What is SIEM?

SIEM is Security information and event management. It gives businesses software solutions and aids in the detection, analysis, and provision of security event information inside an organization’s IT environment. We will go into great depth about Security Information and Event Management in this blog, including its architecture, SIEM tools, SIEM providers, etc. Join Softlogic Systems for the Best Cybersecurity Courses in Chennai with assured placement support, jump start your career in a promising field.

Security Information and Event Management : What is it?

Security information management (SIM) and security event management (SEM) are combined (SIM). Threat monitoring, incident response, and event correlation are all supported by SEM’s analysis of logs and event data. SIM, in contrast, records, gathers, and examines log data.

Security Information and Event Management : Definition

A software program called SIEM is used to monitor, find, and notify users of security occurrences. It offers a consolidated picture of a company’s IT infrastructure. Cyber security experts may use it to learn more about the activities taking place within their IT environments.

Security Information and Event Management : Process

The SIEM process consists of these four steps:

• Gather information from a variety of sources, including servers, domain controllers, and network devices.
• Data normalization and agglomeration
• Analysis of the data to find and identify dangers
• Identify security vulnerabilities and allow businesses to look into alerts

Security Information and Event Management : Architecture

The components of SIEM systems and their essential elements are the focus of SIEM architecture. The following elements are included in the SIEM architecture:

• Management of logs
• Normalization of logs
• Sources of logs
• Hosting choices for SIEM network
• Reporting of SIEM products
• Real-time SIEM monitoring of SIEM security

How Does Security Information and Event Management Work?

SIEM software is in charge of gathering and agglomerating log data produced by businesses. This is produced by host systems, networks, security equipment, etc.

Then, all events and occurrences are identified, examined, and categorized by the SIEM software. Typically, the SIEM software has two basic objectives:

• To create reports on all security incidents and occurrences
• To raise the alarm whenever an action violates a set of established rules, pointing out a potential security concern.

The main factors influencing the adoption of SIEM systems have been the demand for enhanced compliance management and increased security measures. Large corporations now use SIEM as the foundation for their security operations center.

SIEM Capabilities

Three key SIEM capabilities are as follows:

• Threat detection
• Investigation
• Time to respond

In the market for SIEM security, there are a few more features to choose from:

• Basic security monitoring
• Advanced threat detection
• Forensics and incident response
• Log collection
• Normalization
• Notifications and alerts
• Security incident detection
• Threat response workflow

Leading SIEM Tools

Some of the top SIEM tools available are the ones listed below:

Splunk

Splunk is an on-premises SIEM platform that aids in security monitoring and advanced threat detection.

IBM QRadar

SIEM solution IBM QRadar is available as a virtual, software, or hardware device.

LogRhythm

The SIEM product LogRhythm is appropriate for small businesses. Threat detection and retaliation are aided by it.

Benefits of Security Information and Event Management

Without SIEM solutions, our cybersecurity team is ineffective. A contemporary SIEM system offers the following seven major advantages:

Gathers and instantly evaluates data from all sources

Every day, a large amount of data is produced. SIEM technologies must keep up with it in order to properly identify, monitor, and react to risks, which necessitates ingesting data from all sources. With more data, modern SIEM technologies can offer superior insights. The efficiency of SIEM technologies tends to increase with more data.

Increases productivity by utilizing machine learning to give context and situational awareness

Modern attacks are more sophisticated than ever. Therefore, businesses attempting to defend themselves require cutting-edge equipment. Attackers frequently utilize stolen credentials to hurt businesses. Today’s SIEM technologies have machine learning capabilities. This facilitates speedy danger identification and allows for both internal and external threat monitoring.

Architecture that is adaptable and scalable accelerates time to value

Companies require big data architecture that is both scalable and adaptable given the volume of data coming in. As the economy evolves over time, this will help businesses adapt and expand. SIEM systems are capable of handling sophisticated implementation and may be set up on-site, in the cloud, or in a virtual environment.

