SIEM Cybersecurity: What Is It & How Does It Work?

It is difficult to notice, investigate, and respond appropriately to security risks. Using SIEM can be quite useful. To keep one step ahead of cyber threats, you need SIEM, a piece of cybersecurity technology that gives you a unified perspective on your data, visibility into your security actions, and powerful operational capabilities. A “SIEM” system (which stands for “Security Information and Event Management”) can help you improve your cybersecurity by providing complete, real-time visibility across your whole distributed environment and by analyzing past events. In this article, we will discuss how SIEM cybersecurity works and some of the best tools

What Is SIEM in Cybersecurity?

SIEM, or Security Information and Event Management, is a crucial component of cybersecurity. It functions as a comprehensive solution for collecting, analyzing, and correlating security data from various sources within an organization’s network. SIEM systems aggregate logs and security events from diverse platforms, applications, and devices, providing a centralized view of the enterprise’s security posture.

These systems employ advanced analytics and correlation algorithms to detect patterns indicative of potential security threats or breaches. By monitoring activities in real-time, SIEM helps organizations identify and respond promptly to security incidents, minimizing the impact of cyber threats.

SIEM tools enable cybersecurity professionals to generate reports, set alerts, and create automated responses to specific security events. Through continuous monitoring and analysis, SIEM enhances an organization’s ability to identify anomalies, unauthorized access, or malicious activities. This proactive approach strengthens overall cybersecurity defenses by aiding in compliance adherence and facilitating timely incident response. 

In essence, SIEM plays a pivotal role in maintaining the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of sensitive information within an increasingly complex and dynamic digital landscape.

How Does SIEM Cybersecurity Work?

At the most basic level, all SIEM systems collect, combine, and sort data in some way so that threats can be found and data compliance rules can be met. Even though each option has its own set of features, most of them have the same basic set:

#1. Log Management

Security information and event management (SIEM) collects information from a wide variety of on-premises and online systems. Data from security hardware and software like firewalls or antivirus programs is collected, correlated, and analyzed in real-time alongside event log data from users, endpoints, applications, data sources, cloud workloads, and networks.

While some SIEM solutions can connect their own security data with known threat signatures and profiles by connecting to outside threat intelligence feeds, this is not always possible. Teams are able to block or detect novel attack signatures because of integration with real-time threat sources.

#2. Event Correlation and Analytics

The ability to correlate events is crucial to any SIEM system. Event correlation uses advanced analytics to find and understand precise data patterns. This lets you quickly spot and stop possible security threats to an enterprise. The mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to respond (MTTR) for IT security teams are greatly improved by SIEM systems. This is because they take over the tedious manual tasks that come with analyzing cybersecurity events in great detail.

#3. Incident Monitoring and Security Alerts

SIEM puts all of its analysis in one place, in a dashboard, so that cybersecurity teams can better keep an eye on activities, sort through alerts, find risks, and start responding or fixing things. To aid cybersecurity analysts in spotting spikes or trends in suspicious behavior, most SIEM dashboards also incorporate real-time data visualizations. Also, administrators can be warned instantly and take appropriate action to reduce threats using customizable, established correlation criteria to do so.

#4. Compliance Management and Reporting

Organizations need to maintain various sorts of regulatory compliance and frequently turn to SIEM solutions. SIEM’s ability to collect and analyze data automatically makes it a useful tool for gathering and verifying compliance data across an organization’s complete infrastructure. With the help of real-time compliance reports from SIEM systems, cybersecurity managers can do less work and catch possible violations of PCI-DSS, GDPR, HIPPA, SOX, and other standards early. When it comes to meeting compliance regulations, several SIEM solutions have pre-built, out-of-the-box extensions that can generate reports automatically.

What Are the Three Types of SIEM?

The three main types of SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) deployments are:

#1. In-House SIEM

In this configuration, the company has full authority over its SIEM system. They invest in the necessary computers and software to put this idea into action in their actual building. In most organizations, the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system is integrated within the SOC. This internal SIEM can be tailored to an organization’s specific requirements, and updates can be pushed automatically or manually.

However, there is no engagement by third parties, and all security-related information remains in-house. The organization becomes completely responsible for integrating an in-house SIEM solution with existing systems, establishing log sources, customizing alerts, and educating personnel. Costs for upkeep, fixes, and upgrades are very costly for in-house SIEM installations.

