The so-called Security Operations Center, abbreviated to SOC, sees itself as the headquarters for all security-related services in the IT environment of organizations or companies. It protects the IT infrastructure and data against internal and external threats.
The Security Operations Center is a security center that takes care of protecting the IT infrastructure of a business or organization. In order to accomplish this task, SOC integrates monitors and analyzes all security-related systems such as corporate networks, servers, workstations or Internet services. Among other things, the log files of the individual systems are collected, analyzed and examined for abnormalities.
In addition to the analysis of the various systems and log files, alarming and taking measures to protect data and applications are the central tasks of the SOC platform.
Building a SOC
In most cases, the SOC is a kind of a central command post, where all employees are gathered in one place. There, monitors display information about the current state of IT, the threat situation and any measures taken.
The measures can be used both at the physical level and at the application level. Physical security measures can be implemented, for example, on firewalls or intrusion detection systems and ensure the direct protection of the corporate network. Application-level protection measures are specialized solutions for authorizing and authenticating users or antivirus software to detect malicious programs.
On the one hand, the SOC works proactively and tries to detect and eliminate IT infrastructure vulnerabilities at an early stage and, on the other hand, reacts directly via direct protection measures for current attacks such as DoS attacks. The management of the company or organization is periodically informed through reporting on the work of the SOC and the security of the IT systems.
Central services of the SOC
To ensure effective protection of data and IT systems, the Security Information Center provides the following central services:
- Proactive monitoring of IT systems and ongoing analyzing of the current threat situation.
- Identify IT security vulnerabilities and eliminate them.
- Central security management for the different devices.
- Alerting on detected attacks and threats.
- Direct countermeasures to mitigate cyber-attacks.
- Conducting security assessments.
- Technical support for all security-related issues
- Reporting on the work of the Security Information Center and on all security-relevant systems
Advantages of a Security Operations Center
Once a Security Operations Center has been set up, there are many benefits for users of SOC platform. Cyber-attacks are quickly detected, analyzed and averted before major negative effects can occur. Thanks to the dynamic adaptation of the security measures to the current threat situation, the systems are optimally protected at all times. Thanks to the proactive work of the SOC, many threat scenarios can be effectively prevented in advance.
Since all security-related matters for the IT infrastructure are managed in one central location, the required security budget can be easily determined. At the same time, the company’s management has a single point of contact for all questions concerning IT security.
The management is actively and regularly informed by the SOC and is always up-to-date about possible risks. Thus, it can incorporate security strategies into the corporate planning on the basis of detailed information. If concrete security decisions have to be made, the SOC has the necessary competence and know-how for this. It can also act as a consultant in various areas of the organization.
An additional advantage of a SOC platform is the compliance required. Since all safety-relevant events and measures are documented in the SOC, the obligations and legal regulations, for example, in data protection and data security can be fulfilled much more quickly and easily. If the company acts as a service provider for IT services, contractually required security service levels can be proven based on SOC reporting.
