  • Responders are the individuals that handle incoming threats once they've been detected by the analysts and investigators. They work to minimize the damage of the threat and, ultimately, remove it.

  • Auditors continuously look through your current practices, updating outdated policies and making sure that you're following the latest recommendations in cybersecurity.

Managed Detection & Response SOC

A managed detection and response (MDR) SOC provides security operations support as a managed service. An MDR SOC is typically operated by a third-party provider and is responsible for continuously monitoring and improving the security posture of the organization's networks and systems. Compared to a SOC within the company, a third-party SOC, based on MDR, provides additional services and functions, such as alert triage and investigation, incident reporting and escalation, remote response, and threat hunting.

Why should you work with a service provider SOC?

Working with a third-party SOC gives you instant access to a specialist body of knowledge. SOC teams have a deep understanding of security threats and vulnerabilities. This knowledge can help organizations proactively identify and mitigate potential risks. A SOC can also give you access to a wealth of knowledge and experience that you may not have in-house. SOC analysts are experts in cybersecurity, and they can help you to understand the threats that you face and how to best protect yourself against them.

Raise up a new level of expertise

Working with a SOC can help you to raise up a new level of expertise in cybersecurity, like having the opportunity to learn from the best in the business and to develop your own skills and knowledge.

24/7/365 monitoring

SOC analysts are on hand 24/7/365 to monitor your systems and to respond to any threats that they identify. This can help to ensure that critical systems are always protected. In today's world, 24/7/365 protection is a must, as you never know when or where a potential threat is going to come from. SOCs give you the confidence that no matter when a threat hits your systems, you'll be ready to respond.

Improve your cybersecurity posture

SOC teams can help organizations to improve their overall security posture. Your security posture isn't just important for responding to threats, but also in deterring them. Having a more robust cybersecurity presence can help make you less of a target in the eyes of bad actors.

Centralized security management

Last but not the least, a third-party SOC teams can provide you with a centralized point of contact for all security-related issues. This can help to streamline your security management and make it easier to respond to incidents.

Invest in a strong cybersecurity protection with Certego MDR

Certego Managed Detection & Response services are powered by a proprietary Security Orchestration, Automaton and Response (SOAR) Platform, named Certego PanOptikon© which enables the process of Real Time Security Monitoring and Incident Response. The Platform uses a modular approach so it can scale up with the organization’s infrastructure and it can be easily adapted to its actual needs. It enables and supports processes of data gathering, security events correlation and analysis operations, in real-time.

Thanks to the in-depth investigations, provided as-a-service by the Certego Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) with a full remote coverage h24x7x365 eyes on glass, both in italian and english languages, it is possible to quickly detect, investigate and respond to the most advanced cyber threats.

Thanks for reading!

 Pier Giorgio Bergonzi

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