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The Future of SOC Management

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It’s hard to imagine a large business organization without a robust cybersecurity system. As these attacks become more and more widespread, companies are investing top dollar in experts and software. Skimming on this technology might lead to damages that would cost them millions of dollars and cause irreparable reputation damage.

Companies put special emphasis on creating a comprehensive SOC or Security Operations Center. These systems include resources and software that would make corporative networks impregnable to outside attackers. Through SOC managé, organizations streamline personnel, software, monitoring, attack detection, and responses.

The thing that makes SOC unique is its reliance on combined technology and best practices. Given the fast changes in hacking technology, cybersecurity has to evolve with it. In this article, we’ll go through the biggest SOC trends in 2024 that just might protect your business one day.

Biggest SOC Trends in 2024

In the last year or so, we’ve seen a major shift toward proactive cybersecurity. Software detects potential threats way before they can affect our systems, making it easier for IT teams to respond in an appropriate manner. Here are some of the biggest trends we’ve noticed in 2024:

Focus on MDL

Back in the day, most companies were reliant on their internal teams to tackle outside security threats. Unfortunately, this led to several problems, including robust micromanagement, high salaries, and other redundancies.

As a way to address the issue, many companies started switching to external MDR services. Managed Detection and Response makes things much easier for businesses as it allows them to relegate this complex task to someone else. Given that these external teams are very polished, they don’t require additional training.

MDR services often end up being cheaper. You don’t have to pay benefits or think about sick leaves; the company performs its duty no matter what. Companies also cut costs on office space and other associated costs.

Proactive SOAR

Besides MDR, we’ve seen more and more companies implement SOAR or Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response. With this type of software, businesses are able to streamline their entire response process. The best thing yet is that these programs require minimal human involvement, making them extremely cost-efficient.

The great thing about SOAR solutions is that they offer a central platform from which employees can manage and coordinate various response steps. These programs compile information from various sources and prepare them for further processing. SOAR can gather data from just about anywhere, including servers, apps, and devices.

Upon detecting the threat, SOAR software automatically responds to the attacks based on the previous settings. The response can involve anything from setting blocks on a firewall to isolating hosts. Because of that, businesses are able to almost instantaneously reduce the attack’s impact. Perhaps more importantly, software can isolate the treat from other systems.

New Age of AI

Like in many other professions, AI has changed how people perform cybersecurity tasks. By utilizing a combination of artificial intelligence and machine learning, software is able to trace threats on time. Unlike previous technology, AI tools detect patterns that will indicate suspicious behavior and prevent access to external entities.

This makes AI especially great for new malware and solutions that were never used before. The software doesn’t even have to understand the entity that’s attacking the system, and yet it can still protect the servers. The software expedites detection and response, making life easier for the human teams.

A good example of AI’s efficiency can be seen in large-volume data analysis. Regardless of the amount of data that the software has to process, it’s still capable of discovering patterns and identifying threats to the system. Through proactive cybersecurity, companies are able to save a lot of money and prevent reputation damage.

EDR, NDR, and SIEM

To get the most out of SOAR, you have to combine it with other modern solutions. Specifically, companies can enjoy numerous benefits by introducing EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response), NDR (Network Detection and Response), and SIEM (Security Information Event Management) to their workflows.

It’s worth noting that these security approaches do not conflict with each other. Instead, they work best in conjunction. They work as precursors to SOAR, filtering potential threats early on. Later on, the response duty is relegated to SOAR software, which now tackles a smaller number of issues.

While this technology isn’t that new, companies already have numerous potential platforms at their disposal. With this software, they’re able to gather, detect, and prioritize threats and choose the most appropriate response. Most of these tools work well regardless of location and type of threat affecting the system.

External SOC Providers

As with many other IT-related tasks, companies are starting to turn to managed SOC providers. The biggest issue with this process is that you need a lot of time to form a capable in-house team. The IT market is very thin, and companies have to pay enormous amounts to find great experts.

Having in mind such a major disparity between available experts and supply, many companies are turning to managed providers. External SOC providers, also called SOC as a Service, give you access to top-notch professionals from this field who will monitor your systems, logs, and devices.

Most managed SOCs work under the subscription model. However, this might also vary from company to company. Businesses generally hire providers on a year-to-year basis, but there are also situations where client companies might require short-term assistance.

Last Thoughts

The SOC field has progressed immensely in the last year or so. Nowadays, many companies implement intuitive AI solutions that help them streamline the process and minimize human involvement. Managed service providers thrive in this environment, as they possess the expertise and know-how that many companies lack.

Nevertheless, perhaps the biggest change comes in the form of proactive cybersecurity. Businesses use software that can detect threats early on, eliminating any chance of intrusion. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of something great, as most businesses are tired of the constant threat of malicious agents.