In security operations, the growing complexity and quantity of both structured and unstructured data from networks, mobile platforms and cloud-based environments makes it increasingly difficult to manage across numerous locations and environments. The persistent and evolving threat landscape has created a need for a smarter, more integrated security solution.

How can organizations develop their infrastructure and capabilities to improve security intelligence and respond more effectively to security threats or incidents?

An Intelligent Security Operations Center

By integrating threat data and identifying threats within the enterprise, a security operations center (SOC) lets businesses see what’s going on so they can take action as necessary. Building an enterprise SOC can be an effective way to reduce security vulnerabilities. By developing one, you facilitate greater control over your threat management activities and help improve the protection of your critical information assets.

When a cyberattack occurs, the enterprise SOC can make a huge difference by quickly detecting the attack, determining the severity and nature of the threat and undertaking coordinated actions to counter the activity and lessen its immediate impact. Furthermore, the facility provides management with the critical information and security intelligence necessary to address the risk from a business perspective, reducing its impact to the organization as a whole.

Understanding the Right Fit

Because each enterprise SOC is as unique as the organization to which it belongs, it is important to understand the factors that influence outcome. An enterprise SOC can entail exclusively internal operations, processes, technologies and staff or rely heavily on external managed services. It may also practice a hybrid security system of internal and outsourced capabilities.

To determine the right balance for your organization, you want to consider cost, skill availability, single-point versus multiple global locations and the importance of around-the-clock coverage and support.

An enterprise SOC encompasses the people, processes and technologies that handle IT threat monitoring, forensic investigation, incident management and security reporting. To advance current standards for efficient operations, it’s imperative that the SOC capitalizes on an integrated operations framework to foster collaboration, promote collective capabilities and tighten the threat detection and response loop. Ultimately, it should give analysts the full view of data across multiple business areas, providing maximum enterprise visibility and security coverage.

The advanced SOC moves from a response posture to a proactive security stance, integrating progressive capabilities such as predictive and statistical threat monitoring, big data analytics and enterprise resilience. Continuously identifying and mitigating new risks lets operators and senior leaders alike stay ahead of the immediate threat environment and quickly blunt potentially serious effects to which the business may be susceptible.