#2. Cloud-Based SIEM

With the advent of cloud computing, this approach is growing in popularity around the world. You pay on a monthly subscription basis for cloud-based SIEM systems, and you have few hardware maintenance duties. Companies can either pay a smaller amount regularly or a larger sum once a year for a subscription service. There is no need to rely on other parties when deciding how to install SIEM for a customer’s business. 

The cost of this convenience is that sensitive information about a company’s operations can be accessed from servers located in third-party facilities. From our experience, we have often observed scenarios where organizations have not been able to exploit the full potential of the SIEM tools in this model.

#3. Managed SIEM

In this arrangement, the service provider assists with the development of either an on-premises or cloud-based security information and event management system. The customer’s internal security team won’t have to shoulder the implementation burden alone because the vendor will be there to help. A managed SIEM solution is one that is deployed on the vendor’s server and is responsible for keeping an eye out for security breaches on the client’s network. 

Managed SIEM solutions are also preferred because they can be set up quickly, do not need much ongoing maintenance, have reasonable prices, and make trained SIEM specialists easy to reach.

Why Is SIEM Important?

SIEM makes it easier for organizations to manage cybersecurity by sifting through enormous volumes of security data and prioritizing the security warnings the software creates.

There are many situations that could go undiscovered without SIEM software. The software analyzes the log entries to find symptoms of malicious activity. In addition, the system reconstructs the history of an attack, allowing a business to learn more about its specifics and how it impacted operations because it collects events from many sources across the network.

Furthermore, by compiling reports from all of these sources that contain documented cybersecurity events, an SIEM tool can assist a business in meeting compliance obligations. If the organization didn’t have SIEM software, it would have to manually collect log data and create reports.

In addition, by providing the company’s security staff with the means to track down the sources compromised in an attack and the automatic tools to stop those attacks in progress, a security information and event management system (SIEM) also improves incident management.

Critical Features in SIEM Tool

There is no shortage of SIEM options, some of which are more feature-rich or up-to-date than others or even some outdated systems. When making your decision, keep in mind the following essential SIEM features that should be present in any cutting-edge SIEM:

#1. Real-Time Monitoring

When attacks or threats are left unchecked for too long, they can cause much greater harm. Your SIEM should provide you with a real-time, high-level overview of your network activity, including:

• Activity related to persons, devices, and applications
• Anything that doesn’t require a name or number to identify it.

You’ll want monitoring tools that work with any type of data, wherever it comes from. In addition to keeping an eye on things, you should be able to compile relevant data in a digestible way. Select a SIEM that has:

• A collection of pre-defined correlation rules that can be altered as needed
• Security incident and event monitoring in real-time via a centralized console.
• Streaming visualizations of potential threats

#2. Emergency Procedures

For cyberattacks in progress, the most critical feature of an analytics-driven SIEM is its ability to automatically respond to threats. It must also provide you with the option to:

• Locate significant happenings and their current standing.
• Indicating the gravity of the situation.
• Start a remediation process.
• Provide an audit of the entire process surrounding that incident.

#3. User Monitoring

Your SIEM tool, at a bare minimum, should be able to monitor user activity by examining authentication and access information, constructing a picture of the user’s environment, and issuing warnings about potentially malicious or illegal actions taken by the user.

Monitoring privileged users, who are more likely to be attacked, is a typical need for compliance reporting in most regulated industries and therefore falls under your purview if you are responsible for compliance reporting.

#4. Analytics and machine learning of the highest kind

If you can’t make sense of the data at your disposal, it won’t help you much. In order to gain a more in-depth understanding, advanced analytics makes use of complex quantitative techniques such as statistical analysis, descriptive and predictive data mining, simulation, and optimization.

Furthermore, machine learning-based SIEM technologies can gradually improve their accuracy by learning over time what constitutes regular activity and what constitutes a true deviation. This is especially crucial nowadays, considering that technology, attack vectors, and hacker sophistication grow quicker than ever.

#5. Advanced Threat Detection

Most intrusion prevention and firewall systems have difficulty adjusting to the emergence of novel advanced persistent threats (APTs). So, your SIEM should be able to do a mix of network cybersecurity monitoring, endpoint detection, response sandboxing, and behavior analytics in order to find and separate new threats.

The detection of a threat is only the first step; understanding its severity, its likely next location, and how to stop it are all essential.

