The benefits of a SOC (Security Operation Center) for businesses are incredibly vast.
So much so that 72% of organizations believe that their SOC is essential to their cyber security strategy.
But what makes a SOC an effective SOC? What is it about this specialized managed security service and all-in-one command center that is so key to helping businesses combat cyber threats to their network?
In this article, we’ll be answering all those questions and more as we dive into the 5 main benefits of a SOC.
Discussing SOC Benefits: What is a SOC?
First, let’s explain exactly what an SOC is and why it’s such an integral part of many organizations’ cybersecurity strategies.
SOC is an acronym for Security Operations Center.
A Security Operations Center (SOC) is a centralized hub staffed by a security team made up of security analysts and experts whose job is to perform security monitoring, threat detection and incident response for a business’ network.
The various team members and SOC analysts working in a dedicated SOC employ a host of security technologies to monitor a network’s threat landscape in order to defend that network and the data stored therein.
The Most Important SOC Benefit for a Truly Effective SOC
Among the various Managed SOC benefits afforded to a business and its data network, one of the main advantages of most SOC-as-a-Service models is a robust and thorough log retention policy.
By collecting and storing a business’ log data for at least a year at a time, the performance benefits of a SOC for that business increase dramatically. Off-site logs can also be collected. These logs are arguably better, as cyber attackers can’t delete or modify them .
This is because when a SOC has log data to analyze and sift through after an attack occurs, the team members of that SOC can use that collected information to identify where the breach occurred, close that vulnerability gap, and inform the organization as to exactly how the attack happened.
This way, you significantly reduce the odds that a particular attack will ever happen again.
5 SOC Security Benefits
Beyond a consistent log retention policy, here are the other five main SOC security benefits that are responsible for providing businesses with the best cyber security protection on the market.
1. Heightened Security Visibility
Without a dedicated SOC monitoring your network, it’s almost too easy for hackers to breach your network undetected. Sometimes, a breach can go unnoticed for months or even years. And by that time, irreparable damage has already been done.
By having a security team of SOC analysts performing constant, round-the-clock security monitoring on your network, you gain an entire team’s worth of expert eyes watching all the traffic flowing through your organization’s network.
This includes employee emails, downloads, outside authentication requests, file transfers…everything.
The first step to protecting your business’ network against dangerous and expensive cyber security threats is knowing what’s happening behind the scenes, and that’s just one maximum SOC security benefit.
2. 24/7 Network Monitoring
Now that you’ve got the right people with access to your network traffic, the next most valuable SOC benefit is their expert security monitoring.
It’s worth noting here that not all SOCs are created equal. Many SOCs don’t provide round-the-clock monitoring performed by real individuals, but rather use automated programs to do the heavy lifting for them.
Depending on the software used, this can be an even more effective security monitoring technique, as most AI would be faster and more accurate when performing threat detection and threat hunting.
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3. Minimize Impact of Data Breaches
As with any quickly occurring emergency, mitigating the damage from a cyber security data breach is all about speed of response. The faster you can detect and isolate the threat, the less impact it will have on your business..
When you’ve got a dedicated SOC on your side, the standard operating procedure is to:
- Sweep the network for both obvious and hidden threats or breaches
- Isolate and contain the threat
- Determine how the attack happened
- Close the security gap
- Inform the organization and provide recommendations
4. Threat Hunting, Detection and Response
As for the actual threat hunting, threat detection and response, you’re never going to be able to beat the swift effectiveness of a team of SOC analysts.
Their years of experience and specialized knowledge provide them with all the tools they need to look for threats, spot them, and prevent them from happening again.
While not all SOCs will include threat remediation services as part of their regular SOC package of services, they will usually provide consultation and specific recommendations to the leadership team in terms of what steps to take after a data breach.
5. Better Communication and Cyber Risk Awareness
Even with an SOC’s considerable capabilities, the first line of defense against cyber threats in any organization are the employees and management team.
Any SOC worth its salt will place a heavy emphasis on education, communication, and policy adherence in an effort to stop attacks before they even begin.
Choosing the Benefits of a Managed SOC With CP Cyber
Here at CP Cyber, our SOC-as-a-Service is among the best in the industry. We employ a log retention policy of one year, perform vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, and more as additional services.
Our diverse team is made up of former US armed forces veterans, NSA and FBI personnel—and nothing surprises us.
Talk to us today about how we can provide your organization with above-and-beyond cyber security protection.