Are You Building An Effective SOC?

Palo Alto Networks senior director and chief security officer Haider Pasha sheds light into how an effective SOC can enable an organisation to defend its Data and Protect its reputation.

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Today, businesses spend heavily on cybersecurity. But to get value for their money, they need an overarching strategy. The state-of-the-art approach is to build an effective security operations center (SOC).

ASOC is commonly referred to as the central command center for cybersecurity operations. A team of security analysts uses advanced detection tools to identify, record and repel cyberattacks. The analysts work with a playbook of processes laying out the steps they need to take to keep their organisation secure.

Many large businesses have implemented successful SOCs, especially those dealing with sensitive data such as personally identifiable information (PII). Typically, these include financial and retail companies but also those working with governments and organisations looking to digitise services and use big data.

More mid-sized businesses are following suit, though the majority prefer to outsource their SOC to reduce costs. Companies that offer outsourced cyber protection are known as managed security services providers (MSSP).

Organisations often build a SOC when they have dozens of security tools operating across their network but struggle to make sense of all the data they produce. Large organisations typically have products from between 40 to 60 security vendors, from endpoint protection and intrusion detection systems to firewalls and scanning tools. Each security tool can generate large volumes of data about network activity and any suspicious exploits.