Security Information and Event Management system (SIEM)

If you have read our previous blog posts, you will already know that modern computer networks are under constant threat from hackers. IT environments are becoming more complex, with different suppliers, products and locations. The increasingly complex IT environment means a growing challenge for organisations to keep this under control. But how do you discover breaches? And how do you know exactly where the breaches have taken place? Maybe there are different vulnerabilities in devices that are not from the same supplier? Let’s not beat about the bush: your networks and SaaS solutions – which are necessary for your business to run – are often high-risk vulnerabilities.

SIEM

What you need is a tool that can inform you of weaknesses, attempts and real breaches across the technology stack. And you are lucky, because that tool exists and it’s called a SIEM, or Security Information and Event Management system!

A SIEM is a tool that can recognise and deal with abnormal behaviour or potential cyber attacks. It is a combination of software and hardware used to automatically collect, combine and analyse IT-related security information. In other words, it collects huge amounts of data from your entire network environment, consolidates it and makes it humanely accessible. SIEM identifies all the data, sorts it into categories (such as malware, failed logins and other potentially malicious activities) and provides a convenient overview, allowing you to investigate data security breaches in as much detail as possible.

The Benefits of using SIEM

There are five areas where a SIEM can prove to be a valuable asset:

• Compliance
• Operations support
• Anomalous behaviour / Zero Day Threat Detection
• Advanced persistent threats
• Forensic analysis

SIEM solutions are capable of collecting information from multiple applications, networks and devices. As a result, your IT employee(s) can identify, assess and respond to potential security breaches more quickly. By identifying a threat at an early stage, you ensure that your organisation only suffers from a small threat, or even none at all.

Difficult, but effective!

There is one drawback to using SIEM: it’s difficult to set up. Unfortunately, it is not a box that you can buy and that magically offers a turnkey solution.

That’s why you should contact your IT team or an external IT partner who has expertise in all components of SIEM.

The actual costs of a SIEM are in the Human Resources department, because you need highly trained specialists to monitor the SIEM. They need to train the tool and draw up detailed, pre-defined rules to know whether a threat is just an anomaly or the real thing. In case of a real threat, the Security Operations Center (SOC) team must be able to block the attack and close the gate.

The Tyneso Solution

As a result, the SIEM adaptation among small and medium-sized organisations is quite low compared to the other security solutions available. This risk can be mitigated by looking to security specialist managed service providers, such as Tyneso, who can offer a shared Security Operations Center (SOC) to provide around-the-clock SIEM monitoring service with experts at a more affordable price than by hiring all the resources themselves.

A SIEM is often seen as the cherry on top of the cake, unifying the security strategy.

Do you have any more questions? We will be pleased to help you! Send an email to checkit@tyneso.com and we will contact you as soon as possible!