Managing the computer-generated messages — or logs — created by nearly every software application and piece of hardware in your organization is essential to ensuring compliance and managing your systems. These text-based audit records are also a crucial part of any security protocol. Reviewing them before an incident occurs helps organizations identify and address weak areas in your network instead of pouring over them after a breach. But in the event of an attack, these logs can help identify who stole what information when.
Considering how much data these logs provide, managing them is no small endeavor. As organizations grow, their security concerns grow as well. Rather than scaling the time-consuming, labor-intensive log management approach, many seek to more strategically address their security logs.
Enter security information and event management (SIEM)
SIEM employs both technology and processes that identify, monitor, record, and analyze security events or incidents in real-time. Similar to log management, SIEM pulls data from a variety of sources and provides an audit trail. However, unlike, log management, SIEM utilizes security event management(SEM) and security information management (SIM) technology. This allows the solution to aggregate and store information to analyze and report on logs and security records over the long-term while also looking for patterns and anomalies in real-time, alerting for suspicious activity, like a series of failed login attempts with the same user name on different machines.
“SIEM is not a silver bullet that will on its own solve all your security issues, but when properly staffed and supported, it can provide an excellent way to quickly identify and act on security threats,” said Alfonso Barreiro, a corporate IT veteran and information security specialist.
3 major benefits of SIEM
While larger organizations have taken advantage of SIEM for years, small-to-medium sized organizations may now reap the benefits, thanks to the broader architectural offerings that have made SIEM technology more affordable without skimping on functionality.
Here are three reasons to consider adding SIEM to your organization’s security program:
- Easily get the big picture: By gathering data from different systems and multiple locations, SIEM offers a true enterprise view of your organization’s IT security. This makes it easier to quickly identify patterns, trends, and any activity deviating from the norm.
- Improved compliance reporting: Not only does SIEM collect data from disparate sources, it centrally stores that information, making easy to generate compliance reports. SIEM reporting also meets the mandated requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX).
- Increased incident-handing efficiency: Security analysts can view all security log data from the SIEM solution’s single interface, saving time and resources when identifying an attack’s route and the hosts affected. Automated mechanisms attempt to stop in-progress attacks and help contain compromised host systems.
3 reasons why you want to find a trusted third-party partner for SIEM
Although it promises a great degree of automation and relieves the huge log-management burden from your IT department, finding an experienced, third-party expert to bring SIEM to your organization can really smooth your transition from manual log management in three important ways.
- Fast ROI: The alternatives to an on-premises solution — SIEM as a service, for example — offer a shorter implementation time at a lower cost. Unlike on-premises implementations, SIEM as a service can also scale quickly, delivering valuable results in a relatively short timeframe.
- Expert security resources: Barreiro said any organization implementing an SIEM “must be willing to commit resources to the maintenance, adjusting, and evolution of the tool. If the resources for the regular ‘maintenance’ tasks of the tool are not available, the value the SIEM tool might bring will be easily lost.” Another benefit to outsourcing SIEM is access to a deep pool of security resources without the challenge and expense of hiring, onboarding, and retaining in-house security staff.
- Minimized risk: Partnering with an experienced IT security provider to manage security — identifying and analyzing risk, addressing possible weaknesses, and maintaining your security infrastructure — allows your organization to effectively defend itself against cyber attacks while remaining to focused on your mission.
Keeping up with the ever-changing world of cybersecurity means exploring new solutions as they become available to your organization. If you find your IT department spending a little too much time on their log management, it’s the perfect time to find a trusted third-party firm to help you bring SIEM to your organization.
About the Author
Synoptek is an established firm that provides information systems consulting and IT management services. Synoptek and its predecessors have been providing these services for 23 years.