Provides improved tools for investigating and responding to incidents

Clear insights provided by SIEM systems may speed up decision-making and reaction times. Analysts can analyze and react to data more effectively with the aid of data visualization and business context. Teams will be able to handle issues better and enhance forensic investigations as analytics improve.

Increases the output of security analysts

After the logs have been collected, SIEM systems offer use cases. This facilitates speedy threat detection and response by the security team. Security analysts can work more efficiently as a result.

Decreases the need for cybersecurity personnel

These days, security teams are time-constrained. Improved automated procedures can help analysts save time. The best SIEM technologies can offer unsupervised machine learning to reduce the workload of security analysts who are already overburdened. To get greater insights, threat detection is automated, contexts are improved, and user behavior is used.

Price is predictable when used with

The number of devices that send logs determines how much a SIEM costs today. As a result, businesses do not need to be concerned about how much data they are utilizing. Increasing hardware capacity or the number of users accessing the device may incur additional expenses from some SIEM suppliers.

Limitations of Security Information and Event Management

The following are a few SIEM tools’ drawbacks:

• SIEM security products do not offer a lot of context-specific data regarding native requirements.
• Unstructured data is a blind spot for SIEM.
• Applications using SIEM cannot tell sensitive data apart from non-sensitive data. This implies that they are unable to distinguish between actions that are authorized for a file and questionable activity. Data on customers, business security, or the intellectual property might be lost as a result.
• Researching and identifying security events in SIEM may be quite challenging.

How Should You Select a Security Information and Event Management Solution?

Companies must establish the project’s scope and timetable before selecting a Security Information and Event Management solution. In order to do this, workshops may be planned internally or externally in cooperation with a SIEM partner. The selection of use cases is the initial stage in determining the scope and timing. This will show the required log sources. To ensure that the SIEM security is in accordance with a company’s goals, a schedule must be chosen.

When selecting a SIEM solution, businesses should think about the following four questions:

• What apps ought you prioritize?
• What action should you take if threats are found?
• Where in your surroundings are the most serious hazards located?
• What consequences would a breach have, and why are these risks the most serious ones?

Security Information and Event Management Vendors

Worldwide leaders in the SIEM industry include IBM, Splunk, and HPE. Other well-known brands on the market include Micro Focus, Alert Logic, ManageEngine, Solar Winds, Trustwave, and Alert Logic.

When selecting a SIEM vendor, businesses should evaluate the suppliers in light of their organizational objectives since this will enable them to determine which vendor best suits their needs. If a business wants SIEM technology primarily for compliance reasons, it would search for features like reporting; however, if the business wants SIEM technology to aid in the establishment of a security operations center, it would search for other features like security monitoring and threat detection.

Steps for Planning a Security Information and Event Management Project

A SIEM project may be planned in three steps:

Identify the key data sources for your company

It is simpler to discover log sources within the scope of your projects after you have agreed on their scope. This might assist you in figuring out how to acquire the necessary pertinent info.

Determine all urgent events and warnings

Every day there are more security occurrences that need to be examined and responded to. With the help of SIEM, additional insights may be drawn from events and data. Priority events must be identified by businesses, along with how they might be extracted from the infrastructure’s devices and apps. This allows security teams using SIEM to focus more time on important alerts and issues.

Decide on your primary success measures

Your company goals should be in line with SIEM integration. To guarantee you can optimize the return on investment, you need to identify the important success criteria (ROI). Companies must determine what success looks like for them and how SIEM use cases might help them get there.

Conclusion

Security Information and Event Management is a crucial piece of business software. We have seen how the Security Information and Event Management procedure operates and what the key architectural elements are. There are a few Security Information and Event Management tools that are widely used. Each SIEM system has unique advantages and disadvantages. Businesses can select a SIEM platform based on their requirements. Enroll at Softlogic Systems for the Best Cybersecurity Training in Chennai.