What are the three main roles of SIEM?

Security information and event management (SIEM) is a security technology that sorts through huge data sets within seconds. It can detect unusual behaviour and give IT leaders a snapshot of where their infrastructure is at any given moment.

This cyber security solution detects abnormalities across all network applications, from multiple vendors of hardware and software. It also allows businesses to monitor their virtual environments and software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions using one security tool.

By covering all of these attack surfaces and endpoints, SIEM allows businesses to stay ahead of both external and internal security threats, and to respond quicker to security incidents through automation and intelligent alerts. Effective forensic and reporting capabilities make SIEM the perfect solution for compliance obligations.

SIEM allows organisations to resolve various security challenges. Growing networks and increasingly complex environments mean that managing enterprise security is an equally complex task. Multiple vendors and multiple solutions, across cloud and on-premise infrastructure, can leave many enterprise networks vulnerable.

By providing comprehensive surveillance through advanced AI-driven algorithms, SIEM ensures visibility into your entire IT network. So what exactly are the three main roles of SIEM and the benefits for your business?

1. SIEM offers improved network visibility

SIEM offers a flexible solution that supports multiple environments and integrates with external and internal technologies, systems and vendors. It provides excellent visibility into digital systems, retrieving data from all users, devices and applications across the enterprise network.

This increase in visibility is supported by a reduction in false positive alerts; security teams can be overwhelmed by too many false alerts. Having an intelligent system, such as SIEM, reduces this problem and ensures that security teams can identify and investigate potentially damaging threats. All potential issues are catalogued via a centralised dashboard, making them easier to identify and review.

2. SIEM uses automation to improve cyber security

SIEM aggregates data from a wide range of sources. This intelligent software identifies deviations from the set of parameters and pre-established rules. From there, it can take appropriate action. For example, SIEM can detect a potential issue, trigger an alert and instruct automated security controls to stop the progression of suspicious activity. This reduces the time it takes to deal with the cyber security concern.

Automated response capabilities kick in when a cyber attack is detected. SIEM has the capability to categorise threats according to their status and severity, and launch a remediation process instantaneously. SIEM boosts incident management by ensuring that compromised data and malicious codes are quarantined. This can help to prevent large scale breaches and contain security events until they are dealt with.

Through an intelligent cloud-based application, SIEM allows businesses to detect external threats, including zero-day threats. These so-called ‘zero-day’ attacks are increasingly prevalent; an unprecedented level of new types of attacks make computer systems vulnerable, particularly when they target weaknesses or blind-spots. Through automated tools, SIEM is able to detect vulnerabilities and make recommendations to improve cyber security measures.

Through advanced analytics and machine learning, SIEM offers sophisticated threat intelligence by picking up abnormal patterns of behaviour and identifying weaknesses in the security system before they can be exploited. It is effective in the face of ever-evolving threats and threat actors. Over time, the accuracy of SIEMs monitoring capabilities improves. As your business and network grows, SIEM can be scaled to meet your specific requirements.

3. SIEM reporting supports compliance and forensic investigations

Where SIEM adds a lot of value is in industries requiring stringent compliance. To illustrate, consider the financial sector. Card payment compliance has led to rapid adoption of SIEM technologies by large enterprises. SIEM ensures that banks can identify unusual patterns of behaviour, taking a bird’s eye view of the entire digital network.

Not only is data analysed, but all users and entities operating on the IT system are watched as well. SIEM gathers insights from multiple sources to ensure that all events are forwarded to a centralised management console, where automated tools or security analysts can identify and prioritise security threats.

SIEM makes it easy for enterprises to filter huge amounts of information and prioritise threats. It enables businesses to gain a holistic view of the network, identifying incidences that might have otherwise remained undetected. Through its visualisation tools, SIEM can create a timeline of an attack. This facilitates forensic investigations and ensures that organisations can identify the source and nature of the attack.

SEACOM Business is able to set up SIEM security for large enterprises in South Africa. This technology will improve cyber defences and make network management easier. For more information or to get a quote for our SIEM or other cyber security solutions, email us at marketing@seacom.com or leave us a message.

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