What Is the Difference Between SIEM and SOC?

SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) and SOC (Security Operations Center) are integral components of a robust cybersecurity strategy, but they serve distinct purposes.

SIEM is a technology solution that aggregates and analyzes log data generated throughout an organization’s technology infrastructure. It provides a centralized platform for real-time analysis of security alerts generated by applications and network hardware. SIEM systems help identify and respond to security incidents by correlating different events and detecting patterns indicative of potential threats.

On the other hand, SOC is a team or facility responsible for monitoring, detecting, responding to, and mitigating cybersecurity threats. It combines people, processes, and technology to ensure a proactive approach to security. The SOC uses tools like SIEM to analyze data, but it also involves human expertise to contextualize alerts, investigate incidents, and make informed decisions.

In essence, SIEM is a technology, while SOC is an operational unit that employs various tools, including SIEM, to enhance an organization’s cybersecurity posture. The SIEM system provides the data, and the SOC uses it to make informed decisions and respond effectively to security incidents.

Is SIEM a Firewall?

No, a SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) is not a firewall; they serve different roles in cybersecurity.

A firewall is a network security device that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules. It acts as a barrier between a trusted internal network and untrusted external networks, allowing or blocking traffic based on established security policies.

On the other hand, SIEM is a comprehensive solution that combines security information management (SIM) and security event management (SEM). It collects and analyzes log data from various sources within an organization’s network, including firewalls, to identify and respond to security incidents. The SIEM system aggregates and correlates data, providing insights into potential threats and enabling security teams to detect and respond to anomalous activities.

In essence, while firewalls focus on network traffic control, SIEM systems are designed for collecting, analyzing, and responding to security information and events across an organization’s IT infrastructure.

Benefits of SIEM

It is critical for any business, no matter how big or small, to take preventative measures to keep its IT systems secure. SIEM tools have become an integral part of modernizing businesses’ security operations for a wide range of reasons.

#1. Detects Threats in Real-Time

Compliance audits and reporting can be handled centrally across an organization with the help of SIEM systems. To lower internal resource consumption and meet stringent compliance reporting criteria, effective automation speeds up the collection and analysis of system logs and security incidents.

#2. AI-Driven Automation

SIEM (security information and event management) solutions of the newer generation come with powerful SOAR (security orchestration, automation, and response) systems. These systems save IT departments time and energy while they manage enterprise security. However, these technologies can perform complex threat identification and incident response protocols far more quickly than physical teams, thanks to deep machine learning that automatically learns from network behavior.

#3. Efficiency Gains in the Workplace

SIEM’s enhanced visibility into IT environments is a key reason why it may be used to boost productivity across departments. When dealing with security threats and crises, it’s important for teams to be able to communicate and work effectively. A centralized dashboard gives this unified view of system data, warnings, and notifications.

#4. Conducting Forensic Investigations

After a security event, SIEM solutions are the best way to do computer forensic investigations. With SIEM systems, businesses can easily gather and look over log data from all of their digital assets in one place. This lets them re-create past events or look at new ones to look into strange behavior and make security measures work better.

SIEM Tools

In order to keep your systems running smoothly and securely, you can use the following SIEM tools:

#1. Splunk Enterprise Security

Data collected from a company’s or organization’s machines can be searched, monitored, analyzed, and visualized with the help of Splunk Enterprise Security. After you define the data source and Splunk collects the data, you may index and organize the data stream into a sequence of events that you can browse and search. Splunk enables improved threat detection via security monitoring, in addition to advanced incident management and forensics.

Since it can save data in near real-time and has a wide variety of other valuable features, this tool is ideal for larger organizations. The intuitive interface provides a variety of charts and graphs for viewing data.

#2. Micro-Focus ArcSight ESM

When it comes to business security, Micro Focus ArcSight ESM uses a complete data analytics approach that lets it find threats instantly and do its own security analytics. It also has capabilities like automatic response and compliance management, in addition to event collection and real-time event management. As an open-source platform, Micro Focus ArcSight ESM plays well with other security products. 

It’s excellent for larger IT teams and enterprises with advanced security demands. ArcSight is able to automatically detect and prioritize security vulnerabilities of varied severity, as well as consume data from a broad variety of sources.

