Security Information and Events Management solutions (SIEM) are cybersecurity tools that focus on aggregating data and threat intelligence from internal and external sources. This information is the bundled up and delivered to security teams in a consolidated and easy-to-understand format. It is a combination of security information management (SIM) and security event management (SEM). The solution performs automation in real-time, logs, monitors, triages and prioritizes alerts to improve threat detection and incident response processes.
Not every organization will need SIEM, but for a large portion of companies this security tool has a lot to offer. Let’s look at some of the advantages your organization can benefit from by implementing SIEM.
What is SIEM?
The main reason for investing in a SIEM solution is comprehensive threat detection and investigation features, as well as its managed response capabilities. Key features of SIEM include:
- Standard and basic security monitoring
- Log collection
- Threat response workflows
- Security incident detection
- Advanced threat detection
- Forensics and incident response capabilities
The solution is usually managed by a centralized console where admins can look into their networks, receive alerts, and browse reports and logging data.
For more on SIEM and its relation to its predecessor SOAR, check out our other blog here which compares the two: SOAR Vs. SIEM: What’s The Difference?
Who Can Benefit From SIEM?
The two main groups that would benefit from adopting a SIEM solution are larger, enterprise organizations and MSPs.
As SIEMs make it easier to manage a network’s security status, and respond to incidents faster, they can be a valuable asset to enterprises. It is the size and amount of data to be processed that make SIEMs an effective solution.
MSPs can also stand to benefit from having SIEM as it aggregates and prioritizes data from multiple sources. This is extremely helpful when managing multiple networks. MSPs can also use SIEM solutions to generate reports that detail all network data and intel. These reports can also deliver reporting on their customers’ compliance for auditing purposes when ask by regulatory bodies.
For more information on how a SIEM solution differs to XDR, EDR, and SOAR, check out our blog comparing the solutions here: XDR Vs EDR, SIEM, And SOAR: Is XDR One Platform To Rule Them All?
What Are The Advantages Of SIEM?
Beyond the benefits of having a streamlined alert system, effective remediation, and comprehensive reporting, there are several other benefits to consider. Let’s look at these positives in depth.
Threat Detection
SIEM solutions are particularly effective at detecting hard-to-detect threats. While there are plenty of logging and reporting tools, they rarely have the threat or incident detection capabilities found in a SIEM. There is a significant different between tools that log this data, and tools that can analyze the information to detect anomalous or malicious activity and behavior.
So, SIEMs can go a few steps further than traditional logging tools by aggregating the data, then scanning it for anything amiss. Data is pulled from multiple sources and will be correlated and contextualized in light of an attack, to figure out where the threat originated from. They can also provide intelligence into how attacks have affected different systems, create an attack timeline to predict how it will spread, suggest how the network will be affected, and suggest the best way to respond to a threat.
While the majority of SIEM solutions will automatically remediate attacks as they develop, some solutions are more effective than others. Rather than having its own remediation tools, a SIEM solution will communicate with other tools in an organization’s security stack to coordinate the response. For example, a firewall might be alerted to a specific threat type and given guided intelligence as to how best to respond to it.
Increased Efficiency And Threat Response
SIEM solutions can increase efficiency in a range of areas, particularly in the threat detection and response department. SIEMs allow admin to view all security and network log data from a single centralized console. This clear and initiative dashboard ensures that anomalies or potential risks or attacks are highlighted.
SIEMs have additional capabilities to determine exactly what path an attack might take through the network. From there, admins can spring into action, deciding on the best remediation strategy, and what parts of the network to quarantine so the attack doesn’t spread. This centralized dashboard means that any host systems that have been affected by the attack are easily visible and can be dealt with accordingly.
SIEM solutions can prevent attacks through communicating data and analysis of developing threats to tools in your security stack. This can resolve a threat before it becomes established in your network. This automated aspect can easily handle minor threats, removing repetitive tasks from admins’ to-do list, and ensure minor threats remain minor.
Overall, an effective SIEM solution can reduce the impact of a breach, save time and money by helping to streamline processes, flag alerts, and provide relevant responses when needed.
Data Logging And Visibility
While it might seem like one of the more obvious features, the extensive visibility that a SIEM solution enables shouldn’t be understated.
As already mentioned, SIEM collates data from a multitude of sources before neatly tagging it and packaging it for IT staff to easily understand. Data accrued can be formatted, meaning that it can easily be read and compared with pre-existing trends. The best SIEM solutions on the market will leave no stone unturned in your network.
The logging side is especially important, because networks are vast and, over time, generate a lot of data. Manually collecting, sorting, and assessing all this data takes a lot of time, so having a SIEM to do it for you in less time is critical to improving workplace productivity. It also just provides more visibility into the network, which is handy for monitoring the overall health of your network and the ability to track behaviors, events, and incidents.
Compliance Regulation And Reporting
There isn’t a single organization on the planet that doesn’t have to adhere to some regulations or rules. Every organization will have auditing and reporting commitments to complete to prove their compliance. A lot of the time, gathering and compiling the data to prove that your organization stays compliant with local and national guidelines can be difficult. It can be a very time-consuming process, with significant repercussions if not done correctly.
For the most part, auditing and compliance reporting requires painstakingly detailed reports, which can take a long time to compile, which uses up your admin teams’ valuable time. Reporting and logging capabilities need to be in-depth, with reports detailing events, time and network locations, incident details, and responded enacted.
SIEM solutions are able to streamline the process of compliance and reporting by effectively cutting down the time it takes to compile data and sort it into manageable files. It can also ensure your company stays compliant with a range of guidelines such as HIPAA, PCI-DSS, GDPR, SOX, and CCPA.
Many regulatory frameworks require data on the tracking of events, risk evaluation and prioritization, threats remediation instances, and intelligence findings – all of these can be achieved with SIEM. Simplified compliance reporting ensures that clients of MSPs are not violating any of these regulations, with MSPs able to provide easily generated reports on their clients’ compliance standings.
SIEM helps to decrease security risks, automate certain incident responses, and provide data forensics–all requirements of various regulatory bodies.
Summary
For the right company, the benefit of incorporating a SIEM solution into their security stack is immense. Organizations that have to manage multiple networks at once – like large scale enterprises and MSPs – will find that SIEM is extremely beneficial. Its capacity to report, log, send alerts, automate certain responses, and gather intelligence of incidents and events that occur within your network make SIEMs a useful tool. It improves response times, provides extensive visibility, and helps organizations stay compliant and within regulations. SIEMs are not, however, a replacement for other security tools such as intrusion prevention systems (IPS).
One of the key problems that SIEMs resolve is large workloads and alert fatigue. With its focus on threat detection and remediation, as well as alert prioritization, it can ensure that tedious and repetitive tasks are automated, and high priority alerts are flagged to be dealt with faster. Not only does this mean that your staff have the time and resources to focus on the tasks and incidents that really matter, but they don’t also become weighed down and desensitized to the sheer number of alerts (and false positives).
If you are interested in finding the best SIEM tools on the market, we’ve compiled an article containing all the key features and use cases.
