The rise of Security Operations Centers (SOCs) has helped strengthen cybersecurity for business networks. The three categories that help improve an SOC through investment in tools are: 1) visibility, 2) analysis and 3) action and management. Let's take a closer look at the tools used in SOCs and what operators must know about integrating new applications in the future.
Necessary Capabilities of Cybersecurity Toolkits
Visibility tools let you observe your infrastructure on one screen. Analysis tools can help you pinpoint vulnerabilities so you can streamline your operation. Action and management tools are platforms that help resolve system problems. Here are the types of tools generally needed for effective cybersecurity:
- Prevention - Tools should be available to block unwanted network visitors.
- Detection - Officials should receive automated alerts when intruders are detected.
- Response - Modern software solutions should be able to counter the cyberattack.
- Triage - Once a security issue is identified, a prioritized investigation begins.
- Incident response - Well funded SOCs have resources to investigate root of the threat.
- Ongoing visibility and verification - It's essential to emphasize prevent and detect capabilities as high priorities in cybersecurity tool selection.
Maintaining a Step Ahead of Cybercriminals
You've got to beat cybercriminals by controlling your own chess game. You can stay a step ahead of their hacking software by making your infrastructure more digital, flexible and diverse. Applying multiple layers of cybersecurity toward protecting your hardware, software and other digital assets remains the strongest defense against attackers.
The most important security layers are your staff members and their awareness of cybersecurity issues. Policies, processes and software tools contribute to other security layers. The more you build various virtual and physical walls around your assets, the less likely you'll suffer a cybersecurity breach.
SOCs of the Future
Automation and AI with machine learning are key emerging technologies that will significantly shape the future of tier 1 SOCs. Countless IoT devices will further contribute to more seamless operations of large-scale operations. Machine learning tools will continue to improve in generating real-time suggestions or automated decisions triggered by suspicious network activity.
Conclusion
Manufacturing teams, supply chains and other organizations that deal with high volume data transmission must remember to continuously update and eventually upgrade cybersecurity. You never know which big entity is going to get hacked next, but you can count on cybercrime not going away soon. Every business must be prepared with the right tools to identify and block cyberattacks.
References and Further Reading
- Tips for Selecting the Right Tools for Your Security Operations Center (January 2020), by Toby Bussa, Jeremy D'Hoinn
- Market Guide for Security Orchestration, Automation and Response Solutions (September 2020), by Claudio Neiva, Craig Lawson, Toby Bussa, Gorka Sadowski
- Read more about Cybersecurity for ATSEP and AVSEC (2019-today), by Dawn Turner, Martin Rupp, Peter Smirnoff, Ulrich Scholten, Alex Cosper and Dennis Vasilev.
- More articles on Cryptography, Key Blocks and Key Management (2018 - today), by Martin Rupp
- Articles on the protection of critical platforms and strategic response (2017 - today), by Ulrich Scholten and Stefan Hansen
- Articles on Key Management and HSMs (2017 - today), by Peter Smirnoff
- Articles on Digital Signing, the eIDAS standard, cyber-security and ATSEP qualification (2016 - today), by Dawn M. Turner