#3. LogPoint

LogPoint is a cloud-based SIEM tool that analyzes data from activities and then uses that information to take corrective measures against threats. It monitors network activity and records anything out of the ordinary. Experts in the field of cybersecurity are able to examine suspicious devices or traffic with less effort thanks to artificial intelligence-based user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA). Indicators of Compromise (IoCs) are a database of potential attack tactics included in the product. In addition, companies that use the cloud and have several platforms or websites can benefit from this technology. 

#4. LogRhythm NextGen SIEM

LogRhythm NextGen SIEM has many features that make it easy to find problems and fix them quickly. These include security analytics, user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA), network traffic analysis (NTA), and security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR). This SIEM tool is designed to manage logs and threat intelligence. It provides access to more than a dozen intelligence streams to supplement the information you enter. 

Also, the tool incorporates AI-based technology to further boost the effectiveness of the platform. It’s useful for huge companies that don’t want to move their systems to the cloud because it works with a variety of devices and log formats.

#5. SolarWinds Security Event Manager

Businesses of all sizes can benefit from SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM), which is packed with powerful log management features like security-event time correlation, sophisticated analytic functionality, and complete compliance reporting. Businesses that require constant log monitoring will benefit from this. The SEM can help incident managers streamline and prioritize their responses. It also has a file integrity checker that records who accessed certain folders and when. When necessary, you can use it to restrict access to certain websites, programs, or even USB drives by inscribing sensitive data on them.

Is SIEM Part of Cybersecurity?

Yes, SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) is a crucial component of cybersecurity. It plays a vital role in monitoring, detecting, and responding to security incidents within an organization’s IT infrastructure. SIEM systems collect and analyze data from various sources, such as firewalls, servers, and applications, to identify potential security threats and vulnerabilities.

By providing real-time insights into security events, correlating data, and generating alerts, SIEM enhances an organization’s ability to detect and respond to cyber threats promptly. It aids in compliance management by tracking and reporting on security-related activities, helping organizations meet regulatory requirements. Overall, SIEM contributes significantly to a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy by strengthening an organization’s ability to proactively manage and mitigate security risks.

Does AWS Use SIEM?

Yes, Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides tools and services that can be used to implement SIEM capabilities in a cloud environment. AWS customers can leverage services like AWS CloudTrail, which records API calls and provides audit logs for their AWS accounts. CloudWatch Logs and CloudWatch Events are other AWS services that enable log management and event monitoring.

Additionally, organizations using AWS can integrate third-party SIEM solutions with AWS services to enhance their security posture. These SIEM solutions can aggregate and analyze data from various AWS sources, including Amazon S3, Amazon EC2, and AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM). Implementing SIEM in AWS is essential for monitoring and responding to security events, ensuring the security and compliance of cloud-based workloads.

Best Practices for Implementing SIEM

Best practices for adopting SIEM include the following:

• Create attainable objectives. Organizational security objectives, regulatory requirements, and the nature of possible threats should all inform the selection and rollout of the SIEM tool.
• Use the rules of data correlation. Data correlation standards should be set across all systems, networks, and cloud deployments so data with mistakes may be more easily discovered.
• Identify compliance needs. This ensures that the selected SIEM software is set up to conduct audits and generate reports in accordance with applicable compliance standards.
• Create a list of your electronic possessions. Keeping track of log data and keeping tabs on network activity is made easier with a comprehensive inventory of all digital data kept across an IT infrastructure.
• Document procedures for handling incidents. This ensures that teams can react quickly to security incidents.
• Appoint a SIEM manager. A SIEM administrator watches over the system to make sure it’s running smoothly.

Bottom Line

In cybersecurity, SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) serves as a fundamental tool for organizations to monitor, detect, and respond to security incidents. By collecting and analyzing data from diverse sources within an IT environment, SIEM systems provide real-time insights, facilitating the identification of potential threats and vulnerabilities. This proactive approach enhances an organization’s ability to mitigate risks promptly.

SIEM is not just a technology; it’s a comprehensive strategy that involves people, processes, and technology working collaboratively. It aids in compliance management, supporting organizations in meeting regulatory requirements by tracking and reporting on security-related activities. Whether deployed on-premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid environment, SIEM strengthens the overall cybersecurity posture by providing a centralized platform for security event monitoring and incident response. Embracing SIEM is a crucial step toward maintaining a robust defense against evolving cyber threats.

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Reference

• indeed.com
• ibm.com
• techtarget.com
• splunk.com