SOC aka Security Operation Center – Definition

Essentially managed by the SOC, digital security is at the heart of the concerns of companies in the third millennium. The Security Operation Center uses cutting-edge technologies to prevent all possible IT incidents. These few lines tell you more.

What is SOC?

The SOC is not yet another department of a CAC40 company. It is more of a set of infrastructures made up of security units. The powerful machines are designed to monitor and analyze protection devices. 24 hours a day and all year round, algorithms detect possible vulnerabilities, including backdoors created by infiltrated cybercriminals. SOC identifies and eliminates Brute Force threats.

The Security Operation Center relies on constantly improved processes. It also employs digital threat detection software. Various scenarios are planned for each scenario. Reactions change in particular depending on the extent of the harm. The entire system works thanks to analysts and engineers specialized in digital security. Their qualifications allow them to implement processes that comply with regulations and standards in terms of processing sensitive information.

Technical teams are sometimes supervised by managers. The aim of this hierarchy of SOC personnel is above all to increase responsiveness. Everyone has a specific role to perform. Some focus on servers. Others are interested in user terminals or networks. Particular attention is also paid to databases, especially for companies offering Cloud services.

What do Security Operation Center staff do?

The SOC team does not design preventive measures. She must further ensure that routine tasks are carried out correctly. The staff takes care of the operational side. Analysts continually monitor metrics to detect, identify and report incidents. Every business has its own cybersecurity needs. Some structures are interested in cryptanalysis. Others focus on reverse engineering.

All SOC personnel obey a general strategy established by the company’s management. These decision-makers set specific objectives for each position. Indeed, the Security Operation Center is made up of a multidisciplinary team. In certain situations, the entrepreneur recognizes the types of threats his SOC needs to pay attention to. Sometimes, hackers infiltrate a company’s computer system through a department outside of ICT.

As a reminder, the SOC designates a technological infrastructure, not a department. It essentially consists of firewalls and IPS/IDS. The device also includes vulnerability detection software. Various probes and methods to establish the traceability of operations are implemented (SIEM). In other words, data streams are continuously analyzed. Employees use telemetry, syslog and various technologies on a daily basis.

The SOC also monitors network and endpoint vulnerabilities to protect sensitive data and comply with industry or government regulations.

What is the point of investing in this type of infrastructure?

The SOC contributes significantly to securing a company. It prevents leaks with serious consequences in the event of infiltration. Incident detection is significantly less expensive than corrective actions. Sometimes, simple apologies or transparency are not enough to reassure consumers when their personal information is exfiltrated.

Network analysis, workstation scanning, server cleaning and database filtering are operations that can be automated. The technical team just needs to keep an eye on the checks made by powerful algorithms. Data incidents can cause serious harm to those affected. A catastrophic situation can arise if companies belatedly recognize that there is a flaw in their operations.

A well-developed SOC provides lessons for the future. Analysis software remembers the time of infiltration, the type of attack and the type of breach exploited. Security can thus be reinforced over time. When it comes to cybercrime, nothing can be taken for granted. The ideal would be to successfully foil the hackers’ ruse. That said, hackers who manage to disrupt existing systems move up the level with each successful attempt.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the SOC?

Forces

• Based on analyses, SOC measures the human factor in a process. It quickly recognizes whether an incident is due to inattention, a handling error or a premeditated action.
• The Security Operation Center is more focused on facts and actions compared to other departments that work on hypothetical scenarios. He can directly give practical advice to employees.
• Employees within the service act against threats by removing possible sources of danger. They also meet the needs of the business and the client and work within their risk tolerance level.

Limits

• Currently, hackers manage to overcome barriers such as firewalls or IPS. Software cannot yet replace the analytical capacity of a human being. The brain is capable of handling mechanisms not written in the manual.
• The SOC constitutes an additional expense item, especially when its usefulness is not demonstrated by thwarted threats. You have to invest in powerful computers and consume more energy for a function that does not directly create value.
• Continuous analyzes only prove the vulnerability of a society. If a hacker gets hold of sensitive information, the consequences could be serious.
• SOC experts can switch sides by joining a competing company. Numerous examples demonstrate that analysts can even put their know-how to the benefit of activist movements.